Romance as Resistance: ‘Casablanca’

In this episode of Fascism on Film, we look at Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca (1942), one of Hollywood’s most enduring films and one of its quietest acts of persuasion. Beneath the romance and intrigue, Casablanca tells a story of political awakening—about a man, a city, and a country choosing between indifference and action against fascism.

We discuss how Humphrey Bogart’s Rick Blaine, with his famous line that he “sticks his neck out for nobody,” becomes a stand-in for prewar America. The film’s emotional arc mirrors the nation’s own shift—from cynicism and self-interest to moral conviction. By the time Rick helps Victor Laszlo escape and sacrifices his own happiness, his personal redemption becomes a metaphor for America joining the fight for democracy.

The film’s characters form a map of the moral landscape of World War II: Rick as the disillusioned American, Ilsa as a divided Europe, Laszlo as the conscience of the resistance, Renault as the opportunist, and Strasser as the face of authoritarian power. Casablanca’s brilliance lies in how emotion becomes politics—a love story turned into a lesson in courage.

Behind the camera, many of the film’s cast and crew were refugees from fascism—Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Lebeau, and Curtiz himself. Their real experiences give the movie its emotional truth; the fear and displacement onscreen were lived, not imagined.

We also explore the film’s mythmaking and legacy. From the Cross of Lorraine hidden in a smuggler’s ring to the swelling of “La Marseillaise” over “Die Wacht am Rhein,” Casablanca builds its resistance through symbols, songs, and small acts of defiance rather than overt politics.

80 years later, Casablanca still holds up a mirror to moments of moral hesitation and reminds us that neutrality is a choice, that romance can be resistance, and that even one person’s decision has meaning in a broken world.