The script for Casablanca (1942), one of the most successful films of all time, arrived at the Warner Brothers Studio the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 8, 1941. Timing is just one of the many reasons why this legendary film about patriotism, love, exile, and sabotage is often referred to as the happy result of a series of accidents. If the studio had carried out its original plans to cast Ronald Reagan as Rick Blaine or Ella Fitzgerald as Sam, now

infamous lines and lyrics like "Here's lookin' at you, kid" and "As Time Goes By" may never have attained the same powerful significance they have had for generations of movie fans. Set in French Morocco during WWII, Casablanca was directed by Michael Curtiz and starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, and Conrad Veidt. Based loosely on a play entitled...