'Casablanca'-- A Talented Cast: Wilson and Page

SAM

Played by Dooley Wilson

Unquestionably one of the most famous supporting characters any actor has played on the big screen:  That's one way to describe the role of Sam "the Rabbit," ably filled by Wilson, who was in fact, not a pianist, but a drummer.

He couldn't play the piano at all, but achieved immortality with his rendition of "As Time Goes By."

Already in his fifties when he starred in "Casablanca," Wilson was about to quit acting when he got the role.

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ANNINA BRANDEL

Played by Joy Page

Perhaps the only actor younger than Labeau to appear in the film, Page was just 17 when she found her fame in the movie.

And this came about at least partially because she was the stepdaughter of studio chief Jack Warner.

Still, her exotic beauty was perfect for her part of the young Bulgarian refugee whose virtue is saved after Rick intervenes when Captain Renault suggests he will arrange safe passage of Brandel and her husband if she will sleep with him.

Well, Rick couldn't have this so fixed it where her husband won enough money gambling where she wouldn't have to.

Sorry Renault.  --Cooter

A Timeless Song 'As Time Goes By'-- Part 2: 'The Lousiest Tune'

Producer Hal Wallis gave him the go ahead, and Max Steiner got to work on a new one, but there was a problem.  The scenes featuring "As Time Goes By" would need to be reshot and Ingrid Bergman had already moved on to her next movie, an adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and had cut her hair short for the role.

That meant that Steiner was stuck with "As Time Goes By, a song which he described to his wife, Louise, as "the lousiest tune."

But Steiner wasn't considered one of the best composers in the film business for nothing, and he worked with what he had.  He incorporated the song into his score, along with bits of the two songs played in the epic musical showdown between the German soldiers and the club patrons:  "Die Wacht am Rhein" and "La Marseillaise."

By using inpirtation for all three, Steiner earned his 11th Oscar nomination of the astonishing 24 he would get over the course of his long career.

(It would be hard to think of "Casablanca" without "As Time Goes By.")

--CootSeillaise

A Timeless Song 'As Time Goes By'-- Part 1

We just watched the movie and throughout it, this song was played more than a bit often.  And, that would be "As Time Goes By."

It is rare that a single song is so tied to a single movie, but this is certainly the case with "As Time Goes By" and "Casablanca."  It is so closely identified that when you see any movie released by Warner Brothers (the company that made the movie) these days, several bars of the song play with the WB logo.

But it almost wasn't that way.  The song was written by Herman Hupfield in 1931 for the Broadway musical "Everybody's Welcome."  It had been included by playwrights Joan Alison and Murray Bennett in their original play, "Everybody Comes to Rick's."

Once the film production was underway, composer Max Steiner, who had already won two Oscars wanted to change the song and insert something original of his, giving him the potential to easrn rotyalties and possibly another Academy Award.

--Cooter