Humphrey Bogart
Rick Blaine
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See photos, quotes and trivia of Claude Rains as the corrupt and cynical police chief in the classic film Casablanca. Find out how he interacts with Rick, Ilsa, Victor and Major Strasser in various scenes and situations.
Claude Rains plays the corrupt and cynical Captain Louis Renault, a French police chief in Casablanca, Morocco, who helps the Nazis. He is one of the main characters in the classic romance drama film Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
- (608K)
- Drama, Romance, War
- Michael Curtiz
- 1943-01-23
The supporting cast features Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Dooley Wilson. Warner Bros. story editor Irene Diamond convinced producer Hal B. Wallis to purchase the film rights to the play in January 1942.
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- Overview
- Play it once, Sam. For old times' sake.
- Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.
- Here's looking at you, kid.
- What is your nationality?
- I came to Casablanca for the waters.
- I'm shocked to find out that gambling is going on!
- The problems of three little people...
- We'll always have Paris.
- Round up the usual suspects.
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Set during World War II, the producers of Casablanca (1942) couldn't have known that the film would become a classic. But all these years later, the story of a man (Rick) and a woman (Ilsa) sacrificing their love to support a higher purpose (defeating the Nazis) remains timeless.
Casablanca won three Academy Awards for best picture, director, and screenplay and is still one of the most popular films of all time, ranked at the top of many movie critic lists. The movie and its theme song, "As Time Goes By," have become pop culture icons.
The film takes place in Casablanca, with most of the action happening at a tavern called Rick's, named for the hero of the story, played by Humphrey Bogart. The plot begins when an old flame, Ilsa Lund (portrayed by Ingrid Bergman), suddenly appears with her husband, Victor Laslow, who's wanted by the Nazis. Rick has to decide whether to put aside his feelings for Ilsa to help Victor escape to help the Resistance.
When Ilsa first arrives, before Rick knows she's there, she approaches the piano player (Sam) and asks him to play "As Time Goes By," which was Ilsa and Rick's song during their love affair. Sam resists at first, knowing it will anger Rick. It does and Rick sees that the woman who left him behind in Paris has shown up in his bar after being absent from his life for years.
This line is actually one of the most misquoted from Casablanca. Nowhere in the film does anyone ever say, "Play it again, Sam," as is often repeated. However, Rick later says, "Play it, Sam," as he tries to drown his sorrows as he remembers his time with Ilsa.
After the bar has closed following Ilsa's appearance and Rick is alone with Sam, he laments her reappearance and shows the audience how devastated he is to see her again, now married to another man. He hits the bottle hard as he recalls their time together.
One of the most-quoted lines from Casablanca, "Here's looking at you, kid," is one that Humphrey Bogart ad-libbed during the flashback scenes of Rick and Ilsa falling in love in Paris. Rick speaks it later in the movie to bid Ilsa farewell and the odd, unsentimental phrase has come to be one of the most romantic lines in movie history.
The Nazi Major Strasser is questioning Rick and demands to know his nationality because he's looking for some grounds to arrest him. Rick's reply, and Capt. Renault's chaser are among the lighter moments of the film (and probably represent the lightest moment featuring Major Strasser).
Rick: I'm a drunkard. Renault: That makes Rick a citizen of the world.
This exchange between Capt. Renault (played with lively humor by Claude Rains) deepens the mystery about Rick and where his allegiance lies. It also gives a little bit of insight into Renault, whose own allegiance is also unclear at this point in the film. We never do find out why Rick really came to Casablanca.
Renault: What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca? Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters. Renault: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert! Rick: I was misinformed.
Renault is once again the comic relief in Casablanca. He follows Strasser's orders to shut down Rick's Place and an angry Rick asks why (there's no real reason, they're just harassing him).
Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?
Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here! [a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
In his most heroic moment in the movie, Rick persuades a tearful Ilsa that she has to leave him behind and get on the plane with Victor, because the work Victor is doing to defeat the Nazis is too important.
Rick: Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that.
Rick lets Ilsa know he forgives her for leaving, and that he still loves her and will fondly remember her and their time in Paris. There's not a dry eye in the house when he utters this classic line.
Rick has just shot and killed Major Strasser as the Nazi tried to stop Victor and Ilsa's plane from taking off. Renault is the only witness. When the rest of the police arrive, Rick (and the audience) don't know what Renault is going to do. When he tells his staff to "round up the usual suspects," and doesn't turn Rick in, we cheer for Renault fina...
The ivory military uniform Rains wore in Casablanca was sold at auction in 2011 for $55,000. Rains became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1939.
Claude Rains was a British actor who starred in many classic films, including Casablanca, where he played Captain Louis Renault. He was nominated for four Oscars but never won. See his full biography, filmography, awards, photos and videos on IMDb.
Sep 15, 1996 · In “Casablanca,” he plays Rick Blaine, the hard-drinking American running a nightclub in Casablanca when Morocco was a crossroads for spies, traitors, Nazis and the French Resistance. The opening scenes dance with comedy; the dialogue combines the cynical with the weary; wisecracks with epigrams.
