The Real Refugees of Casablanca

About this episode

The episode explores the real-life refugees who inspired the characters in the classic film Casablanca.

When the Hollywood classic, Casablanca, was released in 1943, moviegoers were thrilled by the love story. Humphrey Bogart stars as the cynical owner of Rick’s Cafe, a nightclub in Morocco. Ingrid Bergman is his old flame, Ilsa, now married to Victor Laszlo, a dashing resistance leader hunted by the Nazis. Many of the characters at Rick's Café are European refugees trying to make their way to America. What most viewers didn't know is that those characters were played by actors who themselves had recently fled the Nazis. This casting choice lent the film an authenticity that helped deliver its message: that a war far from our borders was a war worth waging. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Topics covered

• film history
• refugees
• World War II
• Hollywood
• casting choices

Keywords

• Casablanca
• refugees
• Humphrey Bogart
• Ingrid Bergman
• Nazis
• Hollywood
• World War II

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Nazis

Books & works: Casablanca

Places: Casablanca, Morocco

More episodes of Radio Diaries

• 30 Years of Teenage Diaries · June 4, 2026 · 16 min
• The Almost Astronaut · May 21, 2026 · 22 min
• Willie McGee and the Traveling Electric Chair · May 7, 2026 · 28 min
• Sealab: A Home on the Ocean Floor · April 23, 2026 · 20 min
• Guest Spotlight: William Parker's War on Slave Catchers · April 2, 2026 · 39 min
• Detained: A Homecoming · March 27, 2026 · 16 min