Tools of Characterization

Characterization in Casablanca

Clothing

You've seen films where the costumes have dazzled. Vivien Leigh's curtain dress in Gone with the Wind. Audrey Hepburn's high fashion look in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Gwyneth Paltrow's fat suit in Shallow Hal.

The one thing these movies all had in common? They were in color.

Which really says something about the fact that the clothes worn by the characters in Casablanca stay with you, even when they're a bit monochromatic.

Rick's white suit jacket, rather than the typical darker toned jacket, instantly tells us that we're dealing with a person who marches to the beat of his own drummer. He isn't some lemming that dresses the same way everyone else does, no siree. The white jacket jumps out in this B/W film.

And what about that scarf wrapped around Ilsa's head? It tells us that she is a well-traveled woman of glamour, who's perhaps hiding a secret or two she doesn't wish for the world to see.

Many characters in the film are trying to lay low, to be as inconspicuous as possible to avoid being arrested, shot, or discovered trying to buy or sell visas. Not so the guys in uniforms. They know who they are and how they want to be perceived, especially the ones with the swastikas.

Laszlo's dignified, sophisticated appearance; Strasser and Renault's strict, official looking uniforms; we can still instantly recall them even years after watching the film. To test this theory, put a note in your calendar to try recalling them five years from now. Let us know how that goes.

Speech and Dialogue

Want to know how much each character in Casablanca is pulling the strings? Check out how witty their dialogue is.

Rick, who ends up holding all the cards in the end, is the drollest of them all. He has never been on the receiving end of a line for which he couldn't think of a quick comeback. Renault is close behind him in this department, but his bantering skills are not quite at Rick's level; then, of course, he's bested by him at the airport.

Victor, smart man that he is, would probably take the bronze. He's got a lot going on upstairs, but he's also been kept in the dark about a great many things, and it shows in his repartee, which perhaps isn't as sharp as it could be. He's serious and earnest like his politics. Then we've got Ilsa, who doesn't even know until the last second that she's about to hop on a plane. Even if she is conveniently and thoroughly packed. Ilsa can speak in ambiguous and unfinished sentences. There are a lot of things she just doesn't want to discuss.

Strasser brings up the rear. He tries to hang with the big boys, but he's not really wise enough to successfully deliver wisecracks. He relies on threats and intimidation, neither of which work on Rick.

The screenwriters clearly placed a value on intelligence and quick-wittedness, and the story they have presented is one that demonstrates survival of the smartest.

Food

Well, not food so much as drink. The fact that a depressed Rick plunges himself into the depths of alcoholism tells us that he's prone to excess—not just in his drinking habits but in all aspects of life. He also refuses to drink with his customers, identifying him as a loner. He finally agrees to drink with Ilsa, showing that he is willing to let someone in. But only a very special someone.

Meanwhile, Victor, who is used to having to be tricky and deceitful in order to escape from concentration camps and avoid the grasp of the Gestapo, is seen ordering four different drinks during the course of the film. He is a chameleon, and wholly unpredictable, and needs to be that way in order to survive.

This also explains why Victor is spotted briefly climbing a tree and consciously changing his hue to a dark brown bark-y color. You have to really be looking to see it.