Victor (Paul Henreid)’s Timeline and Summary
- After meeting and marrying Ilsa Lund (while seemingly being cool with her keeping her maiden name), Victor gets in trouble for running an underground newspaper in Prague, and was sent to a concentration camp.
- He escapes, however (escaping from concentration camps—that was a thing?) and proceeds to lead the Gestapo on a wild goose chase across all over Europe.
- Arriving with his wife in Casablanca, the pair enter a club called Rick's. They've come here for a couple letters of transit Victor has heard are floating around, but the guy who was supposed to sell them to him is now floating around, too—probably somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea.
- Victor then meets the proprietor, Rick Blaine, who seems to know his wife. He kinda puts two and two together right there, although he really doesn't want to think about four right now.
- Victor and Ilsa meet the next morning in the office of Captain Renault, the Prefect of Police. They've been summoned there by Major Strasser, a member of the Gestapo, who wants to make sure they're having a pleasant stay, and to help them get where they're trying to go as long as Laszlo is willing to name some names. He isn't.
- Victor and Ilsa pay a visit to Ferrari, the owner of another club, who tells them that their best bet to get exit visas will be to talk to Rick.
- Victor goes to Rick and tries to buy the letters of transit that are in his possession, but Rick ain't selling. Not to the man who's got his woman. All Rick says to him is, "ask your wife." He doesn't need a Rick-to-Victor dictionary to figure out what that means.
- Back in their hotel room, Victor informs Ilsa of his failure to procure the letters of transit, then tells her he has to head out to attend an underground meeting. Bad planning on his part, because he probably could have totally gotten a pity make-out sesh.
- Late that night, and very much off-screen, Ilsa advises Victor that Rick has relented, and they are to go to Rick's place the next day to retrieve the letters of transit.
- Just as Rick hands Victor the visas, Renault pops up and moves in to arrest Victor. But Rick pulls a gun on Renault and instead forces him to let Victor and Ilsa go free, escorting them to the airport so they can make their escape. And he is…outta there!
- Victor flies off to Lisbon with Ilsa en route, we hope, to America to drum up U.S. support for the Allies.