Pictured from left: Sydney Greenstreet, Paul Henreid, Ingrid Bergman

The use of shadows intently cast over bodies and faces is a recurring theme in the film CASABLANCA (1942). We see them almost every time Ilsa (Bergman, right) and Lazlo (Henreid, center) are in a scene, portraying their physical trappings inside the city of Vichy controlled Casablanca in French Morocco. In this particular shot, the shadows featured most prominently, perhaps at their most obvious use in the movie, are the cross bars sprawled over the bodies of Ilsa and Lazlo, again indicating imprisonment, literally and, on a deeper level, emotional turmoil. The cross pattern also makes me think of the Christian cross, bringing to mind the symbol of the French Resistance, perhaps implying a higher power looking over them. Perhaps.

Another noteworthy lighting effect is the palms shadows cast on the back of Signor Ferrari (Greenstreet, left). Ferrari is setup earlier in the film as an immigrant willingly integrating himself into a forced society in hopes of successfull financial opportunities, both legal and illegal. This is in contrast to Rick’s (Bogart, not pictured) subtle, almost defiant, integration into Nazi-supported Casablanca; a good man whose seemingly apolitical front is subtly eroded throughout the entire film to reveal early leftist affiliations. In other scenes between Rick and Ferrari, Bogart is almost always wearing a fedora hat in counterpoint to Greentstreet in a North African fez (seen in this shot).

The shadow motif extends also to the costuming, in particular with Ingird Bergman’s Ilsa. The oblique horizontal black stripes of her blouse against her white dress further deepen the theme of confinement and restrained liberty along with the shadow bars previously noted. Bergman’s overly wide brimmed hat, especially in the following scene with Bogart (donning his American Prohibition, Great Depression-era fedora, the stripes of his tie mirroring her blouse) in the street market, hides and reveals her face, taking it alternately in and out of shadow, mostly her eyes – almost always glistening with tears and highlighted with intricate and detailed twinkling light techniques. The costuming technique, also used with Bogart and his fedora, helps to illustrate the inner turmoil and emotional conflict the characters are enduring. In the case of Bergman, however, the technique also was implemented to frame her face, particularly in ebbing down the size of her prominent forehead. In addition to the careful costuming of Bergman, specific lighting was taken into consideration when photographing Bergman. In close-ups, Bergman’s face is lit so that shadows structured her cheek bones and emphasized her left profile (cinematographer Arthur Edeson has stated that Bergman photographed beautifully either in 3/4 quarter or full profile, almost always exclusively with the left side of her face).

Throughout the entire film, Artur Edeson’s use of shadow and light recall his earlier work in the film noir THE MALTESE FALCON (1941), and even bring to mind inspirations such as the work of Willy Hameister in THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920) and other German Expressionist photographers, which brought a particular eclectic taste to his predominantly early Hollywood realist work.

…and that’s a wrap!