The Real Refugees of Casablanca
Radio Diaries
Radio Diaries & Radiotopia
4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 19 March 2026
⏱️ 11 minutes
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Summary
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.
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| 1:23.7 | A kiss is just a kiss. |
| 1:26.7 | A sigh is just a kiss. A sigh is just a side. |
| 1:31.0 | When the Hollywood classic Casablanca was released in January of 1943, |
| 1:36.5 | moviegoers were thrilled by the love story. |
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