My single most favorite scene in any movie ever is the scene in “Casablanca” where the German officers are standing around the piano in Rick’s Cafe, singing, when Victor Laszlo and his wife, Ilsa, walk in. After a few minutes of this effrontery, Laszlo walks to the orchestra and instructs them to start playing “La Marseillaise” loudly over the German singers. The Germans try to outsing Laszlo and the orchestra, but are drowned out by all the Frenchmen in the club, who spontaneously join in. Even the jaded woman who sings in the bar joins in with her guitar, singing at the top of her lungs, a tear rolling down her cheek. “Aux armes, citroyens! Formez vos bataillons! Marchons, marchons! Qu’un sang impur abreuve nos sillons !”
It’s the only decent scene Paul Henreid has in the whole movie. Here’s this amazing, iconic, utterly classic film full of top-notch performances and memorable moments, and poor Paul Henreid, who is supposed to be a great hero, reduced to looking like so much scenery except for this one section of the film. This Christian Science Monitor article from last week says that not only did Victor Laszlo get screwed over, so did Paul Henreid for most of his film career. Overshadowed by his role in “Casablanca”, he found it hard to shake off similar roles as noble European types, with the occasional Nazi thrown in for good measure.
What’s interesting is the parallel between his own personal life and the character of Victor Laszlo: Henreid was just barely able to sneak out of Nazi Austria as the Germans tightened control after the Anschlüss. He had refused to sign a Nazi loyalty oath, and the American immigration quota for Austria was already filled. Only the fact that he was born in Trieste, which was at that time controlled by Italy, got him out. In the film, of course, Laszlo and Ilsa escape Casablanca only through the intercession of Rick, who hold two letters of transit out of Morocco.
Paul Henreid became a director working primarily in television, directing numerous episodes for various Westerns such as “Maverick” and “Bonanza”, but he continued to act into the 1970s, his last role coming in “Exorcist II”.
