money (casablanca)

Question 1

money is a very powerful force

Answer 1

•money is central to Casablanca
•those without money are trapped and controlled with little hope of escape

Question 2

casablanca has many references to money

Answer 2

•the opening voice over tells us that those who can purchase an exit via can escape, while those who can’t mis ‘wait and wait and wait’.

Question 3

ugarte tells rick what

Answer 3

•that he will sell the visa for ‘more money than even I have dreamed of’, then ironically pays for them with his life, just as the German couriers did

Question 4

what does the huge sums of money offered for the exit visas underline

Answer 4

•the desperation of Laszlo and Ilsa to escape
•this desperation is emphasized by the setting of much of the film being in a casino. the desperate refugees are literally gambling with their lives

Question 5

people can be bought and sold in Casblanca. According to Ferrari…

Answer 5

human beings are Casablanca’s ‘leading commodity’

Question 6

everyone seems to have a price on Casablanca

Answer 6

•rick has a ‘price on his head’ and had to flee Paris
•Ferrari offers to buy sam
•Captain Renault offers Rick a large bribe for Laszlo’s capture
•they both bet on whether Laszlo will escape or not

Question 7

as General Stasser tells Ilsa..

Answer 7

•’In Casablanca, life is cheap’.
•some characters are even driven to selling themselves- the young Bulgarian woman is willing to sell herself to Renault to gain freedom for her and her husband