Question 1

True or false: The famous line 'Play it again, Sam' is never actually spoken in Casablanca.

Accepted Answer

True. The closest line is Ingrid Bergman saying 'Play it, Sam' and then 'Play it once, Sam.' The misquote became famous from a 1970s musical parody.

Question 2

True or false: The character of Rick was based on a real American expatriate who ran a bar in Casablanca.

Accepted Answer

False. Rick is a fictional composite. The play 'Everybody Comes to Rick's' was inspired by American expats in general, not one specific person.

Question 3

True or false: Humphrey Bogart actually learned to play the piano for his role as Rick.

Accepted Answer

False. Rick Blaine, Bogart's character, doesn't play the piano in Casablanca. Dooley Wilson's Sam performs the music, with a professional pianist's hands filmed for close-ups as Wilson mimed.

Question 4

True or false: 'As Time Goes By' was a hit song from the 1930s, not written for the film.

Accepted Answer

True. The song was written by Herman Hupfeld in 1931 for a Broadway show. It was already a decade old when Casablanca revived its popularity.

Question 5

True or false: Rick and Ilsa's backstory in Paris was mostly improvised by the actors on set.

Accepted Answer

False. The Paris flashback was carefully scripted by the Epstein twins and Howard Koch. The film was famously tightly written despite last-minute rewrites.

Question 6

True or false: Casablanca's ending was decided only days before shooting, surprising even the cast.

Accepted Answer

True. The script was being rewritten during filming. The final airport scene was written just days before, and the cast didn't know Rick would let Ilsa go until then.

Question 7

True or false: Casablanca was the first Hollywood film to show a character openly smoking marijuana.

Accepted Answer

False. No character smokes marijuana in Casablanca. This is a persistent internet myth likely confused with other films from the era.

Question 8

True or false: Casablanca won the Academy Award for Best Picture despite not being nominated for Best Director.

Accepted Answer

False. Casablanca won Best Picture in 1944, and Michael Curtiz was nominated for Best Director—and won. So the claim it wasn't nominated is false.

Casablanca Trivia Questions