Casablanca (film) 14, 2012, at Sotheby's for more than $600,000 to an anonymous bidder. The piano Sam "plays" in Rick's Café Américain, put up for auction with other film memorabilia by Turner Classic Movies at Bonhams in New York in November 2014, sold for $3.4 million. Although an initial release date was anticipated for early 1943, the film premiered at the Hollywood Theater in New York City on November 26, 1942, to coincide with the Allied invasion of North Africa and the capture of Casablanca. It went into general release on January 23, 1943, to take advantage of the Casablanca Conference, a
Casablanca (film) depths" as a "phenomenon worthy of awe." "Casablanca" holds a 97% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 77 reviews, with the consensus: "An undisputed masterpiece and perhaps Hollywood's quintessential statement on love and romance, "Casablanca" has only improved with age, boasting career-defining performances from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman." In the November/December 1982 issue of "American Film", Chuck Ross claimed that he retyped the screenplay to "Casablanca", changing the title back to "Everybody Comes to Rick's" and the name of the piano player to Dooley Wilson, and submitted it to 217 agencies. Eighty-five of them read it; of those,