Casablanca (film) right. The Jack Benny Fan Club can feel vindicated." The film was based on Murray Burnett and Joan Alison's then-unproduced play "Everybody Comes to Rick's". The Warner Bros. story analyst who read the play, Stephen Karnot, called it (approvingly) "sophisticated hokum", and story editor Irene Diamond, who had discovered the unproduced play on a trip to New York in 1941, convinced producer Hal Wallis to buy the rights in January 1942 for $20,000, the most anyone in Hollywood had ever paid for an unproduced play. The project was renamed "Casablanca", apparently in imitation of the 1938 hit "Algiers". Although an
Rick's Café Casablanca that depict that of the film; a port-oriented façade that looks to the Atlantic; and a narrow dead-end access which was the former main entrance but is now the service entrance. Because of the age of the structure and proximity to the sea, the mansion was totally restored and renovated. American architect/designer Bill Willis conceived the decorative and architectural details which enhanced the existing arches and balustrades to evoke the film “Casablanca.” Intricate antique brass floor and table lamps with metal shades strung with beads give off dramatic lighting effects, and on each table rests a specially designed brass lamp