Casablanca (film) Los Angeles. Although "Casablanca" was an A-list film with established stars and first-rate writers, no one involved with its production expected it to be anything other than one of the hundreds of ordinary pictures produced by Hollywood that year. "Casablanca" was rushed into release to take advantage of the publicity from the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks earlier. It had its world premiere on November 26, 1942, in New York City and was released nationally in the United States on January 23, 1943. The film was a solid if unspectacular success in its initial run. Exceeding expectations,
Casablanca (film) that the film achieved a "near-perfect entertainment balance" of comedy, romance, and suspense. According to Roger Ebert, "Casablanca" is "probably on more lists of the greatest films of all time than any other single title, including "Citizen Kane"" because of its wider appeal. Ebert opined that "Citizen Kane" is generally considered to be a "greater" film, but "Casablanca" "is more loved." In his opinion, the film is popular because "the people in it are all so good", and it is "a wonderful gem". Ebert said that he has never heard of a negative review of the film, even though individual