Casablanca not formalised until 1910. Under the French rule, Muslim anti-Jewish riots occurred in 1908. The famous 1942 film "Casablanca" (starring Humphrey Bogart) underlined the city's colonial status at the time—depicting it as the scene of a power struggle between competing European powers. The film has a cosmopolitan cast of characters (American, French, German, Spaniard, Czech, Norwegian, Austrian, Bulgarian, Russian, and some other nationalities). Europeans formed almost half the population. During the 1940s and 1950s, Casablanca was a major centre of anti-French rioting. A bomb attack on 25 December 1953 (Christmas Day) caused 16 deaths. Operation Torch (initially called Operation Gymnast)
Casablanca (1955 TV series) ultimate winner turned out to be the British wartime naval saga, "In Which We Serve"), but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences insisted that since "Casablanca" was not released nationally until early 1943, it would compete at the Award ceremony taking place in 1944. Sixteen months after its New York premiere, "Casablanca" won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch. There were five additional nominations: Best Actor (Humphrey Bogart), Best Supporting Actor (Claude Rains), Best Cinematography, Black-and White (Arthur Edeson), Best Film Editing (Owen Marks) and Best