The Casablanca Score

The majority of film soundtrack and movie score efforts are meant to serve as an emotional backdrop that adds extra emphasis to particular scenes or feelings. On the other hand, there are rare cases where the actual film soundtrack is integral to the plot of the movie. Such is the case with Casablanca, the Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman vehicle that uses the music in a larger function than most ordinary films. As with many movies of the time, Max Steiner was responsible for selecting the songs and the composing duties in some cases. His success is one of the great musical stories found in the classic movies genre.

Most of the music that is found on the Casablanca film soundtrack actually existed before the movie. Two of the main themes that are used in the movie are national anthems. Steiner chose the national anthem of France, La Marseillaise, to represent the efforts of the Allied forces. In opposition, the nation anthem of Germany, Deutschlandlied, is used to represent the Nazi forces. These songs show up continually throughout the film and help to set the tension of the movie, such as in the scene where both anthems are played at the same time in the restaurant that is owned by the Humphrey Bogart character.

Although the national anthems are important, they are not the most memorable pieces of music that exist in the film soundtrack. The main song is As Time Goes By, which was originally written and performed by Herman Hupfeld. In the movie, a slowed down version is sung by Dooley Wilson and represents the former relationship that existed between the characters of Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart. Before the movie came out, the song had largely disappeared from radio play, but the success of the film brought the song to new listeners and became one of the symbols of the Casablanca movie.