Casinos have been the subject or backdrop of many a program or film throughout TV and cinema history. From the early days when black and whites ruled the cinemas, to the latest blockbuster releases such as the soon to be released Casino Royale, we have had our eye on casino themed shows and movies. Perhaps one of the most memorable movies in this series is Casablanca. This 1942 movie, based on the book “Casablanca: The Film of the Cowboy Years” by Richard Jessup, told the story of a pair of gamblers, Rick andammy (played by Edward G. Robinson andJoeolli). The scene where the two walk through the casino and are almost immediately set up by the teller and the way they exchange hands is priceless.
The two are immediately set up with a friendly attitude by the casino teller and this leads to the first scene where Rick takes a look at the roulette wheel and declares it to be his if he wins and “cries” if he loses. The lines thatRick andammy cheated by joining hands and placing a set of double bets on different numbers and they exchange hands a total of 30 times. They spend an total of 30 times at the roulette wheel. This exchange of hands is emply planned by the teller who gives them both the American and European roulette systems. Upon closer inspection it appears that this movie was shot on a sound stage and the audience is carried away in the scene of the exchange of hand. Rick sees this and misunderstands Rick’s hand, thinking it to mean that the two will split the bet. He becomes extremely excited and misunderstands the casino host as well, thinking his system of betting double on numbers between 1 and 18 to win the game.
In the next scene, our intrepid hero has a talk with his brother about the latter’s new found greed and explains to him that whatever he chooses, it should be agreed beforehand. He then looks at the roulette and replies, “I don’t believe in luck, lady luck. I believe in a higher force – God.”
Near the end of the film, our hero has one last try at the roulette and indeed wins big – again. However, he has become so irritated that he drops his chips to the floor and begins yelling at the top of his lungs in anger. The lead croupier at the roulette table (played by Tedaa Wood) uses her abilities to spin the ball in an Olivers direction and the ball stops on a certain number and it is announced to the audience. The commentator ( Rosanna Arlotis ), announces the winning number and also announces the amount won.
Our hero (played by Edward Norton) goes home and waits for the mail order that the newspaper bets arrived in the post. When he opened it, he found a letter from his casino that he had written. He had mentioned a “big win” and the name of the afapoker. He had also specified the casino in the title of the letter.
When he was getting ready to go out, he stopped to think about what the “big win” could mean to him. He imagined it to be millions of dollars and he realized that he could never win such a sum of money since he had only the money with him. But the thought that the casino could be out there and not think about coming out of the casino made him very happy. At that moment, he thought that the “big win” would enable him to live a comfortable life.
