Part of the myth of Casablanca is the possible other casts the film could have had – Ronald Reagan, George Raft, etc. Well here’s a chance to listen to the story with a different cast: Alan Ladd, Hedy Lamarr, John Loder and Edgar Barrier. Ladd subs for Bogie and actually doesn’t do too badly – he can’t do the tormented stuff that well (he struggles during the drunk scene – mind you Bogart wasn’t that great at it either), but at least the role is within his persona. Lamarr isn’t as effective; she’s OK and she would have looked good, but she doesn’t quite get Bergman’s “oh I’m just a slave to my emotions” thing (Lamarr always had more drive about her persona).
Still, I reckon Casablanca would have still been a classic with those two playing Rick and Isla– but not with the rest of the cast, none of whom are up to Rains, Lorre, Greenstreet, Veidt, Henreid, etc. John Loder (Lamarr’s real life husband at the time) is awful and the others pale imitators of the originals. It’s still an exciting fast paced story – but you realise why they call Casablanca the happiest of happy accidents.
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