The iconic co-star Humphrey Bogart hated working with: “They weren’t even friends”
Few films will ever reach the mythological status of the masterpiece Casablanca, starring the great Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. People would like to believe that everything behind the scenes aligns with the mythos, such as a romance happening between the two lead stars, but this is far from the truth.
The war romance movie released amid World War II itself follows American expat Rick Blaine, who is running a cafe in French Morocco, largely minding his own business, when his former lover Ilsa Lund reappears. Rick believed he was unjustly spurned by Ilsa, but learns that she left him because she found out that her husband Victor Laszlo (played by Paul Henreid) was still alive. Now, Rick must choose whether to help Victor, a resistance leader, escape the Nazis, while facing the matter of whether Ilsa will go with him.
In an uplifting, bittersweet conclusion, Rick makes Ilsa leave with her husband, and it is implied that he and Claude Rains’s Louis Renault will continue to fight tyranny elsewhere, ending with the legendary line, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Despite Victor being portrayed as an inherently good character, the drama obviously hinges on Rick and Ilsa, their chemistry charging the whole film. Per BBC News, “Bogart’s wife at the time, Mayo Methot, was convinced he was having an affair with Bergman, and repeatedly confronted Bogart with her suspicions during shooting.”
But when Bogart and Bergman’s families met for the 60th anniversary screening of Casablanca, they debunked any lingering rumours about the two stars’ relationship. Bogart’s widow, Lauren Bacall, and their son, Stephen Bogart, were in attendance, along with Bergman’s daughters, Pia Lindstrom, Isabella Rossellini, and Ingrid Rossellini. There, Lindstrom told the younger Bogart about her mother, “She didn’t really get on with your father.” Stephen agreed with this comment.
“It was very mysterious, because they weren’t even friends,” said Isabella Rossellini, while Bacall commented, “They did have chemistry on screen, but I don’t think they were at it off screen.” The BBC also mentions that Bergman did not even want to make Casablanca, but took it on after losing her preferred role in For Whom the Bell Tolls. “In later years, my mother’s eyes used to glaze over whenever someone mentioned Casablanca,” said Lindstrom. “It really wasn’t her favourite movie-making experience.”
Such is the nature of the great myths of Hollywood: the cast and crew didn’t necessarily know Casablanca was going to go down in history as one of the greatest films of all time, and while working, they were just doing their best on a new project with colleagues they may or may not have liked. While their families aren’t likely to dish on the most dramatic behind-the-scenes moments, these comments suggest that Bogart and Bergman’s relationship was professional but cool, a testament to both their talents in front of the camera.
Casablanca went on to win the Oscars for ‘Best Picture,’ ‘Best Director,’ and ‘Best Screenplay,’ in addition to five more nominations, including acting nods for Bogart and Rains (though not Bergman). Bergman, at least, did not look back on the experience all too fondly, as much as it helped make her an immortal name in cinematic history.
