Casablanca: The TV Series (1983)

Casablanca: The TV Series (USA TV, 1983) 245 min color EXEC. PROD: David L. Wolper. PROD: Charles B. Fitzsimmons. MUSIC: Gerald Fried, Peter Matz. CAST: David Soul, Hector Elizondo, Scatman Crothers, Reuven Bar-Yotam, Kai Wulff, Patrick Horgan, Ray Liotta. (Olive Films)

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I don’t generally review TV shows, but how could I resist this? In 1983, NBC greenlit a series based on the iconic characters of the beloved 1942 movie, Casablanca. However, after five episodes, it quietly faded from view, only existing as a blip in the memories of TV addicts. (It wasn’t the first time that Casablanca was adapted for the small screen however; there was also an equally short-lived series in 1955, starring Peter Van Eyck.)

Kudos to Olive Films for unearthing this from the vaults and allowing this ambitious project a little more permanence: to be re-evaluated, or for many, to be seen for the first time. Is this series a misfire? Well no, not entirely.

The action still unfolds at “Rick’s Café Americain” in Morocco, a year before Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman’s characters would fatefully reunite. The Nazi presence in Casablanca is already visible, as the tenacious Major Strasser (played here by Patrick Horgan) attempts to foil Allied activities, only to be thwarted somehow by café owner Rick Blaine and the French police captain Renault.

David Soul, in between series runs of Starsky and Hutch and The Yellow Rose (another short-lived series equally deserving of a DVD release), has the thankless task of filling in for Humphrey Bogart in the role of Rick Blaine. He’s admirable: despite dying his blonde hair chestnut brown and sullenly smoking in white dinner jackets, he wisely doesn’t imitate the legendary actor, however the cynicism that Bogart lent to the role is sadly missing here.

Hector Elizondo is a great choice for Captain Renault, as his exotic features add flavour to the role. There is further pedigree in the casting of Scatman Crothers as the piano player Sam; each episode features him in a number with the café orchestra. (In fact, Crothers had spoofed the “Sam” character in the 1978 Neil Simon comedy, The Cheap Detective.)

Supporting characters played in the movie by Warner’s stock company are also featured. Reuven Bar-Yotam fills the Sydney Greenstreet role of rival café owner Ferrari, Arthur Malet is the waiter Carl (previously played by S.Z. Sakall), and the Leonid Kinskey role of Sacha the bartender is played by, of all people, a young Ray Liotta!

The filmmakers surely had their hearts in the right places: the series was filmed on whatever sets of the classic movie still remained, and the nostalgic tone is perfectly set in its opening credits sequence, featuring Sam and the other musicians in the café playing “As Time Goes By”. (The series doesn’t feel as though it’s in the 40s, with some 80s lighting and hair styles.)

Since this show predates the 1942 movie, there is little suspense regarding any of the main characters, as we know they will live to be in the classic Warner Brothers film that chronologically follows it. That isn’t necessarily a flaw, as we subconsciously know any characters, good or bad, featured in the opening credits of any TV show, will lick their wounds and come back for another episode.

What the series most lacks however is the dramatic tension between Rick and Ilsa (Bergman’s character). These five episodes seldom give Rick a love interest, even in passing. (In one installment however, Rick is smitten by a woman who reminds him of Ilsa.) Instead, it follows a routine pattern of Blaine and Renault somehow helping out the week’s guest star behind Strasser’s back. 

As evidenced by the original airdates of this show (five episodes stretched over four months!), obviously NBC had little faith in it, and this version of Casablanca was written off as “You mustn’t remember this…” The series isn’t sacrilegious to the iconic movie- it’s an honourable attempt that quickly ran its course.

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Originally published in Vol. #1, Issue 25.