Several unfounded rumors and misconceptions have grown up around the film, one being that Ronald Reagan was originally chosen to play Rick. This originated in a press release issued by the studio early on in the film's development. By that time the studio already knew that he was going into the Army and he was never seriously considered.[174] George Raft claimed that he had turned down the lead role but studio records make it clear that Wallis was committed to Bogart from the start.[175]
Another story is that the actors did not know until the last day of shooting how the film was to end. Koch later acknowledged:
When we began, we didn't have a finished script ... Ingrid Bergman came to me and said, "Which man should I love more ...?" I said to her, "I don't know ... play them both evenly." You see we didn't have an ending, so we didn't know what was going to happen![176]
While rewrites did occur during filming, Aljean Harmetz's examination of the scripts has shown that many of the key scenes were shot after Bergman knew how the film would end; any confusion was, according to critic Roger Ebert, "emotional", not "factual".[15]
The film has several logical flaws, one being the two "letters of transit" that enable their bearers to leave Vichy French territory. Ugarte says the letters had been signed by (depending on the listener) either Vichy General Weygand or Free French General de Gaulle. The French subtitles on the official DVD read Weygand; the English ones specify de Gaulle. Weygand had been the Vichy delegate-general for the North African colonies until November 1941, a month before the film is set. De Gaulle was the head of the Free French government in exile, so a letter signed by him would have provided no benefit.[61] The letters were invented as a MacGuffin by Joan Alison for the original play and never questioned.[177]
In the same vein, though Laszlo asserts that the Nazis cannot arrest him, saying, "This is still unoccupied France; any violation of neutrality would reflect on Captain Renault", Ebert points out, "It makes no sense that he could walk around freely. ... He would be arrested on sight."[15] No uniformed German troops were stationed in Casablanca during World War II, and neither American nor French troops occupied Berlin in 1918, despite Renault's retort to Strasser, who calls Rick a "blundering American".[61]
A line closely associated with Casablanca—"Play it again, Sam"—is not spoken in the film.[178][179] When Ilsa first enters the Café Américain, she spots Sam and asks him, "Play it once, Sam, for old times' sake." After he feigns ignorance, she responds, "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'." Later that night, alone with Sam, Rick says, "You played it for her, you can play it for me", and "If she can stand it, I can! Play it!"[180]
