Social, Political, Historical Context

• Patriarchal society - "do it for the women"
• Pearl Harbour - 7/12/1941

  • Casablanca is set 5 days before (2/12/1941)
• Shows America's shift in opinion towards the war effort - Pearl Harbour caused America to join the war as they initially didn't want to due to recovering from the Great Depression
• 93% people didn't want to join the war before Pearl Harbour, 91% wanted to join after
• Hays code is firmly in place
• Power in international alliances, as promoted by the film - this opposes the Nazi ideology as Café Americain is seen as a safe haven/utopia
• Vichy agreement between France and Germany
• Film reflects America's (Rick) shift from isolationist to interventionalist