Improvisation is probably one of the most crucially underrated elements of the creative process, no matter what the medium. The on-the-fly nature of filmmaking gives directors and actors a wealth of freedom to experiment with ideas that come to them on set, even if they deviate from the script. While some directors are notorious sticklers for detail (we're looking at you, Kubrick), others have, either through necessity or by viewing filmmaking as a collaborative process, been keen to just let the camera roll and see what the performers could come up with. These are 10 iconic cinematic moments, the vast majority of which you'll probably have no idea were ever improvised; these moments are so genius in of themselves that one assumes they surely must have been planned and pained over during the writing process. Here are 10 amazing improvised movie moments.
10. Casablanca - "Here's Lookin' At You, Kid"
The most manly romance of all time owes a lot of its success to Humphrey Bogart's steely portrayal of Rick Blane, but many aren't aware quite how much the film owes to him, as the film's signature send-off was concocted by Bogart himself. In the moving final scene, in which Rick says goodbye to Lisa (Ingrid Bergman), he takes a look at her and says "Here's lookin' at you, kid", a phrase that at once says a lot about Blane's painful goodbye, but manages to keep him in good stead as the pillar of masculinity that he is widely known as. The line is exempt from the script, and reportedly was something that Bogie would say to Bergman in between takes while attempting to teach her poker. That this made it into the film is just a testament to Bogart's somewhat under-appreciated genius as an artist, ensuring that the scene would become an iconic one and live on in the annals of film history.