10 Films That Should Never Be Remade

5. Casablanca

Many war films – particularly surrounding World War 2 – retell the bloody massacres of different battles. The D-Day landings have been recreated so many times in Hollywood that I might make a different top 10 dedicated to it.

Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca, however, tells a contained narrative of the life of Rick Blaine.

Escaping the German invasion of France, Rick moves to the Moroccan town that the film is named after, opening a club named Rick’s. Having believed he had left his old life behind in Paris, his past comes back to haunt him as his ex-lover, Ilsa, flees to Casablanca with her new husband.

As one of the few war films ever to be released during the time of the war that the narrative discusses, Casablanca is a classic period piece that, had it been released even so much as a decade later, would not have had such a huge impact on Hollywood.

Between beautifully dour musical numbers, the building animosity between Axis and Allied soldiers and the undeniable chemistry between Bogart and Bergman, Casablanca is still regarded as one of the greatest war-time narratives and taught on many university film courses.

Casablanca is about to turn eighty years old and remains a compelling watch to this day.