Did Humphrey Bogart replace Ronald Reagan in Casablanca? This Hollywood rumor is older than the movie

Times of discover News: There is an old Hollywood rumor that Ronald Reagan was the original male lead in Casablanca, with a surprising background that is even older than the film itself. Before entering politics and serving as President of the United States, Ronald Reagan was famous for his work in movies. Although Reagan was not an A-list actor like Hollywood legend Humphrey Bogart, Reagan was a longtime star who starred in many films in the 1940s and 1950s. Most of his work was for Warner Bros., the studio he founded in 1943.

After a period of tremendous success, critical acclaim, and being a household favorite for decades, it has naturally been the subject of public discussion in recent years. There have been all kinds of rumors and behind-the-scenes stories about the Casablanca production and cast. One of the more interesting stories involves Ronald Reagan, who has nothing to do with the film. An old, unsubstantiated but widely circulated claim is that before Humphrey Bogart was cast to play Rick Blaine, Warner Bros. wasn't sure what to expect. Reagan was cast as the now iconic character.

There was never any real intention for Reagan to appear in Casablanca, but it's important to note that this rumor didn't spread out of thin air. Indeed, the basis for the claim comes from the studio itself, with Warner Bros. making a move to publicly attach Reagan's name to the project a year before the film hit theaters. In 1942, Warner Bros. shared a press release via The Hollywood Reporter announcing that Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan would star in Casablanca.

Although this may have given the impression that Reagan was involved, that was not the case. In this Hollywood era, actors had to work for specific studios under contract; both Reagan and Sheridan had deals with Warner Bros. at the time. As reported by Snopes, the study finds it important for actors' names to stay in the news in order to remain relevant. Despite the factual inaccuracy, honoring Reagan and Sheridan was deemed beneficial because they both starred in Kings Row, a film that was coming out when the 1942 press release was first sent out.

Further proving this point is the fact that Reagan and Sheridan were also projected as starring in Across the Pacific (which coincidentally was a Humphrey Bogart war film) in a separate press release. But like Casablanca, the process of casting the actors in advance was so rushed that Reagan never appeared in the film. It's worth noting that this is not an uncommon practice and is instead seen as a routine marketing move.

Not only is there no truth to the rumor, but this type of casting would have made no sense at the time. Reagan was certainly a talented actor, but at that stage of his career, it was hard to imagine him being cast in a high-profile film like Casablanca. He had been in a successful film, but Warner Bros. had recently released him. They began using him as a lead actor, but it was mostly comedies and much smaller projects. There was nothing Reagan had done in 1942 that could justify the decision to cast him as the tough, straight Rick Blaine in Casablanca.

The situation with Bogart was different. There was reason to doubt that he was even suitable for Rick Blaine, since he had no experience as a romantic lead, but his name was very popular in the early 1940s. He wasn't the industry's leading star, but his lead roles in films like The Maltese Falcon, They Drive by Night, and Dark Victory significantly elevated his status in Humphrey Bogart's unfortunate series of bad gangster films.

Ronald Reagan is actually one of several names linked to the character of Rick Blaine (George Raft is another), but based on what is known about the production, the role being given to Humphrey Bogart has never been debated. Casablanca producer Hal Wallis is adamant that Bogart play Rick. Additionally, contractual matters may dictate that Wallis has the final say on casting for the film. In other words, who plays Rick and Elsa is always Wallis' decision, not Warner Bros. Wallis reserved the right to choose any studio employee under his contract.

The way things turned out, and Casablanca's legacy that has kept it one of the best films of all time for decades, shows that Hal Wallis' instincts about Bogart were right. Giving the best performance of his career,