Why was Casablanca kept from North African audiences, according to the In Our Time panel?

The In Our Time panel explains that the Office of War Information blocked screenings in North Africa on the advice of Robert Riskin, Frank Capra's screenwriter, who was then an executive in its overseas branch, because of the likely French reaction. America still had diplomatic relations with Vichy France when the film was made, and the studio worried about that market.

• Pamela Hutchinson says the Office of War Information gave producers seven questions, the first being whether a picture would help win the war.
• One panellist found Casablanca missing from most French encyclopedias and suspects it played poorly in post-war France.
• Hutchinson notes contemporary reviews mostly read the film's message as anti-Vichy.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on In Our Time (2026-10-29). Read the whole episode summary →

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