Left: A view inside Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca, Morocco

Bottom: A view outside Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca, Morocco

Casablanca gave allied forces a propaganda boost as they gained control of North Africa, which became a springboard from which to liberate western Europe.

The film’s US release came in January 1943 as president Theodore Roosevelt took part in the Casablanca Conference in preparation for that push.

Historian Meredith Hindley, author of a book on wartime Casablanca, said the film formed “part of the American war experience in a way that was never intended.”

“It just becomes part of the American cultural fabric,” she said.

The movie has remained one of Hollywood’s most beloved works.

American drummer Najib Salim, who has performed at Rick’s Cafe for 15 years, described it as “timeless.”

“It will always be anchored in legend,” he said.