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Jaime Jarmin

Eunice Johnston

English 167

12 Oct. 2010

Table Lamp: Simple Prop Or Intended Prop?

In the film Casablanca, which was released in 1942, depicts the struggle for power

during World War II. The setting of the film is being held in the city of Casablanca, which is in

the African country of Morocco, and is being controlled by the French but is unoccupied. There

seems to be a lot of corruption with the leaders and the people of Casablanca, and this causes

people to want to leave the country of Morocco to make a better life somewhere else, such as the

United States. Refugees seeking to leave the country aren’t allowed to because they need hard-

to-get letters of transit that enable them to reach the United States. Rick is the main character in

the film, and is an American who owns a nightclub and gambling joint in Casablanca. He claims

that he does not want anything to do with the letters of transit, but ultimately helps out anyway,

due to the fact that his previous love, Ilsa, showed up (along with her husband Victor Laszlo)

with the request for help.

My focus among the many visual elements will be the lamps that were placed on the

tables throughout the film Casablanca. The table lamps were the first visual element that really

struck me as odd at first, but then I began to see them as significant features within the film. I

was able to define a purpose for them throughout their appearances in a handful of scenes

throughout the film. The table lamps appeared in a lot of important scenes and this indicated that

these lamps served an important purpose in depicting the tensions between different characters.

Another purpose of the table lamps was to determine the relationships among certain characters
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in the film and the closeness of those relationships. The table lamps are not only a pretty piece of

the setting of the film, but can be used to understand the importance of the tensions in the air, the

walls certain characters are holding up, the secrets that some of the characters possess, and also

the relationships among the characters. While watching the film for the first time, I noticed the

awkward size of the lamp shades. They seemed too large for the size of the table, and also were

almost a distraction to what was happening in the film between the characters. But as I continued

to analyze the position of the lamps and also the scenes in which the table lamps appeared, I

noticed that they could be seen to serve a purpose.

The first still photo displays the scene between Rick, Major Strasser, Colonel Heinze, and

Louis. In this scene, Major Strasser is trying to pry information out of Rick and also out of his

past while in the midst of Colonel Heinze and Louis. Within the frame includes (from left to

right) the back of Rick’s head, Major Strasser, Louis, and Colonel Heinze, and in the center of

the frame is the table lamp. From the first glance, the lamp is the first thing that catches the eye

because of the size of the lamp. Its height and width of the lamp diverts the attention from the

characters around the table to the table lamp. The placement of this lamp creates a “wall” around

the characters, and also creates the illusion that they have their guards up. This “lamp barrier”

sets up the tone of the scene and also gives the audience insight as to how Rick will answer the

interrogating questions that Strasser asks him. The lamp also makes it look like the characters do

not have close relationships with each other, due to the fact that their guards are up in the first

place because of the high tension that is in the room. The men in the frame relate to the table

lamp by obstruction. The table lamp is obstructing the frame by its size, just like the men in the

frame are obstructing one another’s personal space and asking questions that are none of their

business. Both of the German officers are wearing opposite colored suits: light and dark. This is
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reflected through the openness that Strasser seems to have, who is wearing the lighter suit, and

the uptight attitude that Heinze portrays, who is wearing the darker suit. All of the men in this

frame are very clean-cut, and this could be ironic because they all seem to have a messy secret to

hide. Strasser and Louis’ faces appear to have a lighter shadow on one side and a darker shadow

on the other. This could symbolize the sinister nature of the characters, and also the secrets they

may possess. Both Rick and Heinze have shadows cast upon their heads, and this is indicative of

them not being open. Rick was being asked questions by Strasser and proceeded to not let on any

information, and Heinze didn’t want to speak much throughout the meeting. The image is very

sharp, and you can see the expressions on the faces of the men which are good implications

about what they are feeling and also thinking.

The second still frame from Casablanca portrays the scene where Victor and Ilsa first

come to Rick’s nightclub, and again, the table lamp is in the center of the frame and catches the

eye first. There is an obvious wall built up in front of Ilsa, and this can clearly be seen before

they even start speaking by the look on her face and also the awkward lamp that is separating the

two of them. Victor takes up the left side of the frame, the table lamp takes up the center, and

Ilsa takes up the right side, and this creates another illusion of separation and obstruction. Just as

though the lamp creates an automatic obstruction between the characters, Victor and Ilsa seem

obstructed by one another. Victor and Ilsa are both wearing light costumes, which make it look

like they are the “good” characters in a story, just as though the “good” cowboy in old western

films usually wore a white hat, and the “bad” cowboy usually wore a black hat. Both Victor and

Ilsa seem to have illuminated hair due to the lighting, and this gives the illusion that they are

almost heavenly in appearance. Victor has a slight dark shadow across the side of his face, but

the illusion that they are “good-hearted” people still remain. The image is sharp, which is usually
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the opposite when viewing a scene with Ilsa, who is usually seen with a fuzzy lens. This creates a

raw feel of what they may be talking about and what is on their mind.

The mise en scene adds to the understanding of the film by showing the importance of

certain props that do not straightforwardly explain the meaning of the situation going on. The

props, such as the table lamps, imply hidden meanings within the film. In Casablanca, the table

lamps symbolized an obstacle, or barrier, that was trying to be dealt with in the lives of Rick,

Victor, and Ilsa, just to name a few. The table lamps helped to decipher the tensions that were

prevalent between the characters in the film, and also demonstrated the walls that the characters

build up around themselves, acting like a hedge of protection.

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