| Ask one hundred people
to name the Ten Best Movies ever made, chances are
that over ninety of them will list the classic Casablanca
among the first five. Sixty years and three generations
later this superb film still lives up to the true
definition of a classic. Casablanca has intrigue,
unrequited love, bravery, Academy Award level acting,
and boasts an exotic setting reminiscent of the early
days of World War II.
Perhaps one of the best kept secrets in Hollywood
is that the Golden Age movie was not filmed in Casablanca.
It was filmed on location in and near Hollywood. The
set design resembled the coastal North African entrepot
so perfectly that viewers were not able to tell the
difference.
Over the years, Rick’s Café has become
a romantic symbol for Casablanca, for the Casablanca
then and for the Casablanca of 2003. Yet it never
really existed outside Hollywood – until now.
Rick’s Café will soon see the light of
day with a formal opening scheduled for this autumn
in Casablanca. Arising from the celluloid ashes, Rick’s
Café is the dream of Kathy Kriger, a retired
US Foreign Commercial Service officer whose last post
was Commercial Counselor at the American Consulate
in Casablanca. Like so many visitors to Casablanca
(this writer included), shortly after her arrival
in Casablanca in 1998, she went looking for traces
of Rick’s Café Americain, only to discover
that it had never really existed.
The story could have easily ended there had it not
been for 9/11. The horror of the terrorist attacks
on the US and the resultant backlash against the Muslim
world convinced Kathy Kriger that her mission was
to show Americans that Morocco was a very special
place. Her goal was to reveal Morocco’s landscape
of multi-cultural religious and social tolerance,
where Americans are welcomed guests in the traditional
Arab-Berber-Andalusian sense. Her solution: create
Rick’s Café in Casablanca.
What seemed like an impossible dream has now come
to life. With the support and encouragement of the
Wali (Mayor) of Casablanca, Kriger knew that it would
work: “It’s the only project that I was
certain to succeed in. Rick’s Café is
already an institution; it has sixty years of history
behind it.” Although Kriger originally presumed
that a location on the popular upscale seaside Corniche
would draw the tourist crowd, the Wali advised her
to look for a building in the Old Medina. It did not
take long for her to find the perfect site. Actually,
the location was a perfect seafront building in the
old town. Although it had to be completely gutted,
once open it will recreate what Hollywood made mythic.
Note carefully to this story that Kathy Kriger did
not hesitate to do what many of us would consider
foolhardy. She sold her retirement house in Marrakech,
took a sabbatical leave from the Foreign Commercial
Service, and set out to find investors who would buy
into her dream. The “Usual Suspects” was
born - a group of investors from all over the world,
friends of Kathy’s, and ten Moroccans, all of
whom bought shares in Rick’s Place.
A tour of the building site and a close inspection
of the architectural plans convinced this writer that
Rick’s Café has come to life. It will
realize Kathy’s dream and stand at the crossroads
of her passions for tourism, cuisine, cinema, restoration
of historical sites, and furthering American-Moroccan
relations.
Construction began in March. Rick’s Café
should open in early October. The ground floor will
resemble the main set of the movie, featuring the
bar and the piano. The first floor will house a restaurant
surrounding a ryad-like gallery, from which the guests
will be able to view the piano and the crowd below.
Just as Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) lived upstairs,
so will Kathy Kriger. Her living quarters will rise
above the fun, with a terrace that overlooks the Port
of Casablanca. According to Kathy, the décor
will be inspired by the movie, as will the ambience.
Renowned American interior designer Bill Willis, who
has lived in Marrakech for four decades and has restored
dozens of ryads in the Marrakech Medina, is in charge
of bringing this special ambience to life. Kriger
closes by stating simply: “I want to create a
nostalgic place that inspires the essence of the 1940’s
that will attract tourist, expatriates, and also Moroccans
who want to gather with their friends.” In fact,
there is a special room set aside on the first floor
just for the Usual Suspects. Rick’s Café
will be THE Place to go and to be seen in Casablanca
for years to come. |
