Let’s Play It Again

This year’s top Oscar nomination-getter is the sweeping World War II romantic epic “The English Patient,” which is nominated for 12 Oscars and won the Golden Globe for best dramatic picture. But even as time goes by, the quintessential World War II romance is still “Casablanca,” which won the 1943 best film Oscar.

Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains star in this delectable tale about a cynical nightclub owner (Bogart) in wartorn Casablanca whose life is turned upside down when the love of his life (Bergman) arrives at his club with her husband (Henreid), a fugitive underground leader. “Casablanca” was nominated for eight Oscars and took home three: best picture, director (Michael Curtiz) and screenplay (Howard Koch, Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein).

Here’s looking at the 16th annual Academy Awards ceremony which took place at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, March 2, 1944. Jack Benny was the host.