re: Why is Casablanca a top rated movie for you?

The best part of that scene is him taking his winnings right after he says that.

There are a good bit of "classic" movies that I haven't seen, and Casablanca was one of them until about 4 or 5 years ago. I remember watching it and immediately being mad at myself for never seeing it sooner. It was just beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, it was funny, it was suspenseful, the music was great, and every other line was something I had heard about all my life as some of the greatest movie lines of all time.

Everything about it was just plain great. I'm similar to someone earlier in the thread who said they don't normally like "old" movies, so when I watched it I honestly expected to think it was good, but be a little underwhelmed. And I was completely wrong. It's fantastic. And I remember thinking that this is what movies should strive to be.