#rick's cafe

[noirgasmweetheart]

Last July I had a dream that Ugarte took over Rick's Cafe, and everything plunged into insanity. Sadly, I can't remember the best parts.

@quanatural pardon me using your (amazing) gif. But it illustrates this dream perfectly.

This dream occurred during the week of ConVergence 2025. It's odd that I dreamed about "Casablanca," since "Star Trek" is what would have been strongest on my mind at the time. But whatever.

The dream combined "Casablanca" with "Hotel Berlin." Rick's Cafe was actually a cafe/hotel/casino. The building's layout was based on a modern hotel in my hometown that used to host an annual anime convention. The dining hall was in the middle of the building, with the rooms arranged in a rectangular pattern around it. I think this dream was in muted color, or maybe partially color and part black-and-white. The dining/gaming section in the middle was definitely in color; but the action occurring in the halls outside the rooms might have been black-and-white, or at least muted color.

Anyway, this dream took place after the events of the movie. Instead of selling his cafe to Signor Ferrari, Rick had sold it to some random guy. That rando might have then sold it to a second rando (I'm not sure). But eventually, the random guy who now owned Rick's appointed a not-quite-dead Ugarte as the new Head Waiter, which amounted to Manager (apparently). Under Ugarte's (lack of) management, the cafe-hotel almost immediately turned into a madhouse.

Frustratingly, I can't actually remember the specifics. I can't even remember seeing Ugarte say or do anything specific, I just that he was there and in charge.

What I do know is that in just one or two days, a laundry list of madcap misadventures branching off into other crazier stories played out. Someone I know then stopped by to ask what they'd missed, and I said something like, "I can't fathom how to even begin to summarize the insane shit that's happened here in just one day."

The fragments I do remember:

A gaming table where people were playing something like Battleship, with game boards that had real little explosions throughout the game-battles

Clark Gable suffered some kind of embarrassing injury, which made me laugh, because I hate him.

Faye Emerson also had an embarrassing fall or trip or something, while trying to run an errand of some kind. And I went "Awe," cuz I like her.

Even right after waking up, I couldn't remember anything more than this. I kept holding out hope that something else would come back to me, but nothing ever did. Maybe there never was anything more. Maybe what I remember now is all that actually happened "onscreen."

In any case, I am reminded of my "Columbo" dream. The one where Margaret Williams killed her evil stepmother Leslie, feuded with Leslie's ghost, and then ka-boomed Leslie's body at the funeral. This feels like it would fit right into this "Casablanca" scenario. If a rich teenager offered Ugarte globs of money for a few sticks of dynamite claiming that it was for a school project, he'd sell them to her in a heartbeat. Leslie and Margaret could be staying at the hotel, and/or Leslie's wake could be held there. I would not put it past Ugarte to rent out one room for an open-casket funeral right next to a room where people are dining or gaming.

It's so great when things just click together.

Anyway, if anyone wants to add or illustrate their own ideas for this scenario, go crazy.

[famousinuniverse]

Rick's Cafe, Negril, Jamaica: Thid beautiful little cliffside location was originally owned by a local doctor, the son of the first Governor General of independent Jamaica. In September 1988, Hurricane Gilbert completely destroyed Rick’s Café. Waves in excess of 25 feet crashed over the cliffs and treetops. After rebuilding, Rick’s Café came back more spectacular than ever... Negril is a small, widely dispersed beach resort and town located in Westmoreland and Hanover parishes at the far western part of Jamaica. Wikipedia

[vintagehollywood1]

Rick's Cafe in Morocco, Casablanca The café where the movie Casablanca was filmed ✨

[vintage-every-day]

1943

[fairiesandstarlight]

the sun is setting, and people are leaving, but your hand is resting on his shoulder, his arm around your waist, swaying to the beat of the jazz. his eyes are warm, the piano music is gentle, and your mind is hazy. you never thought you’d be here again, and but when you look at him, he feels like home. it was kismet. you would let fate take you on the emotional rollercoaster again, if only this moment could last forever. 

[marauderfan]

How could any American - or other movie buff - visit Casablanca and not go see Rick’s Café?! This photo brings me to the end of the Morocco visit, and you, my friends, will see something else from now on, unless somebody yells: ”Play it again, Susi”. Rick’s was a little underwhelming and over-booked.

[jasonraish]

The classic film Casablanca is more relevant today than it ever was. Themes of aliens in flux, trigger-happy law enforcement and intimidating political regimes. Written by my new pal James Charisma out in Hawaii. 3 full page illos. Follow the story in Beneficial Shock! issue 4: War & Peace now in stores and available online. It’s a fantastic UK based magazine for film lovers and design enthusiasts co-created by my pal and illustrator Phil Wrigglesworth whom I met when I lived in London 7 years ago.

http://www.beneficialshock.com/shop/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=61

[robinjamesskipper]