Where Was “Casablanca” Filmed? - Peerspace

According to an article on The Studio Tour, it was almost entirely on one specific set, the French Street: “A block of ‘European’ style three story storefronts, including an interior café set used as Luke’s in the television series Gilmore Girls. The second level exteriors consist of multiple shuttered French windows (some with wrought iron railings), and the third level has a mansard roofline with dormer windows. The most noted project shot on French Street was Casablanca starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.”

This location was also prominently featured in the love letter to Hollywood, “La La Land,” starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. That said, the majority of “Casablanca” takes place in one location: the nightclub that Humphrey Bogart’s character, Rick, operates, called Rick’s Café Américain. This made for much simpler logistics for Warner Bros., who were able to film nearly all of the movie on their own backlot.

Where is the airport from “Casablanca”?

We’ve partly answered the question, “Where was Casablanca filmed?” However, we have one more iconic location from the movie to cover. At the end of the movie, the characters await the arrival of Major Heinrich Strasser, played by Conrad Veidt, at an airport. It turns out this was filmed right in the neighborhood of Warner Bros. Studio, and they took advantage of the old Metropolitan Airport in Van Nuys.

An article from movie-locations.com chronicles some of the many changes that the airport has undergone over the 80 years since the film was released: “The site has since been incorporated into Van Nuys Airport, 6590 Hayvenhurst Avenue, occupying the area between Woodley Avenue to the east, Balboa Boulevard to the west, and Roscoe Boulevard and Vanowen Street.”

The site goes on to describe what became of the hangars that can be seen in the film: “When the airport was realigned, the two hangars were no longer contained within the terminal boundaries. Used as engineering workshops, they could be found on Waterman Drive, a tiny private street running west from Woodley Avenue between Daily Drive and Lindbergh Street, to the northeast of the airport lot.” Reportedly, nothing is left of the physical spaces that helped create “Casablanca.”