ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS: The Making...

ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS: The Making of “Casablanca”--Bogart, Bergman, and World War II by Aljean Harmetz (Hyperion: $12.95; 402 pp., illustrated). Harmetz traces the creation of “Casablanca,” from the play, “Everybody Comes to Rick’s” to the final cut of the film and the subsequent growth of its reputation. The result is a revealing study of the studio system during its much-vaunted heyday. Although she writes about the film with obvious affection, Harmetz maintains a thoughtful detachment that sets her work apart from run-of-the-mill Hollywood books: “There are better movies than Casablanca, but no other movie better demonstrates America’s mythological vision of itself--tough on the outside and moral within, capable of sacrifice and romance without sacrificing the individualism that conquered a continent, sticking its neck for everybody when circumstances demand heroism.”