22 August 2003

I probably should have pointed this out earlier, but unfortunately, these replica letters of transit wouldn't have done you much good in Casablanca: the artist fell into a common misconception and had the letters signed by "General De Gaulle" ("copied from the real thing!"). However, as the Casablanca goofs page on imdb.com makes clear, the letters of transit were actually signed by General Weygand (that is, Maxime Weygand, the Vichy minister of national defense), although Peter Lorre's accent makes this difficult to hear. Most people, including me, seem to hear "De Gaulle" when they first hear the line, despite the fact that De Gaulle's signature wouldn't have been very useful on a Vichy document.

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