Why a neurotic film critic sought dating advice from the ghost of Humphrey Bogart
In short: In the 1972 comedy Play It Again, Sam, a recently divorced writer named Allan Felix struggles to navigate the dating world. Haunted by his own insecurities, he conjures the spirit of Humphrey Bogart to teach him how to be a suave, sophisticated man—with predictably disastrous and hilarious results.
Written by and starring Woody Allen, the film is based on his 1969 Broadway play. While Allen typically directs his own work, Herbert Ross took the helm for this production. The story follows Allan Felix, a man obsessed with the 1942 classic Casablanca. Feeling inadequate after his marriage to Nancy ends, Allan turns to his best friend, Dick Christie, and Dick’s wife, Linda, for help. They attempt to set him up on a series of blind dates, but Allan’s attempts to mimic the cool, detached persona of Bogart’s character, Rick Blaine, only lead to clumsy failure.
The film’s central conceit involves Allan receiving dating advice from a hallucinated version of Bogart, played by Jerry Lacy. These interactions, alongside frequent flashbacks to conversations with his ex-wife, create a layered, neurotic internal world. The dynamic shifts when Allan develops genuine feelings for Linda. Unlike his other dates, he feels relaxed around her, eventually dropping the Bogart mask. However, the situation becomes complicated when he realizes his feelings are reciprocated, mirroring the doomed romance of Rick and Ilsa in Casablanca.
The film concludes with a deliberate homage to the iconic ending of Casablanca, complete with fog, trenchcoats, and the theme song As Time Goes By. By this point, Allan has learned to be himself, and the Bogart apparition departs. Critics generally praised the film for its humor and character work, though some noted that the structure of a traditional Broadway play slightly constrained Allen’s usual style. Its influence has persisted, with Quentin Tarantino noting that the Elvis Presley character in True Romance was inspired by the Bogart figure in this film.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Play It Again, Sam (film)
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