Chapter 3 of 20 · 3'01"
Renault drops by Rick's café to pass along a friendly warning: an arrest is planned here tonight, and Major Strasser will be watching. "There are many exit visas sold in this café," he notes — but Rick has never sold one. The real message is Victor Laszlo, who must never reach America.
Renault Warns Rick About the Arrest
Renault Offers Rick a Word of Advice
Captain Renault visits Rick's café in Casablanca to warn him about an arrest planned for that night and to mention that Major Strasser will be present. Rick shrugs it off, insisting he sticks his neck out for nobody. Then Renault reveals the target: Victor Laszlo, an anti-Nazi fugitive on his way to America who must be kept in Casablanca.
Renault's visit looks friendly, but every line is pressure. He mentions the visas sold at the café to remind Rick that the police allow the place to operate — 'That is the reason we permit you to remain open.' Rick answers with his usual pose, 'I stick my neck out for nobody,' and Renault calls it 'a wise foreign policy,' half-mocking the neutrality Rick hides behind. Then Renault names Laszlo and says he must never reach America. By the end, Renault suspects the pose is fake: 'under that cynical shell you are at heart a sentimentalist.' The warning is really a test — Renault is probing whether Rick will help Laszlo escape, and giving himself room to profit either way.
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
“If you're thinking of warning him, don't put yourself out. He cannot escape.”
It shuts a door and states the outcome in one breath, polite yet final.
Neutral
“It's my duty to see that he doesn't impress the other half.”
The half-to-other-half symmetry turns a bureaucratic task into a grim mission.
Formal
“Laugh if you will, but I happen to be familiar with your record.”
He grants the laugh first, then shows he already knows the history behind it.
Neutral
“Louis, you got something on your mind. Why don't you spill it.”
It names the unspoken thing, then pushes with a blunt invitation to say it.
Informal
Up next · 04stick my neck outThe scene: Strasser Interrogates RickHe says it's out of regard for Rick and will amuse the customers, but it also lets him show Major Strasser the efficiency of his administration.
Renault notes that other cafés sell them but Rick never has, and that this is the reason the police let his place stay open — Rick keeps his hands clean.
Renault says Laszlo must never reach America because he's a dangerous anti-Nazi fugitive; Renault's job is to stop him from impressing the other half of the world.
Renault claims the chase is over; Rick offers twenty thousand francs that it isn't, betting Laszlo will still find a way to escape. Renault accepts.
He bets Rick won't sell Laszlo a visa but suspects that under Rick's cynical shell he's really a sentimentalist, so he might help for personal reasons.
