The best extras on the Casablanca Special Edition DVD set are two separate feature-length audio commentary tracks, one by film critic Roger Ebert, the other by film historian Rudy Behlmer. Ebert's commentary consists of analysis and criticism, while Behlmer's commentary focuses on movie history and is derived from his book Behind the Scenes. There's not much overlap in information between the two commentaries, and I found both of them to be excellent.
On Disc 2 there's an 83-minute documentary "Bacall on Bogart" that traces Humphrey Bogart's amazing career. (Bacall is, of course, actress Lauren Bacall, who is Bogart's widow and also appeared in four films with him.) There’s also a 34-minute documentary "You Must Remember This: A Tribute to Casablanca." The latter documentary was also on the earlier single-disc DVD version of Casablanca, and both documentaries have previously aired on television. In addition, there’s a seven-minute featurette "The Children Remember," in which Ingrid Bergman's daughter Pia Lindström and Humphrey Bogart's son Stephen Bogart talk about their famous parents.
Other extras on Disc 2 include one minute 40 seconds of deleted scenes and five minutes of outtakes, but the audio that goes with this unused footage has been lost. I thought the most interesting thing here was a deleted scene where Rick visits Laszlo in jail and, according to the shooting script, tells him he's decided to sell him the Letters of Transit for a hundred thousand francs.
Disc 2 also provides some interesting spin-offs from the film version of Casablanca, including the 1943 Screen Guild Theater Radio Show version where Bogart, Bergman, and Henreid play the same characters they played in the movie. There's also an eight-minute animated homage cartoon called "Carrotblanca" (1995) where Bugs Bunny plays the nightclub owner and Daffy Duck takes the role of the piano player. In addition, there’s an 18-minute segment of the 1955 television series Casablanca where Marcel Dalio plays the chief of police. Dalio portrays the croupier in the original movie, but he’s revered by film buffs mainly for his roles in Rules of the Game and Grand Illusion.
There are a few other bonus materials on the two-disc set, and I've listed these below.
Selected Special Features on the DVDs:
- Two-Disc Set
- Full-Screen (1.33:1)
- English Monaural
- French Monaural
- English Subtitles
- French Subtitles
- Spanish Subtitles
- Audio Commentary by Film Critic Roger Ebert
- Audio Commentary by Film Historian Rudy Behlmer
- Introduction by Lauren Bacall (2 min.)
- The Children Remember (7 min.)
- Additional Scenes (1 min. 40 sec.)
- Outtakes (5 min.)
- Scoring Stage Sessions (8 Musical Selections)
- Bacall on Bogart (83 min.)
- You Must Remember This: A Tribute to Casablanca (34 min.)
- Screen Guild Theater Radio Show – 1943
- Television Adaptation – 1955 "Who Holds Tomorrow" (18 min.)
- "Carrotblanca" (8 min.)
- Production Research
- A Great Cast Is Worth Repeating
- Cast & Crew
- Awards
- Theatrical Trailer
- Re-Release Trailer 1992
- Other Titles Available From Warner Home Video
- DVD-ROM Features
- DVD Release Date: August 5, 2003