George Antheil, "Sirocco" (1951)

Boy, when they say that Casablanca was just another film to roll off the major studio production line, they weren't kidding, and if you ever want proof, watch Sirocco. Made nine years later, it's almost a shot for shot retread of Casablanca. The setting is Syria in 1925. The French are occupying the country as a result of the division of the Ottoman Empire at the Treaty of Versaille. In this opening sequence, we get a snapshot of both the French and Syrian perspective on the situation, as well as the massacre of a French patrol by insurgents.

Antheil's writing, as usual, is thunderously obvious, and Bogart sleepwalks through the picture. His character, like Rick, is loyal to whichever cause pays, and, like Rick, he falls for a more important man's woman. Even, the closing shot of the movie is the same exact look at two broken-hearted men that we see at the end of Casablanca.

By the way, if you're tempted to watch this film as a cautionary tale for our current situation in Iraq (which was part of that same Ottoman Empire), allow us to share a more relevant (and recent) bit of video that warns against a US invasion: