Was Casablanca released before The Wizard of Oz?
No. The film Casablanca (released 1942) came 3 years after the film The Wizard of Oz (released 1939).
The duel opens first in a practice round of ten; practice never changes your daily streak.
Why it surprises
Casablanca and The Wizard of Oz are both Hollywood classics of roughly the same era, and their styles give few clues to their dates: one is a black-and-white wartime romance, the other a colourful fantasy. That bright colour can make The Wizard of Oz feel like the later film. In fact it came first. The Wizard of Oz premiered in August 1939, while Casablanca first opened in New York on 26 November 1942, about three years later. Casablanca went on general release across the United States in 1943, so some lists give that year instead, but either way it came after Oz. Colour films and black-and-white films were made side by side for years, so colour is no guide to age. This duel compares the first release of each film.
Sources for this explanation
- American Film Institute: catalog.afi.com, checked 25 October 2026
- U.S. Census Bureau: census.gov, checked 25 October 2026
Where the numbers come from
Each value was checked against two independent sources, quoted on its page. Details: Casablanca (film) and The Wizard of Oz (film).
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