10 Movies That Were Filmed in Completely Different Locations Than They Depicted

3. Casablanca - Hollywood Studios Replace Morocco

One of cinema's most beloved classics, "Casablanca," was almost entirely filmed on Hollywood studio lots rather than in the Moroccan city it depicted, creating a romantic vision of wartime North Africa that existed purely in the imagination of its creators. The decision to film in Hollywood was driven by the practical impossibilities of filming in Morocco during World War II, as the region was under Vichy French control and completely inaccessible to American film crews. Instead, the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank became Rick's Café Américain and the surrounding Casablanca streetscapes, with elaborate sets constructed to evoke the exotic atmosphere of the North African port city. The famous airport scenes were filmed at Van Nuys Airport in California, with a forced perspective technique using a small airplane and little people as ground crew to create the illusion of a larger aircraft and expansive tarmac. The studio's art department created an entirely fictional version of Casablanca based on research photographs and architectural references, resulting in a romanticized vision of the city that became more famous than the actual location. This studio-bound production demonstrated how skilled set design and atmospheric lighting could transport audiences to distant locations without ever leaving Southern California, establishing a template for exotic location substitution that would influence filmmaking for decades.