Henreid was never that type-cast, rolling from Nazi villains to suave continental lover to tense, tight-focussed resistance hero, who's dedicated to his Cause, freedom for Europe. At first Victor seems so cool and restrained it's hard to believe he's a charismatic leader until he yields to impulse over the Marseillaise. When he lets loose, he has the passion & power to stir audiences 60 years later. Not just Henreid's eyes but his shoulders, neck and jaw portray what's going on inside: the wary man entering Rick's for the first time, tense with his eyes sweeping the room, unlike the next evening when he's familiar with the scene: he's more relaxed and ready to try some charm. Or after he gently questions Ilsa about Paris–in vain–and she pops up with her interjection "Victor!" His whole being stiffens in terror at what she's maybe going to tell him. If she's going to lie, he doesn't want to deal with it just now; if she's going to tell him the truth, he doesn't want to face that, either. This may be the last time he ever sees her, because he's on his way to a dangerous meeting. When she changes her mind and just says "Be careful!" you see him relax with relief. A nifty piece of acting.

Victor is what we term a "secular saint"; think Ghandi, or Eleanor Roosevelt, or Dag Hamerskjold. Typically, he isn't much fun to live with and continually involves himself together with anyone he's close to. Typically, he's a manipulator. Typically also, he's accepting and non-judgmental. Typically, Ilsa probably doesn't love him as a person, or in an intimate way; the people around secular saints give them awe and admiration as embodiments of causes they believe in. Typically he's good at setting up support groups; in one evening he forms one at the Cafe after the Marseillaise, and goes off to another with the Resistance group. Unfortunately both groups evaporate on him, so he changes course and offers to sacrifice his own needs to send Ilsa out of danger with his rival, Rick. Because Victor's focus is far off on the Cause, he doesn't focus on his own needs or Ilsa's either, though he needs and adores her. She's portrayed as the one person he can be vulnerable with, but he's not good at intimacy. If he can ever let up and relax his sense of total dedication, you wonder what Ilsa will see in him. She'll have to learn to love him in a new way, and she's not portrayed as bright enough to learn that. Typically, secular saints push on until they die trying.

We need secular saints to keep us moving in the right direction, and sometimes even getting there. Henreid portrays the layers of such a person with nuance and verve. Why people prefer Bogart's acting is beyond me.