A Night in Casablanca (1946)

Director:

Archie Mayo

Writers:

Joseph Fields (writer)
Roland Kibbee (writer)

Release Date:

10 May 1946 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The Marx Brothers spend...

Plot:

In post-war Casablanca, Ronald Kornblow is hired to run a hotel whose previous managers have all wound up being murdered...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Hotel | Marx Brothers | Morocco | North Africa

Cast

Groucho Marx	...	Ronald Kornblow
Harpo Marx	...	Rusty
Chico Marx	...	Corbaccio
Charles Drake	...	Lt. Pierre Delmar
Lois Collier	...	Annette
Sig Ruman	...	Count Pfferman / Heinrich Stubel
Lisette Verea	...	Beatrice Rheiner
Lewis L. Russell	...	Governor Galoux (as Lewis Russell)
Dan Seymour	...	Prefect of Police Capt. Brizzard
Frederick Giermann	...	Kurt
Harro Mellor	...	Emile
David Hoffman	...	Spy
Paul Harvey	...	Mr. Smythe

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Hungary:14 | Australia:G | Finland:S | Germany:6 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

General Service Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Loma Vista Productions

Trivia:

The Marx Brothers put up their own money to produce the movie and, as they did with A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races, did a tour in which some of the comedy scenes were performed live to be "tested" for laughs.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the building that Harpo is leaning against collapses, several of the black guide wires are visible.

Quotes:

Corbaccio: What you need is a good bodyguard.
Ronald Kornblow: What I need is a good body. The one I've got isn't worth guarding.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Projectionist (1971)

Soundtrack:

Who's Sorry Now?

Fitting final flourish to the Marx Brothers act

That the Marxes could make this as their final film together (Groucho was tacked onto "Love Happy" as an afterthought and had no scenes with Chico and Harpo) means they could go out with a flourish. Groucho's jokes were back in form, not-so-sly innuendo and all, and the dross of the MGM years was cut away: the romantic leads had minimal screen time and did NOT sing, and the special effects laden last reel chase scene was cut mercifully short. Although it's unfortunate that the script had the quick-witted Marxes resort to poor stage fighting to overcome the Nazis. I believe it was while hanging from the ladder in that chase scene (in what's too clearly the California desert) that Groucho decided there must be a better way to make a living, and went to what became "You Bet Your Life."

PS: It suddenly struck me that Sig Ruman's voice, without the accent, could have been a perfect double for Marvin the Martian. Anyone know if he could have inspired Mel Blanc?

I got some hearty laughs out of it, so that's what counts in the end.