A Night in Casablanca (1946)

The Marx Brothers are employed at a hotel in postwar Casablanca, where a ring of Nazis is trying to recover a cache of stolen treasure.

Director:

Archie Mayo (as Archie L. Mayo)

Writers:

Joseph Fields (original screenplay), Roland Kibbee (original screenplay)

Stars:

Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Groucho Marx	...	Kornblow
Harpo Marx	...	Rusty
Chico Marx	...	Corbaccio
Charles Drake	...	Pierre
Lois Collier	...	Annette
Sig Ruman	...	Heinrich Stubel / Max Pfferman
Lisette Verea	...	Bea
Lewis L. Russell	...	Governor (as Lewis Russell)
Dan Seymour	...	Prefect of Police
Frederick Giermann	...	Kurt
Harro Meller	...	Emile
David Hoffman	...	Spy
Paul Harvey	...	Mr. Smythe

Storyline

In post-war Casablanca, Ronald Kornblow is hired to run a hotel whose previous managers have all wound up being murdered. French soldier Pierre suspects the involvement of ex-Nazis, specifically Count Pfefferman, in reality the notorious Heinrich Stubel. But Pierre himself is accused of collaborating with the enemy, and attempts to clear his name with the help of his girlfriend Annette and cagey buddy Corbaccio. They enlist the aid of Pfefferman's beleaguered mute valet, Rusty, and discover a hoard of war booty the Nazis have cached in the hotel.

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Plot Keywords:

post world war two | man wears eyeglasses | hotel | casablanca | nazi | 

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Taglines:

The Marx Brothers spend...

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hoping to take charge of their film careers, The Marx Brothers financed this movie themselves, under the heading of Loma Vista Films. They even did a brief pre-filming tour of scenes from the movie, as they had done with A Night at the Opera (1935) and A Day at the Races (1937), hoping to sharpen the script's comedy.

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Goofs

When the police prefect gives the order to "Round up all likely suspects," his lips clearly say, "Round up the usual suspects" (see trivia).

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Quotes

Ronald Kornblow: [just taken off in an airplane] Well, here we are flying in the air.
[stares into camera]
Ronald Kornblow: What a stupid remark that is.

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Alternate Versions

The first few seconds - the Approved code - are missing from some prints (including video prints). The code is on a title screen. The prints without the code fade in when the credits begin to run.

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Connections

References Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

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Soundtracks

Moonlight Cocktail
(1941) (uncredited)
Music by Luckey Roberts
Performed by Chico Marx on piano with the band

User Reviews

An absolute classic!

I enjoyed this movie a lot, it took a while to find it in the shops but it was worthwhile looking around for. My favourite scene is definitely the one with Harpo minding Chico's peanut stall with the angry neighbouring stall owner. It makes you laugh for ages! Groucho plays the part of the manager of the Hotel Casablanca because all the previous managers were murdered by ex-Nazis looking for Nazi treasure hidden within the hotel prior to the end of the war. Some of the funniest moments in Marx Brother's history are featured in this movie eg. Harpo holding up a wall, Chico and Harpo rearranging a dance floor that keeps getting smaller and a funny suitcase packing routine towards the end. A very humorous movie and I would definitely recommend it.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

12 October 1946 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

A Night in Casablanca

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Loma Vista Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1