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	...	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 | hotel | casablanca | nazi | loot | 

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Taglines:

The Marx Brothers spend...

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

12 October 1946 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Una noche en 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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Because The Marx Brothers (as The Marx Bros.) is credited first before the title, but is not in the more comprehensive end credits, it is listed first in the IMDb cast list, as required by IMDb policy on cast ordering.

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Goofs

In Heinrich Stubel's bedroom, not too far from the end of the film, a lounge chair is visible by the closet, yet the next shot of the closet - the chair is nowhere to be seen.

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Quotes

Ronald Kornblow: [Talking to a hotel guest over the phone] Hello? What's that, sir? You've been up in your room three-and-a-half hours, and your trunks haven't arrived? Well, put your pants on. Nobody'll know the difference.

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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

Referenced in Sleeper (1973)

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Soundtracks

An der schönen, blauen Donau (On the Beautiful Blue Danube), Op. 314
(1866) (uncredited)
Music by Johann Strauss
Played on a record when Kornblow meets Beatrice in her room

User Reviews

Good farce!

The Marx Brothers came out of retirement to make this film in order to help the financially-strapped Chico, who was forever broke due to his gambling addiction.

The movie begins slowly, and there are some rather unfunny scenes featuring Harpo, but when Chico and Groucho arrive on the scene the film really picks up. There are some truly great scenes in this film. My favorite is Harpo desperately trying to convey important information to Chico via whistles and inspired charade.

The plot is rather silly, but who cares? While not on a par with their classics "Duck Soup" and "A Night at the Opera", this movie is very much worth seeing.