A Night in Casablanca (1946)
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57% of critics liked it
(7 reviews) -
70% of users liked it
(7,254 ratings)
After a five-year absence, the Marx Brothers returned to the screen in the independently-produced effort A Night in Casablanca. Originally conceived as a parody of Casablanca (with character names like "Humphrey Bogus" and "Lowen Behold"), the film emerged as a spoof of wartime… More After a five-year absence, the Marx Brothers returned to the screen in the independently-produced effort A Night in Casablanca. Originally conceived as a parody of Casablanca (with character names like "Humphrey Bogus" and "Lowen Behold"), the film emerged as a spoof of wartime melodramas in general. Someone has been methodically murdering the managers of the Hotel Casablanca, and that someone is escaped Nazi war criminal Heinrich Stubel (Sig Ruman). Disguised as a Count Pfefferman, Stubel intends to reclaim the stolen art treasures that he's hidden in a secret room somewhere in the hotel, and the only way he can do this undetected is by bumping off the managers and taking over the hotel himself. The newest manager of Hotel Casablanca is former motel proprietor Ronald Kornblow (Groucho Marx), who, blissfully unaware that he's been hired only because no one else will take the job, immediately takes charge in his own inimitably inept fashion. Corbacchio (Chico Marx), owner of the Yellow Camel company, appoints himself as Kornblow's bodyguard, aided and abetted by Stubel's mute valet Rusty (Harpo Marx). In his efforts to kill Kornblow, Stubel dispatches femme fatale Beatrice Reiner (Lisette Verea) to romance the lecherous manager, leading to a hilarious recreation of a key comedy sequence in the Marxes' earlier A Day at the Races. Arrested on a trumped-up charge, Kornblow, Corbacchio and Rusty escape in time to foil Stubel and his stooges. As in most Marx Brothers epics, A Night in Casablanca includes a tiresome romantic subplot, this time involving disgraced French flyer (Pierre) and his faithful sweetheart Annette (Lois Collier). Though hampered by listless direction and witless one-liners, A Night in Casablanca contains enough hilarity to compensate for its many flaws; some of the best visual gags were conceived by an uncredited Frank Tashlin, including Harpo's legendary "holding up the building" bit. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Archie Mayo
- Written By
- Joseph Fields, Roland Kibbee, Frank Tashlin
- Genres
- Classics, Comedy
- In Theaters
- May 10, 1946 Wide
- On DVD
- May 4, 2004
- Studio
- Westchester Films
Critic Reviews
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The slapstick comedy antics and string of relentless Groucho one-liners seemed more tired than subversively funny.
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Mark Bourne, DVDJournal.com
Point some of that blame at the cumbersome screenplay and lackluster director Archie Mayo, a.k.a. 'that fat idiot' to Groucho, who said Mayo 'emasculated' the picture.
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Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
An undercooked espionage spoof that takes meek aim at Casablanca a time or two but generally just plays like the mercenary piece of garbage that it is.
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Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Penultimate Marx Bros. film suffers by comparison with their glory days, but still worth a look.
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Cast
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Groucho Marx
as Ronald Kornblow
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Harpo Marx
as Rusty
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Chico Marx
as Corbaccio
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Lisette Verea
as Beatrice Rheiner
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Charles Drake
as Lt. Pierre Delmar
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Lois Collier
as Annette
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Dan Seymour
as Capt. Brizzard
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Lewis L. Russell
as Gov. Galoux
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Frederick Giermann
as Kurt
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Sig Rumann
as Count Pfefferman alias Heinrich Stubel
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Paul Harvey
as Mr. Smythe
- Marx Brothers
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Harro Meller
as Emil
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Ruth Roman
as Bit Part
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David Hoffman
as Spy