Let's get something understood going in; I'm not the greatest of Marx Brothers fans. I'm old enough to actually remember when there were FIVE Marx brothers - which would be Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo. Despite the "o" endings to their names, they were five good little Jewish boys with an abundance of talent which they shared generously with the public all over the world. The public, however, never got to see much of Gummo, who concentrated on handling the Brothers' business matters, and Zeppo dropped out of performing in the thirties. Next, the Marx Brothers made a total of thirteen (13) movies together, virtually all of which were hit comedies. Groucho, of course, did a few movies on his own, and really took off like a rocket as a TV host.

Now; let's concentrate on A Night in Casablanca which I will save time by referring to as ANC - if that's alright with you -- or, even if it isn't. You see, I really AM hard to please! ANC started out as a very specific spoof of the Bogart/Bergman classic. Once begun, however, difficulties making it work led the writers Joseph Fields (who wrote the Lupe Velez hit Mexican Spitfire, the Bob Hope hit Louisiana Purchase, the Rosalind Russell vehicle My Sister Eileen, and the smash hit Gentlemen Prefer Blondes among others) and Roland Kibbee (Angel on My Shoulder and the Burt Lancaster biggies Ten Tall Men, and The Crimson Pirate, and Vera Cruz with Gary Cooper) to decide to diversify in the interests of comedy. The falsely rumored suit by Warner Brothers against the Marx Brothers using "Casablanca" in their title had nothing to do with the changes in script, so there!

The role of hero was made a trio, of course, with Groucho in the lead and Harpo and Chico in strong support. In the course of the movie we are given a couple of delicious little treats in the form of Harpo's expertise on the harp, and Chico's devil-may-care virtuosity on the piano. I (and almost everyone else) loved Chico's light-hearted use of his index finger in producing some genuinely beautiful music. For details you will simply have to get and watch this one yourself.

Groucho plays Ronald Kornblow, the obscure and incompetent (?) manager of a little desert hotel. The villains, who are scheming on how to find and steal a lost shipment of German loot from Europe, and now somewhere in Casablanca, want Kornblow to fill in for the late and unlamented murdered three managers of their hotel headquarters. This, of course, just might make Kornblow a target for the German spy/murderers, but as long as it's only Groucho, what's the difference?

The non-Marx hero is French Lt. Pierre Delmar (played by Charles Drake) who is important to the plot because he also happened to be the French pilot who flew (and crashed) the load of loot to Casablanca. Mr. Drake was one of those almost-too-handsome blonde men who never quite made it, although you may remember him as the deeply frustrated doctor Sanderson who was unable to "cure" Elwood P. Down in the James Stewart masterpiece, Harvey. Drake is teamed here with Lois Collier, a cute little brunette who, despite a genuinely impressive voice, was never given an opportunity to show it off and spent her Hollywood life doing B epics like Weird Woman and Jungle Woman and even Cobra Woman! What, you remember her in those from the Saturday matinees? Good for you. Sadly, Lois died of Alzheimer's in her seventies.

The villainess in this movie was Beatrice Rheiner, played by Lisette Verea. Don't expect a lot of information on her, as this was her only American film, and one of only two in her entire career (the other was in Romania. At least she didn't have a horrible accent - enough said. The BIG bad guy should be familiar to anyone who really enjoys GOOD movies Sig Ruman. He made his mark as one of the hapless Bolshevik bodyguards for Greta Garbo's Ninotchka, followed with his role as Col. Ehrhardt in the classic Jack Benny masterpeice To Be or Not To Be, and the flustery village official Louis Bouriette in Jennfer Jones' Oscar winning Song of Bernadette. It would be criminal to neglect Ruman's talent for blustery comedy, and his ability to use his skill to patch weak spots in any script. In this particular role, as the villainous Count Pfferman and the Nazi criminal Heinrich Stubel, he is almost as bright a spot as Groucho himself.

The necessary Prefect of Police Captain Brizzard is played by one of those great talents who no one ever seems to remember their name. In this case it is Dan Seymour, who you may remember as Paquet in Jane Wyman's triumphant Johnny Belinda, or lacking that, as Angel Garcia in the Bogart hit, Key Largo. This film ANC is filled with masterful actors at the peak of their careers, and it shows.

I could load this review with such tidbits as the plummeting elevator, or the hide-and-seek migration between suits while Pfferman/Stubel tries to catch up long enough to kill - someone. There is the classic exchange between arriving hotel guest Paul Harvey (no, not THAT Paul Harvey, the character actor who is always a judge or general or senator or mayor or something similarly dignified) which (sample only - see the movie for the full exchange) goes:
Harvey/Smythe; Sir, this lady is my wife. You shold be ashamed!
Groucho/Kornblow; If this lady is your wife, YOU should be ashamed!

Since I opened the door, let's face it, the Groucho dialog is a virtual guarantee that any movie he's in will be both hilarious and a box office hit. It worked with this one, even though ANC was not as some have reported the last of the Marx Brothers movies. There are other attractions to draw you to this movie as well. For example, you all know the star, Ruth Roman, and how she survived the wreck of the Andrea Doria (if you don't, for heaven's sake don't admit it!) but I'll bet you didn't know she had an uncredited bit part in this movie. Well, she did, so see if you can spot her - I dare you (it really isn't all THAT small a part).

Now that I've covered everyone and everything else, let's take a look at the Director - Archie Mayo. There will be a brief pause while everyone asks themselves the wholly undeserved question; who in H*ll is Archie Mayo. Brace yourselves, folks, Archie (also known to his casts as a directorial tyrant, and sometimes - though not to his face - called a 'fat slob') was one of Hollywood's most competent and successful directors. You probably don't recognize the name because most of his work was done before you were even a gleam in your father's eye, and he only made one more movie after ANC which was Angel on My Shoulder. His list of credits include Gary Cooper's The Adventures of Marco Polo, the wonderfully musical drama They Shall Have Music starring no less than Jascha Heifetz and a galaxy of stars, the lost Jack Benny masterpiece Charlie's Aunt which hopefully may yet show up on VHS or DVD, the Oscar nominated Moontide which was the first of only three Jean Gabin films and is still not available on VHS or DVD, Orchestra Wives which showcased the Glenn Miller orchestra, the Nicholas Brothers and - uncredited all - Ray Eberle, Dale Evans, Jackie Gleason, Bobby Hackett, Marian Hutton, The Modernaires, and Harry Morgan... but this one IS available on both VHS and DVD and offers hours of fun finding and identifying the many stars. Do you get the idea of the MASSIVE amount of talent that went into this movie?

Some prior reviewers didn't really care for this one because it didn't have quite the same rowdy-bawdy roughness of their previous comedies. Me, I'm hard to please and it still managed to please me. OK? You can do what you like, but I seriously recommend getting this one on DVD (it contains a Joe McDoaks short and a Bugs Bunny cartoon) and enjoying A Night in Casablanca.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older