A
Night in Casablanca (1946)
Directed
by: Archie
Mayo.
Written
by: Joseph
Fields and Roland Kibbee.
Starring:
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), Dan Seymour (Prefect of Police), Frederick Giermann (Kurt),
Harro Mellor (Emile).
The difference between good Marx
brothers and mediocre Marx brothers (I’m not sure there’s such a thing as bad
Marx brothers) is how little the plot gets in the way of the brothers and their
antics, and how quickly they keep the gags coming. The less time spent on plot,
the less time spent on characters who aren’t played by Groucho, Harp or Chico,
the better. Their 1946 film, A Night in Casablanca, was their first film after a
five year “retirement” – and the second last, the three brothers would make
together. It is not one of their best films to be sure, but it’s also far from
bad. Even mediocre Marx brothers is still pretty damn funny.
The plot of the film is a little
too busy. After three managers of the Hotel Casablanca are murdered, Groucho’s
Kornblow, who managed a hotel in the middle of nowhere, is hired for the job.
What he doesn’t know is that a former Nazi, disguising himself as a Frenchman
named Pfferman (Sig Ruman) is killing the managers, because in the hotel there
is hidden Nazi treasure, he and his cohorts – want to get. Harpo plays Rusty,
who is an assistant to Pfferman, but basically shows up wherever the movie
needs his silent comedy stylings, and Chico is Corbaccio, who runs a camel taxi
service – and eventually is dragged into things as well. There are other
characters as well (too many) – including a French pilot (Charles Drake) who
knows the treasure is in Casablanca, but doesn’t know where – and no one
believes him, his fiancé (Lois Collier), who works at the hotel, and Bea
(Listette Verea), who is posing as Pfferman’s fiancé, and tries to lure
Kornblow – again and again – to his death by seducing him.
The plot is too complicated for a
Marx brother film – not because it is difficult to follow in anyway, but
because it takes so much time to unravel, and requires so much time in the company
of Pfferman and his cohorts explaining their plans, that the Marx brothers are off-screen.
The movie works best, of course, when it jettisons the plot and goes from
comedic set pieces. The film has two wonderful musical set-pieces as well – one
featuring Chico on the piano, another featuring Harpo on the harp, which have
nothing to do with the plot, and really stop the movie dead in its tracks for
minutes on end, and are still among the best things in the movie. An extended
comedic set piece having the three movies trying to stop Pfferman from packing
his stuff to make his escape – hiding in his room, and unpacking and basically
sabotaging him, with him knowing, which brings some of the old Marx brother
magic back.
Some of the other set-pieces –
including the extended climax aboard a plane – are a mixed bag, and have good
moments, but also drag a little. Groucho’s series of one-liners feel a little
tired more often than not this time around – as if he may be trying just a
little too hard to be funny (although, his uttering “The master race” at a key
moment is hilarious – and there are plenty of good moments – visual gags, etc.
throughout the film.
If A Night in Casablanca
disappoints somewhat, it’s because after five years away from the screen
together, you’d think the trio would have something more up their sleeve then
they do. It’s not that the brothers didn’t make some mediocre films even during
their 1930s heyday – they certainly did – but when you’re making a film a year,
that’s to be expected. A Night in Casablanca is far from a bad film – it’s only
85 minutes long, and still has a fairly good joke-to-laugh ratio. Then again,
these brothers are responsible for some of the best comedies of all time, and
this isn’t one of those either – so I guess the question is on what curve do
you want to grade the film.
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