DVD A Night in Casablanca
A Night in Casablanca may not qualify as a Marx Brothers classic, but it's certainly the best of their latter-day comedies. "This picture is funnier than all but a handful of their earlier ones," wrote the usually cantankerous Pauline Kael, and she's right. The Big Store would have been the final Marx movie, but that disappointment, and an attractive new deal with United Artists, prompted the Marx trio to bring freshly anarchic energy to this post-war spoof of wartime intrigue, prompting Warner Bros. (producers of Casablanca) to threaten legal action over the title, to which Groucho responded, "I am sure that the average movie fan could learn in time to distinguish between Ingrid Bergman and Harpo." As it happens, Night bears only passing resemblance to the Bergman/Bogart classic, with Groucho playing the new manager of a hotel in Casablanca, where several previous managers have been murdered while a scheming villain (Marx regular Sig Rumann) plots to steal the hotel's cache of Nazi treasure. Chico and Harpo are up to their usual antics (including piano and harp interludes, respectively), and they all give Rumann the runaround in the film's funniest and most perfectly choreographed scene. The brothers made their final film together with Love Happy three years later, but as any fan will tell you, A Night in Casablanca was the last Marx comedy that mattered. --Jeff Shannon |
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Review(s): DVD A Night in Casablanca | |
| The sun finally sets on the film career of the Marx Brothers |
I remember the first time I caught this movie on late night television after seeing countless previews showing the scene where the cop sees Harpo leaning against a building and makes the mistake of asking "What do you think you are doing, holding up that building?" Of course he is, and when he walks away the building collapses. Once I saw all of "A Night in Casablanca" I had the feeling that the best gag in the film had been ruined by all those previews. But having watched this film again I must admit that while The Marx Brothers look seriously old in this one, it is not that bad. But when you expect greatness on the basis of classics like "Duck Soup" and "Night at the Opera," it is hard to just accept an "average" Marx Brothers movie.Certainly Groucho comes off fine in this one. After all, he is about to embark on a successful radio/television career as a master of the sarcastic quip on "You Bet Your Life." In this 1946 film he plays Ronald Kornblow, the new manager of a hotel where a "Casablanca" type plot involving Nazi spies is going on beneath his very nose (If you have never read the letter Groucho fired off when Warner Brothers got upset over the use of the name "Casablanca," then you have to track it down. The high point is when Groucho wants to counter sue because of the use of the word "Brothers"). Harpo as Rusty and Chico as Corbaccio both look very old and tired, and both their comedy and music routines do not have the sharp edge and polish we are used to. Being a dirty old man suited Groucho just as much as being a dirty young man, but while we continue to laugh at his brothers it is with a heavy heart because the end is in sight. We keep forgetting that the Marx Brothers were vaudeville stars for years before they ever made a movie so that their prime came earlier in their cinematic careers than it did overall. "A Night in Casablanca" is really the last true Marx Brothers movie and it should be the last one you watch, when the value is because it exists and it is one more opportunity to watch the boys romp around and cause havoc, and not because it is a classic of comedy.
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Although it lacks the inspired insanity of the best Marx Brothers work of the 1930s, A Night in Casablanca compensates for the loss with a sense of relaxed charm which is unique among their films. This may arise from the fact that the brothers had considered themselves retired as a trio when they were approached to make the film, and agreed to do so only in order to help Chico Marx out of a financial difficulty; it is therefore hardly surprising that the film has an almost nostalgic tone, with the brothers skillfully playing out variations of previously well-established routines and formulas.In many ways, this is probably the most immediately accessible film for those who have not been previously exposed to the Marx Brothers' humor. A simple story, which generally parodies the Bogart "Casablanca," a lack of topical material, and good production values make the film extremely easy to watch, and the packing scene near the end of the film is as ridiculously funny as their more famous routines. While not in the same league with Duck Soup or A Day at the Races, it is well worth the effort.
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While "A Night in Casablanca" is not the Marx Bros. at their best, it still has enough chuckles and gags to amuse Groucho, Chico and Harpo's legion of fans. Sure--it doesn't compare to "Horse Feathers", "Monkey Business", "Duck Soup", "A Night at the Opera" or "A Day at the Races"--but--to be fair--how many comedies do ?All three of "Minnie's boys" have a chance to shine in this wacky hotel farce set in "exotic" Casablanca. What fans will appreciate most is that the Marxes are on screen for most of the film. For this viewer at least, some of their MGM films were spoiled by saccharine romantic sub-plots, with some boring young tenor of the day crooning to a starlet. While there is some music in this film--including expected turns on piano by Chico and on harp by ( duh ) Harpo--it doesn't detract from the fun. Groucho shines as the new hotel manager--Harpo is valet to a very suspicious-looking German ( Sig Ruman, hamming it up wonderfully )--Chico seems to be a con-man, intent on ensuring that Groucho does not meet the same nasty fate of previous hotel managers. Of course, we have the usual number of pompous, arrogant people who run head-long into Groucho's rapier wit. I did miss Margaret Dumont though. The quality of the DVD is excellent--crisp B & W picture--clear mono sound. Groucho, Chico and Harpo were quite simply three of the funniest human beings of the 20th century. While "A Night in Casablanca" is not a top-tier Marx movie, it will still provide you with a lot of amusement, and deserves a spot in your classic comedy DVD collection.
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