IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

The Marx Brothers changed my life. Sometime around the age of five or six, my father set me down in front of the old black & white tube television set, and told me that there was a movie coming on and he thought I’d like these guys. The movie was A Night at the Opera (1935), and he was right. I did like those guys (those guys being Groucho, Harpo, and Chico Marx). Those guys had a reckless abandon that was more insolent and zany than anything I had seen outside of animated cartoons, and their mix of high and low comedy helped to shape my sense of humor and interest in classic cinema.  As a consequence, I’ve always been a huge Marx Brothers fan.

I even have a soft spot in my heart for lesser Marx Brothers films, though I’m much more likely to revisit their best work (made for Paramount between 1929 and 1933) than to revisit the MGM features that followed, which greatly watered down the team’s zaniness, or their final, independently-produced features, A Night in Casablanca (1946) and Love Happy (1949). Still, when I heard that ClassicFlix was readying a restoration and Blu-ray release of A Night in Casablanca, it seemed the perfect opportunity to revisit a film that many consider both a return to form and a last hurrah of Marxian madness, after the team’s middling output at MGM.

The film is set in post WWII Morocco, in what was then the present day. The owner of the Hotel Casablanca is having trouble finding a new manager, due to the murders of the three previous managers. Enter Ronald Kornblow (Groucho Marx), the manager of a small desert motel, who is brought in to fill the post. In his new position, Kornblow meets Corbaccio (Chico), a grifter who has his hand in a camel taxi business and multiple smaller scams, and Rusty (Harpo), a silent servant who either works as the valet of hotel guest Count Pfferman (Sig Ruman) or is some kind of custodian for the hotel (it isn’t made clear). There is also a plot regarding Nazis hiding out after the war, a disgraced American pilot (Charles Drake), and a hidden treasure, which all tie into the murders. However, this is a Marx Brothers movie, so who cares about plot? There are witty one-liners, piano and harp specialty numbers for Chico and Harpo, and puncturing of pomposity. That’s what matters.

The Marx Brothers spent decades on the stage in vaudeville and eventually Broadway before making their movie debut in The Cocoanuts (1929). As a result, they were already flirting with middle age by the time of their film debut. Groucho was 39, Harpo 41, Chico 42, and Zeppo, the baby of the family (who would leave the act in 1933) was a comparatively young 28. By the time of A Night in Casablanca, the remaining trio were all in their late 50s. Still, there’s a spring in their steps in A Night in Casablanca that was missing from their later MGM films. Maybe their five years away from the cameras reinvigorated the team, or perhaps they felt more freedom under the independent production set up. Either way, while A Night and Casablanca will never rank as one of the Marx’s best works, it is an energetic, entertaining film that served as an appropriate swan song for the team. It’s their best film since A Day at the Races (1937), and on some days, I’d rank it higher than Races.

The screenplay by Joseph Fields and Roland Kibbee, while not quite on the level of those of Kaufman & Ryskind (The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, A Night at the Opera) or Kalmar & Ruby (Horse Feathers, Duck Soup), is full of witty lines and good pantomime for Harpo. One just wishes that there were a few more jokes and a little less plot. Comedy scenes often end just as they are hitting their stride, and some of these abrupt fade outs seem unnecessary. For instance, a very funny verbal comedy scene with Groucho at the hotel’s front desk fades out into another scene with Groucho at the front desk. The two scenes could have easily been a single scene to avoid losing comic momentum.

It is easier to discuss what is wrong with A Night in Casablanca than to analyze the many things it gets right, and I don’t want to pile criticisms onto what is actually a very enjoyable film. However, I do want to voice two issues I have with the film. The less problematic issue is that I simply miss the theatrical musical comedy feel of the earlier films. While Harpo and Chico get to perform a couple of specialty numbers, I would have liked to have seen Groucho given an opportunity to sing. His Gilbert & Sullivan-like introductory numbers in Animal Crackers, Horse Feathers, and Duck Soup (written by musical geniuses Bert Kalmar & Harry Ruby) are some of the highlights of the Marx filmography. Unfortunately, due to the low budget of the film and changing tastes of the mid-Forties, Groucho misses an obvious opportunity to introduce himself in song, when first meeting the hotel staff. As a consolation prize, the producers licensed the popular 1923 Kalmar & Ruby hit “Who’s Sorry Now” to be performed in both French and English by Lisette Verea.

The greater problem with A Night in Casablanca is the focus on plot. No one cares about the drip in the airman’s uniform (played by Charles Drake) or his girlfriend, and the Marx Brothers of the early 1930s films wouldn’t have either. It’s always a little painful to watch the Marxes eager to help the young lovers and save the day. Groucho, Harpo, and Chico should be agents of anarchy rather than good will. Worst of all, A Night in Casablanca ends by having Groucho, Harpo, and Chico participate in an action scene, involving a chase, a runaway aircraft, and fisticuffs. Seeing the 56 year-old Groucho, 58 year-old Harpo, and 59 year-old Chico trying to appear believable exchanging punches with Nazis is a poor ending to what is otherwise a nice capper to a legendary stage and film career.

A Night in Casablanca turned out to be the last true Marx Brothers movie on the big screen. Love Happy followed three years later, but that was developed as a Harpo solo project, and Groucho only appears in a handful of scenes (mostly without interacting with his brothers). Groucho, Harpo, and Chico also appeared individually in separate segments in the misbegotten mess The Story of Mankind (1957), but that is best forgotten entirely. Fans of the brothers should consider the Marxian swan song A Night in Casablanca essential viewing and the new ClassicFlix Blu-ray an essential purchase (see below for more details on the disc). It is the cinematic gem of the later part of their comedy careers.

USA/B&W-85m./Dir: Archie Mayo/Wr: Joseph Fields & Roland Kibbee/Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Charles Drake, Lois Collier, Lisette Verea, Sig Ruman, Dan Seymour, Lewis Russell

For Fans of: You either like the Marx Brothers or you don’t. If you’ve enjoyed other outings with the brothers, you will like A Night in Casablanca. 

Video: Over the past three years, ClassicFlix has become one of the most reliable boutique video labels for fans of classic cinema. While the quantity of their releases has been low, the quality has been outstanding. Lesser-known (and occasionally lesser-regarded) orphaned films such as Merrily We Live (1938), Zenobia (1939), and Abbott & Costello’s The Noose Hangs High (1948) and Africa Screams (1949) have received more prestige releases than anyone would have expected, including new scans, digital restoration, and well assembled bonus features. A Night in Casablanca is a worthy addition to the ClassicFlix catalog. The newly restored video is sharper and clearer than the prior DVD release. A few scratches or defects appear here and there, but the print quality is the best I’ve seen. It has a filmlike image with appropriate film grain.

The DTS-HD mono audio is also solid. Dialogue, music, and sound effects are clear, and they sound authentic to the original release. Finally, optional English subtitles are provided for the feature.

In addition to the improved picture and sound, the Blu-ray upgrade is warranted due to the package of bonus features, which include audio rarities that will be highly prized by fans of the team.

BONUS FEATURES:

• A Night in Casablanca Trailer
• Audio excerpt of a rare, on stage performance of the Marx Brothers in August 1945 where they tested out material before a live audience prior to filming A Night in Casablanca (5:28)
• Various radio commercials promoting A Night in Casablanca (4:25)
• Image gallery featuring rare stills, posters, lobby cards and other promotional material
• ClassicFlix Trailers: Newly produced trailers for prior Blu-ray releases Africa Screams, Merrily We Live, The Noose Hangs High, and Zenobia, as well as a clip from Out of the Blue

Streaming: At the time of this review, A Night in Casablanca was streaming as part of an Amazon Prime subscription.

More to Explore: If you want to experience the Marx Brothers at their best, then The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection Blu-ray set, which contains the first five films that they made a Paramount — The Cocoanuts (1929), Animal Crackers (1930), Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932), and Duck Soup (1933) — is essential. Even if you already own these films on DVD, the Blu-ray set is worth owning, because a worldwide search was performed to find the best possible elements for the new restoration. This resulted in a greatly improved transfer of The Cocoanuts, and the reinsertion of a few minutes of censored footage that had been missing from prior releases of my favorite Marx Brothers film, Animal Crackers.

Trivia: Harpo decided to try something different with his hair in A Night in Casablanca. Rather than wear his standard red (or occasionally blonde wig), what was left of his own hair was curled and dyed and the bald patches were filled in with fluff. He went back to a wig for Love Happy.

For More Info: There have been no shortage of books written about the brothers Marx, but Robert S. Bader’s Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers on Stage did something for me that entertainment biographies rarely do; it made me look at the subjects in a whole new way (read my full review here). In addition, The Annotated Marx Brothers: A Filmgoer’s Guide to In-Jokes, Obscure References and Sly Details by Matthew Coniam is a great resource to explain out-of-date pop culture references in the films. If you prefer filmed documentaries, The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell is the gold standard.  Finally, the ongoing Marx Brothers Council Podcast continually reveals unknown details and tasty tidbits about Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, Gummo, and even Manfred.