Welcome to the final Marx Brothers Mondays! I’ve skipped over several of the Marx Brothers later movies as they’re considered to be not so good, and this is the only one I found free on a streaming service. This will be my final review for now.
Title: A Night in Casablanca
Release Date: May 10, 1946
Director: Archie Mayo
Production Company: Loma Vista Productions
Summary/Review:
The Marx Brothers are set in a post-World War II spy thriller parody. Groucho plays Ronald Kornblow who is hired as the new manager of the Hotel Casablanca, unaware that Nazi war criminal Heinrich Stubel (Sig Ruman) murdered the previous 3 managers as part of a plot to find stolen art hidden within the hotel. Lisette Verea plays the femme fatale Stubel sends to seduce and distract Kornblow.
The comedy isn’t as sharp as the earlier films, but I did find myself guffawing quite a bit all the same. I especially like the antics of Harpo, Chico, and Groucho in the final 20 minutes as the subvert Stubel’s attempts to escape. This may be controversial, but I found it funnier that A Day at the Races.
Rating: ***1/2
Panorama of the Mountains 