A Night in Casablanca (1946)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio Trailer-Malcolm; The Secret Policeman's Ball; What's Up, Tiger Lily? DVD Credits
Rating
Year Of Production	1946
Running Time	81:14 (Case: 85)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Archie Mayo
Studio Distributor	David L. Loew Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	Groucho Marx Harpo Marx Chico Marx Charles Drake Lois Collier Lisette Verea Lewis L. Russell Dan Seymour Frederick Giermann Harro Mellor
Case	Click
RPI	$29.95	Music	Werner Janssen Ted Snyder

    This is the last of the great Marx Brothers films and was the final chapter of an era. While not their best work it is still, even today, a great comedy. One thing that hit me time and again throughout the film was the superb physical comedy that is immaculately timed. The one liners and ongoing comedy is a little dated in places but should still amuse those with the right sense of humour. Classic scenes through the film include Harpo playing charades with Chico, and Groucho trying to 'get lucky' time and again - these scenes will stay in your mind and give you a chuckle when you think of them.

    Not only are these guys great comedic artists but Chico plays the piano and Harpo the harp. Both are given the opportunity to show these skills. These scenes are in no way connected to the film. Harpo finds a harp in a room and sits down and gives us an impromptu concert for no reason other than it is there. The musical skills of these two are top notch and you really don't mind the musical interlude at all. It has been years since I'd seen a skilled artist on the harp, which is as interesting to watch as it is to listen to. Chico manages to turn his piano concert into a great comedy routine as well.

    The characters are all great in this film and the women beautiful, not bags of bones like we see today but real curves in stunning dresses with alluring hairstyles - they knew the difference between sex appeal and skin in those days. (I just know I'll get flamed for that one).

    And now to the plot. In a hotel in Casablanca a hidden treasure was placed by the Germans just before the end of the war. An infamous German general has escaped the fall of Germany and returned to the hotel to retrieve the treasure. The plan is for him to become the manager of the hotel and the best way to achieve this is to murder the current manager. Each time a new manager is appointed he mysteriously dies. Eventually no-one wants the job, so they call in a manager from a hotel out in the sticks. The new manager turns out to be none other than Groucho. Chico already works at the hotel and Harpo becomes the valet of the German. Together they take on the job of protecting Groucho. There is a subplot involving the American pilot that was forced at gunpoint to fly the treasure out of Germany. Nobody believes his story and he is about to be tried for war crimes as a result. He is also in love with a beautiful young woman who does believe him and together they are trying to find the treasure to clear his name. From here we bounce from one comedic scene to another and occasionally the storyline is advanced. The treasure is discovered basically at the same time by all participants and the race is on to produce a happy ending for everyone but the Germans.

Video

    The film is presented at 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced. This is close to the original 1.37:1 aspect ratio.

    Sharpness is excellent, especially considering the film stock that would have been used to make this movie. Shadow detail is a little lacking but again excellent considering the age. There is some low level noise but again nothing like what I was expecting. The overall contrast is very good as well. Many of these old films turn out to be starkly black and white only, but there is a wide palette of greys available here.

    There are no colours, of course, as this is a black and white film. The greys are clear of false colouration.

    There are no major MPEG artefacts present. Occasionally there is very slight pixelization in the background but you have to be really looking to see it. There is some wobble throughout the film but I suspect much of this may have been camera shake in the original filming. It varies throughout the film with the scene at 51:20 exhibiting the worst example. The film stock is in simply amazing condition. Yes, there are some grain and scratches, white flecks, and so forth, but none of this is greatly distracting. Basically, I was stunned by how good this film looked.

    There are no subtitles.

    This is a single layered disc.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is a single Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack on this disc.

    Dialogue quality is excellent throughout with not one joke missed. The majority of the audio sync was very good but some of the miming for the singing was a little out.

     The music is a wonderful rich orchestral accompaniment to the film - there is not one watt of electronically generated music anywhere here. The fidelity level was another surprise, even considering the fact that this is a mono soundtrack it is surprisingly good. As mentioned above, there are two musical interludes as two of our characters have some fun with their instrument of choice.

    There was no surround or subwoofer activity.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Trailer: Malcolm

    Running for 2:10 and accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack this is the trailer for Malcolm, another Umbrella DVD. It is presented at 1.85:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced.

Trailer: Secret Policeman's Other Ball.

    Presented at 1.33:1 and accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack this trailer runs for 0:26. It is the classic trailer for this film and is in the same vein as the film it advertises.

Trailer: What's Up, Tiger Lily?

    Presented at 1.33:1 and accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, this trailer runs for 1:35, and as the trailer says, this is the films that introduced the world to Woody Allen.

    This disc does not appear to be available in Region 1. It does appear to be available in France and is also 1.33:1 there.

    Chances are that there are several generations that have not seen a Marx Brothers film. Like the re-release of other titles such as ET and others, some of these great comedy classics should be brought to their attention. Duck Soup and Animal Crackers are probably their best work but this is also a good introduction to a world of comedy from that era.

    The video is simply unbelievable for its age

    The audio is great other than the section mentioned.

    There are no extras other than the trailers.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall