A quick post about A Night in Casablanca (1946)
OK, so this one wasn't on the list and I have seen it before, many years ago.
For some reason, perhaps it was on TV a lot, this is one of the first Marx Brothers films I saw growing up.
This is one of the last films the Brothers made and is usually considered one of the lesser movies.
While I wouldn't rank this nearly as high as many of the earlier films, I found it to be better than I thought it would be. I remember liking this as a kid but figured it wouldn't hold up. It mostly does, as far as the usual Marx silliness goes.
The plot is pretty non-consequential (though the baddie does try and have Groucho killed which was perhaps a first!), which is normal for these films and the "romantic leads" or, the straight characters are cardboard-thin (again, par for the course). However, the movie is entertaining and has several good Marx Brothers set pieces, the best one being the scene where the brothers foil the Nazi guy by continually unpacking his luggage as he loads it.
There's a nice interlude of Harpo playing the harp and Chico (that's pronounced, Chick-O!) gets in a couple of tunes on the piano, complete with his "shooting the piano keys" thing. Groucho is, well, Groucho even if his lines aren't quite as sharp-edged or clever as the earlier classics.
It's all fine, really and if you like the Marx Brothers humor, it does the job, just a little less-good.
All three of the brothers look older, for sure (Groucho was 56 when this was released) compared to the earlier films.
This makes me want to go back and revisit the entire collection. Sounds like a good idea for a future entry. Now if I just had several days of free time to get all these damn movies watched!
