A Night in Casablanca
Appearance
A Night in Casablanca is a 1946 film about a hotel manager in postwar Casablanca, where a ring of Nazis are trying to recover a cache of stolen treasure.
- Directed by Archie Mayo. Written by Joseph Fields.
Ronald Kornblow
[edit]- Well, gentlemen, I'm a different man behind a desk - as any stenographer can tell you. But, uh, what I want to know, is why they're burying the last manager. And don't tell me it's because he's dead.
- After all, I'm a man and you're a woman... and I can't think of a better arrangement.
- I don't mind being killed, but I resent hearing it from a character whose head comes to a point!
- From now on the essence of this hotel will be speed. If a customer askes you for a three-minute egg, give it to him in two minutes. If he asks you for a two-minute egg, give it to him in one minute. If he askes you for a one-minute egg, give him the chicken and let him work it out for himself!
- It's a funny thing. I've met a lot of pin-up girls, but I've never been able to pin one down.
Dialogue
[edit]- Street Vendor: You buy? Nice, cheap, cheap-
- Corbaccio: Eyy, scram. SCRAM! Get outta here. [to Kornblow] You gotta watch out for those guys, they take you to the cleaners.
- Kornblow: What about you?
- Corbaccio: I take you to the hotel.
- Kornblow: Just what is your racket?
- Corbaccio: I gotta no racket! I make up my living with camels.
- Kornblow: What do you do with your camels?
- Corbaccio: They're taxi-cabs. I'm-a President of the Yellow Camel Company.
- Kornblow: [surprised] Aren't ALL the camels in Casablanca yellow?
- Corbaccio: Eyy, you crazy. We gotta Checker Camel Company, too.
- Governor Galoux: [lying about why the last manager was "fired"] Monsieur! We caught him stealing money! We were forced to discharge him!
- Kornblow: I see. You want a manager that doesn't steal money. Good day, gentlemen. [tries to leave]
- Prefect of Police Capt. Brizzard: [holds Kornblow back] Please Monsieur Kornblow do not take offense. You are making a mountain out of a molehill.
- Kornblow: Well, that's quite a trick. You try that sometime.
- Beatrice: My name's Beatrice Rheiner. I stop at the hotel.
- Kornblow: My name's Ronald Kornblow. I stop at nothing!
- Kornblow: The first thing we're going to do is change all the numbers on all the rooms.
- Hotel employee: But you can't do that! Think of the confusion!
- Kornblow: Yes, but think of the fun!
- Beatrice: I shall be in the Supper Club.
- Kornblow: The Supper Club?
- Beatrice: Yes. Will you join me?
- Kornblow: Why? Are you coming apart?
- Beatrice: Oh, come on now. You wouldn't say no to a lady.
- Kornblow: I don't know why not. They always say no to me.
- Beatrice: If you come to the Supper Club, I shall sing some opera for you. Bye-bye now...and remember, I shall be singing only for you.
- Kornblow: [imitating Humphrey Bogart]] "You don't have to sing for me... Just whistle." [as she leaves, he notices her swaying rear end and turns to the camera] That reminds me, I must get my watch fixed!
- Kornblow: You know, I think you're the most beautiful woman in the whole world.
- Beatrice: [eagerly] Do you really?
- Kornblow: No, but I don't mind lying if it'll get me somewheres.
- Pierre: All right, what do you want?
- Gambler: Not so quick, my friend. It costs money.
- Pierre: Why ask me? You know I'm broke!
- Gambler: I also know, that you're looking for a man who wears... a toupee.
- Pierre: You know who he is?! [Rusty and Corbaccio wander over] This means everything to me; if you know who he is, please tell me!
- Gambler: The wheel has been unkind to me tonight; I should like to try again. It would only take a few hundred francs...
- Pierre: What the- I'll pay you, I promise!
- Gambler: A croupier doesn't accept promises-
- Pierre: [grabs his collar] Tell me his name!
- Gambler: [pulls himself free and walks away] If you should happen to find a few hundred francs, I'll be at the Brass Monkey.
- Corbaccio: What's the matter, Pierre, you need-a some money?
- Pierre: Don't worry, Corbaccio. I'll get what I want from that rat without money. [leaves]
- Corbaccio: He'll never get nothin' from that rat without money. That rat's just-a like me. [Rusty laughs and claps him on the back] Eyy, what I say? I'm crazy. You know, I'm-a worried about Pierre. We gotta find him some money. [Rusty rolls up his sleeves] You gotta idea? [Rusty reaches into a guest's pocket] Eyy, notta that way!
- Annette: [Noticing a very disheveled Mr. Kornblow making his way back to the hotel] Good heavens, Mr. Kornblow, what happened?
- Kornblow: What happened! I was stood up by a woman, and knocked down by a car. These Casablanca drivers are terrible! He missed me three times. I finally had to climb a palm tree, and he hit that instead.
- Anette: [chuckles] A palm tree?
- Kornblow: Yeah... until I saw you two, I thought every date in town was broken!
- Mr. Smythe: Sir, this lady is my wife. You should be ashamed.
- Ronald Kornblow: If this lady is your wife, YOU should be ashamed.
- Corbaccio: What you need is a good bodyguard.
- Kornblow: What I need is a good body. The one I've got isn't worth guarding. By the way, since when are YOU a bodyguard? I thought you were in the camel business.
- Corbaccio: Oh, well in the daytime, I'm in the camel business; at night, I'm a bodyguard.
- Kornblow: I see; well, suppose I get killed in the daytime?
- Corbaccio: Well, then I give you free ride on my camel. Look-a boss, I could keep you alive for fifty francs a week-
- Kornblow: It isn't worth it.
- Corbaccio: Well, you can't take it with you-
- Kornblow: Well, I'm not gonna leave it lying around here.
- Corbaccio: But-a boss! If I'm your bodyguard, I'll watch-a you like a mother watches her baby!
- Kornblow: Is the mother pretty?
- Corbaccio: What's-a the difference?
- Kornblow: Well, there's a lotta difference; if the mother's pretty I'll watch the mother and you can watch the baby!
- [Rusty answers a telephone call and pours salt into the receiver]
- Kornblow: Who's he talkin' to?
- Corbaccio: Salt Lake City.
- Kornblow: Call me Montgomery.
- Beatrice: Is that your name?
- Kornblow: No. I'm just breaking it in for a friend. How about getting rid of that mutt?
- Beatrice: Oh, Frou-Frou's a watchdog.
- Kornblow: Well, let him watch somebody else.
- Beatrice: Oh, Frou-Frou won't bother us. He has such good manners.
- Kornblow: If he had such good manners, he'd get off your lap and give me a seat. He can stand up better than I can, he's got twice as many legs.
Taglines
[edit]- The Howl Raiser of 1946
- 100 Girls! 1,000 Scenes! 10,000 Laffs!
Cast
[edit]- Groucho Marx — Manager Ronald Kornblow
- Harpo Marx — Rusty
- Chico Marx — Corbaccio
- Sig Ruman – Count Pfferman/Heinrich Stubel
- Charles Drake — Lieutenant Pierre Delmar
- Lois Collier — Annette
- Lewis L. Russell — Governor Galoux
- Dan Seymour — Prefect of Police Captain Brizzard
- Paul Harvey — Mr. Smythe
External links
[edit]- A Night in Casablanca quotes at the Internet Movie Database
- A Night in Casablanca at Allmovie