Though many consider A Night at the Opera to be one of the Marx Brothers' best films, I actually think it's one of their weaker films (out of the few that I've seen). It's still great, don't get me wrong, but MGM's strict ethical code forced the brothers to "clean up their act" in order to appease a larger audience. This meant that the relentlessness and anarchic nature of their humor was completely thrown out the window. Most of the sequences were still funny, yes, such as the state room scene in A Night at the Opera, but it lacked the sharpness and utter freedom that made the Marx Brothers so funny to begin with. They'd been tamed, leashed, and stripped of their ability to do whatever they wanted. They could only make fun of certain individuals, had to have motivations behind their jokes, and always had to help out their fellow man. It was too tame and this lasted for another four films until the brothers' contract with MGM ran out. After that, United Artists picked up the brothers' act and restored much of their previously-vanquished freedom. In this indirect parody of the blockbuster classic Casablanca, the Marx Brothers were able to bring a sense of chaos back to their wicked sense of humor.
Following the murders of two managers of a hotel, Groucho is hired to replace them. What Groucho doesn't realize, though, is that Count Pfefferman - a resident of the hotel and undercover Nazi - has been killing off the hotel managers to keep suspicion away from his secret life and his horde of gold hidden within the hotel's elevator shaft. Eventually joining up with Chico, a merchant, and Harpo, Pfefferman's former servant, the comedic team must maintain "order", if you will, at the hotel while aiding a young French soldier in his quest to clear his name.
Thanks to United Artists' looser rules, the Marx Brothers are able to return to their relentless style of humor. Groucho, for instance, is free to humilate the upper class, the poltical, and the undeserving once again as of this film. With the exception of the French soldier and his lover, nobody's safe from any of the brothers' ridicule and it's a wonderful return to style. The humor's as freash as ever in this film as well. There are plenty of memorable quotes and moments, mostly coming from the group's loud-mouth (and my personal favorite of the bunch) Groucho. Chico and Harpo are great as well, and there are plenty of humorous moments coming from their characters. The charades scene between those two, for instance, has to be one of the film's highlighted moments.
What separates the Marx Brothers' films from other comedies, though, are their focus on character. The brothers, along with the usually theatrical supporting cast, aren't exactly landmark-making, but they're very cartoon-like which gives them an instant sense of likalbiltiy. In other words, the Marx Brothers are almost like the live-action versions of Mickey, Donald, and Goofy from Disney - they're silly yet very lovable. Every minute spent with these hilarious and clever comedians is a minute of laughs, charm, and appreciation.
However, I wouldn't say that A Night in Casablanca is perfect. Firstly, the film takes *way* too long to start. I don't mind waiting for the brothers to make their entrance, but fifteen minutes of an expositional opening feels like too much and it drags itself out before we meet any of the Marx brothers. It's not a major flaw, mind you, but those fifteen minutes feel like an etenrity. Next, despite moving over to United Artists, brothers were still expected to put on a few musical numbers in order to please crowds. These musical numbers feel like pointless filler, though, as the only served to meet major auidences' expectations. They exist simply for crowd-pleasure and, by this point in time, the random vaudeville piano performances feel random. They'd work onstage, no question about that, but there's no excuse for them to be present in a film.
As far as cinematograhpy goes, there isn't much to say. The camerawork's nice and the editing is fairly decent and gets the job done. There are moments when the editing aids in the joke-telling, but these moments don't happen often.
A Night in Casablanca, though, proves to be a fresh comedy. It's got a few flaws, but it's otherwise charming, witty, hilarious, and just plain fun.
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