523 - A Night in Casablanca, United States, 1946. Dir. Archie Mayo.

Thursday, June 7, 2018

523 - A Night in Casablanca, United States, 1946.  Dir. Archie Mayo.

Rolazoides, the manager of the Hotel Casablanca, has just been found dead.

That is the third murder of a Hotel Casablanca manager in six months.

Round up all likely suspects.

No, not the usual suspects.  All likely suspects.  That was a different movie.

They round them up.

Lieutenant Pierre Delbar has a theory.  The Hotel Casablanca used to be under the control of Nazis.  Perhaps they hid their stolen treasure there.  He was once a pilot forced at gunpoint to fly one of their planes filled with treasure.  He crash-landed in Casablanca in order to thwart their plans.  But when he returned to the plane the treasure was gone.

Perhaps the treasure remains hidden in the hotel.

Perhaps someone is murdering the managers to try to gain control of the hotel.

The Governor General, Monsieur Gandalou does not believe Lt. Delbar's theory.  His associate explains.

"We're not concerned with clearing your name.  Our only interest is in solving these murders. . . . And finding a new manager."

They are going to find a new manager all right.  Someone who does not know of their recent past.  Or of the mortality rates of the position.

Presenting Ronald Kornblow.

That would be Groucho Marx to you.

With help from Rusty and Corbaccio.

Played of course by Harpo and Chico respectively.

Just the man to run a hotel.

Just the man to run the Hotel Casablanca.  No, it is not Rick's Cafe Americain.

It is something, well, a little bit lighter.

Casablanca came out in 1942.  The calendar year after U.S. involvement in WW2 began.

A Night in Casablanca came out in 1946.  The calendar year after WW2 ended.

Now if Kornblow can just protect the hotel and its hidden treasure from the post-war Nazis who wish to retrieve it.

And if he can just keep himself from getting killed.