Casablanca Groucho against Warner
When the brothers
Marx was preparing to shoot a film called A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA (1946), received the threat of a lawsuit by Warner Brothers, who five years earlier had made the film titled simply CASABLANCA. Before it Groucho, on behalf of himself and his brothers, he went immediately the following cards: Dear Warner Brothers Thursday, December 14, 2006
Bulma And Vegeta Fan E
Apparently more than one way of conquering a city and keep it under self-control. For example, until the time we thought about making this film, I had no idea that the city of Casablanca belonged exclusively to Warner Brothers. However, few days after our announcement appeared that we received your long, ominous legal document warning us to noutilizar Casablanca name.
appears that in 1471, Ferdinand Balboa Warner, your great-grandfather, seeking a shortcut to the city of Burbank, had stumbled on the shores of Africa and, raising his staff (who later changed for a hundred shares on the stock) , named it Casablanca.
just do not understand your attitude. Even if you plan on releasing your picture, I'm sure the average movie fan could learn in time to distinguish between Ingrid Bergman and Harpo. I do not know if I could, but then I like to try.
You claim you own Casablanca and that no one else can use that name without permission. How about Warner Brothers? Does your property, too? You probably have the right to use the name Warner, but what about the name Brothers? Professionally, we were brothers long before you. We did and the round of the limelight as The Marx Brothers when Vitaphone was still a gleam in the eye of the inventor, and even before there had been other brothers, the Smith Brothers [manufacturers cough], The Brothers Karamazov, Dan Brothers, a midfielder Detroit , and Brother, can you spare me a dime? (Originally called Brothers, can you spare me a dime? But this was spreading a dime pretty, so I sent away a brother, gave all the money and left the other Brother, can you spare me a dime?).
Now Jack, how about you. Do you maintain that yours is an original name? Well it is not. It was used long before you were born. Along the way, remember two Jacks had The Jack in JACK AND THE BEANTALK [fairy tale] and Jack the Ripper, who cut quite a figure in his day.
As for you, Harry, you probably sign your checks with the firm conviction that you are the first Harry of all time and that all other Harrys are impostors. I remember two Harrys that preceded it. There was Lighthouse Harry of Revolutionary fame [referring to LightHORSE Harry, alias Henry Lee, a hero of the revolution in the U.S.], and a Harry Appelbaum who lived on the corner of 93rd Street and Lexington Avenue. Unfortunately, Appelbaum was not too well known. The last time I heard of him, was selling neckties at Weber and Heilbroner.
Now about the Burbank studio. I think this is what you brothers call your place. Old man Burbank is gone. Perhaps you remember him. It was a great man in the garden. His wife often said Luther had ten green thumbs.
What woman must have been! Burbank was the wizard who crossed all those fruits and vegetables until he in such a state of confusion and uncertainty that could never decide whether to enter the dining room on the meat dish or dessert.
This is pure conjecture, of course, con, who knows, maybe Brubank survivors are not too happy about the fact that a factory film piece is installed in your town, appropriated Burbank's name and use it as a presentation of their films. [...]
This letter is three or four paragraphs, in these terms confusing and overwhelming (?). The story, however, remains, for some strange reason, this letter seemed to confuse the legal department of Warner Brothers. I replied in all seriousness ask if Marx could give you some idea about the plot of the film. They thought they could reach an agreement. So Groucho replied: Dear
Warner.
I can not tell much about the plot of the film. In it I play a doctor Theology attending the natives and, as a hobby, sold as quack opener and sailor jackets to the savages of the African Gold Coast.
When meeting for the first time at Chico, this works in a tavern and sell sponges to regular customers, unable to withstand a dose of alcohol. Harpo is a cadi Arab who lives in a small Grecian urn on the outskirts of the city. [Highly cultured allusion to Keats's poem Ode to a Grecian urn small]
When the film begins, Potage, a shy native, is sharpening arrows for hunting. Paul Resaca, our hero, on continuously two cigarettes at once. Of course, ignores the rationing snuff.
could tell you more, but I will not spoil the pleasure. This has received approval from the Hays Office, Good Housekeeping [Journal American women] and the survivors of the Haymarket Riot and if the time is right, this film may be initial elcañonazo a new universal disaster.
Sincerely, Groucho Marx.
appease Instead, the note seemed to confuse even the lawyers, who replied saying it still did not understand and appreciate lahistoria that Mr. Marx will explain the plot in more detail. Groucho responded with the following letter: Dear Brothers
. Sorry to inform you that since the last time I wrote, there have been some changes in the fabric of our new movie A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA. In the new version I play Brothel, the girlfriend of Humphrey Bogart. Harpo and Chico are itinerant carpet sellers who are tired of unrolling carpets and enter a monastery in search of brown peaks. But take a good
disappointment, since no peaks have been brown in place for the last fifteen years.
front of the monastery, near the dock, there is a hotel facing the sea, crowded with ladies of fresh complexion, most of which have been banned by the Hays Office for hustlers. In the fifth roll, Gladstone made a speech that shocks the House of Commons and immediately the King calls for his resignation. Harpo marries a hotel detective, Chico runs an ostrich farm. Humphrey Bogart's friend, Kip, becomes a Bacall-girl.
As you can see, this is a very sloppy argument. The only thing that can save us from extinction is to continue rationing movies.
Sincerely, Groucho Marx.
After this, Marx did not come to know the legal department of Warner Brothers
These letters of Groucho Marx are now in the Library of Congress in Washington.
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