A Night in Casablanca storyline for the film was intended to be a direct parody of "Casablanca," with the characters having similar-sounding names to the characters and actors in the 1942 film. Groucho Marx has said that an early draft named his character "Humphrey Bogus", a reference to the leading actor in "Casablanca," Humphrey Bogart. Warner Bros. did not actually litigate, or even threaten to litigate, but it did issue a formal inquiry to the Marx Brothers concerning the plot and script of the film. The Marx Brothers exploited the situation for publicity, making it appear to the public that a frivolous lawsuit was
Casablanca (film) thirty-eight rejected it outright, thirty-three generally recognized it (but only eight specifically as "Casablanca"), three declared it commercially viable, and one suggested turning it into a novel. Many subsequent films have drawn on elements of "Casablanca". "Passage to Marseille" (1944) reunited actors Bogart, Rains, Greenstreet, Lorre and director Curtiz in 1944, and there are similarities between "Casablanca" and another later Bogart film, "To Have and Have Not" (also 1944). Parodies have included the Marx Brothers' "A Night in Casablanca" (1946), Neil Simon's "The Cheap Detective" (1978), and "Out Cold" (2001). Indirectly, it provided the title for the 1995 neo-noir film