Casablanca (1955 TV series) veers into spies, killers and Cold War intrigue. Billed fourth through seventh in the film's credits are Claude Rains as Captain Louis Renault, Conrad Veidt as Major Strasser, Sydney Greenstreet as Ferrari and Peter Lorre as Ugarte. The TV series retains the French police chief who bears a slightly different surname, Captain Renaud, played by Marcel Dalio (who was unbilled as Emil, Rick's gambling table croupier in 1942). The Nazi major, who had been fatally shot by Rick at the end of the film, was eliminated as a character, but Ferrari, the Fat Man with the powerful connections, was now
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