When the Germans steal the script for CASABLANCA to make their own ridiculously pro-Nazi version of the movie, an amusing team of British agents infiltrates the production with some clever tricks of their own.

SYNOPSIS:

HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU, FRAULEIN

Tone & Style: Highly entertaining and educational “movie within a movie within a movie” parody where two versions CASABLANCA race to win the battle for global hearts and minds in the early days of WWII. Crazy? You bet. Funny? Oh yes. With a sterling cast of famous actors, world leaders, intrepid British agents and the incomparable Bugs Bunny, it’s off to the races in one of the wackiest wartime pictures ever made.

The emotional intensity of CASABLANCA, the thrilling British commando action THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE, the cloak and dagger espionage of NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH and WHERE EAGLES DARE and the high brow comedy of THE THIN MAN movies combine in a raucous, unpredictable and highly cinematic thriller that turns the world's most beloved movie upside down and inside out with such plausibility that you’ll wonder if everything you've just seen is true.

Story Overview: Before CASABLANCA was CASABLANCA, it was a stage play called EVERYBODY COMES TO RICK’S and greenlit by Warner Bros. for a feature starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henried and a cast of well-known character actors.

As we enter 1942, America is reeling from Pearl Harbor and Hollywood is pulling out all the stops with patriotic movies to convince Americans that Hitler is an even bigger threat than the Japanese. Britain stands alone against the Nazis, who have swallowed Europe whole. They also control North Africa, but few Americans care. And nobody's ever heard of French Morocco or Casablanca. But that is about to change. And in a stunning series of serendipitous events, CASABLANCA will become the luckiest and most famous film in history.

MAIN CHARACTERS:

Ben Randall: Star West End actor fluent in German and Britain’s top undercover spy, age 35. Wants out but gets sucked back in when ex-girlfriend Ellie Bloch is kidnapped to star in the Nazi’s “Everybody Comes To Heinrich’s.” In a daring ploy, Ben publicly defects to Germany and joins the cast playing Heinrich Blaine to Ellie’s Elsa Lund. But that’s just the opening act, and many more dangers await.

Ellie Bloch: Beautiful German actress who fled the Nazis and became England’s Greta Garbo, age 30. Forced to play Elsa in “Heinrich’s” when she and her physicist father are kidnapped. Terrified of Goebbels, she gains courage when she realizes the Brits have her back and starts to shine like the movie star she is, giving Ingrid Bergman a strong run for the money.

Dr. Joseph Goebbels: Nazi Minister of Propaganda and head of Germany’s film industry, age 45. Knows that stealing “Everybody Comes To Rick’s” will be the biggest propaganda coup of the war and endear him to Hitler forever. Personally rewrites the “Rick’s” script into “Heinrich’s” to beat Hollywood at their own game and responsible for some of the worst lines in movie history.

Mo, Larry and Curly Jones, aka The Jones Girls: England’s greatest living heroes whose countless undercover missions and intelligence coups since WWI have made them the go-to team when the going gets tough. Ace combat pilots, deadly as scorpions, seductive as Mata Hari, funny as hell and never far from a stiff drink. Mo: the eldest and leader who sets the tone, age 38. Larry: the intellectual middle girl and born actress, age 36. And Curly: the youngest and wildest and a wizard with weapons, age 34. Tasked by Churchill and MI-6 to join the German production in Casablanca as émigré extras, endear themselves to von Bloheim, keep Ben and Ellie safe and get them out of French Morocco without raising suspicion. Then provide Spitfire air cover for the rescue plane to land in Germany and get Ben, Ellie, Dr. Bloch and Pvt. Becker back to England. A double bank shot, but all in a day’s work for the Jones Girls.

Erich von Bloheim: Germany top director tapped by Goebbels to helm “Heinrich’s” on location in Casablanca, age 50. Knows how important the movie is to Goebbels and Hitler and works hard to make it perfect. Bears an uncanny resemblance to Erich von Stroheim, and also bears the brunt when MI-6 turns the tables on the finished film.

Jack Warner: Head of Warner Bros. and the most powerful man in Hollywood, age 50. Knows how important “Rick’s” is to the Allied war effort and to alerting Americans to the Nazis’ existential danger. Agrees to the last-minute title change from “Rick’s” to “Casablanca” – maybe the smartest decision in Hollywood history. His amusing interplay with Bugs throughout the story is priceless reveals who really calls the shots.

Bugs Bunny: Super Patriot, top star and the brains behind the business. Shares Warner’s office, is full of amusing advice and “has a string of dames a mile long.” Finishes Warner’s sentences, has keen ears for Max Steiner’s score and can’t believe how lucky they are when the Allies invade North Africa weeks before the premiere, putting Casablanca on the front page of every newspaper in the world and turning the movie into Oscar gold.

Charles Purcell: aka “Mother”. Head of British Intelligence and Ben Randall’s boss, age 50. Shrewd, clever, archly humorous and always with a card up his sleeve. When the Nazis steal the “Rick’s” script, Purcell sees a golden opportunity to turn the tables and “show Jerry who’s boss” and asks Q to come up with something that’ll bring down the house. And boy, does it ever.

Dr. Wilhelm Bloch: Top German physicist who defected to England with his daughter Ellie when Hitler came to power, age 60. The pawn in Goebbels’ game to force Ellie to play Elsa in “Heinrich’s” and the object of Phase II of Purcell’s master plan to whisk him out of Germany after “Heinrich’s” finishes filming in Casablanca.

Private Walter Becker: Handsome and highly capable British commando, age 21. Picked by Ben and the Jones Girls to join the Phase II mission based on his fluent German, skills as a race car driver and willingness to put his life on the line. His courage and facility with a Schmeisser machine gun play a huge part in getting Ben, Ellie and Dr. Bloch out of Germany and back to England, earning the girls’ highest praise.

SYNOPSIS:

Before CASABLANCA became CASABLANCA it was known as EVERYBODY COMES TO RICK’S. So imagine what happens when the Nazis steal the script, change RICK’S to HEINRICH’S and shoot their own version in French Morocco while the real movie is being made in Hollywood. Crazy? You bet. Funny? Oh yes. With a sterling cast of famous actors, world leaders, intrepid British agents and the incomparable Bugs Bunny, it's off to the races in one of the wackiest wartime pictures ever made.

Early 1942. Staggered by Pearl Harbor, America’s gearing up for war and Hollywood’s leading the way. But when a shadowy figure sneaks into Jack Warner’s office and steals a copy of RICK’S, it’s soon in the hands of Joseph Goebbels in Berlin, who’s eager to rewrite the script, Nazify the hell out of it, make Heinrich a discontented pro-German sympathizer and change the entire thrust of the story. Goebbels pitches the idea to Hitler as a huge propaganda coup for The Reich and after several hilarious and terrifying outbursts, a violently unstable Hitler green-lights the film, warning Goebbels not to fuck it up.

News of Goebbels’ plan reaches London and Charles Purcell, head of MI-6, taps star West End stage actor and top undercover spy Ben Randall for the job. Ben’s done his share of missions and wants out, but when he learns his ex-girlfriend, the celebrated film actress Ellie Bloch has been kidnapped and forced to take the role of Elsa Lund in the Nazi version of EVERYBODY COMES TO HEINRICH’S, Ben agrees to publicly defect to Germany, endear himself to Goebbels and offer to play Heinrich Blaine opposite Ellie’s Elsa. Meanwhile, Winston Churchill calls in the Jones Girls, England’s greatest living heroes, and tells them to infiltrate the German production in Casablanca as sexy émigré extras, keep Ben and Ellie safe, get them out of Morocco without the Germans knowing after the film is completed and then pluck Ellie’s father, Dr. Wilhelm Bloch, from captivity in Germany.

Goebbels welcomes Ben’s defection with open arms and Ben deftly signals Ellie to pretend they don’t know each other to avoid raising Goebbels’ suspicions. As parallel filming begins in Hollywood and Casablanca, we follow the German production closely as Ben, Ellie and the excellent cast complete scene after classic scene under Erich von Bloheim’s direction. But the Nazi script is filled with cringeworthy lines like “I stick my neck out for nobody but the Fuhrer,” “You’re a bigger Jew than I thought,” “You didn’t think she’d choose some Czech swine over a proud man of the Third Reich,” “Elsa, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful marriage filled with strong Aryan children who will be a credit to the Reich,” and, of course, “Here’s looking at you, Fraulein.”

In the final scene at the airport, Heinrich and Major Strasser both wear special swastika armbands developed by Q at MI-6 and smuggled on set by the Jones Girls. And as the plane for Lisbon takes off with Heinrich and Elsa aboard, it appears to blow up several miles off shore, killing everyone. Von Bloheim is devastated by the death of his stars and in a long distance phone call to Berlin, he tells an equally devastated Goebbels that the shoot was completed with excellent results and after he edits the film in Germany, the movie will be ready for its Berlin premiere.

But the plane didn’t really blow up and as Ben, Ellie and the Jones Girls make it back to England, Phase Two of the mission begins in earnest. With Ben posing as a fearsome SS Colonel, Ellie posing as his mistress and Private Becker posing as their cold-blooded SS driver, they parachute into France, drive to a medieval German university town and in a tour de force of intimidation and guts, whisk Dr. Bloch out from under the Gestapo’s noses. A white knuckle cross-country chase to a remote landing field in northern Germany ensues and after a thrilling aerial dogfight starring the Jones Girls, Ben, Becker, Ellie and her father make it safely to England.

Back in Hollywood, the CASABLANCA wrap party at Jack Warner’s stately mansion is full of revealing surprises. Producer Hal Wallis, director Michael Curtiz, composer Max Steiner, costumer Orry-Kelly, screenwriters Julius and Philip Epstein and Ingrid Bergman and Warner all think they’ve got a great movie on their hands, but the rest of the cast isn’t so sure. Bogart, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Conrad Veidt, Paul Henreid and Peter Lorre all think it pales in comparison to other movies they’ve done. Bogart is particularly critical, calling it “a fucking propaganda film. Jack Warner’s call to arms against the Nazis.” And when asked if he thinks it’ll do well, Bogart shrugs. “Beats me. I guess it depends on the mood of the country, whether or not we wanna go to war in Europe again. We’ve already got our hands full with the Japs.”

Meanwhile, there’s trouble in Germany. As von Bloheim edits the film, he stares in shock at something inexplicable that happens in the final airport scene before Heinrich and Elsa board the plane. It’s too late to change things now and since both Ben and Ellie are dead, they can’t possibly reshoot it. But he knows that what’s on the film is a death sentence with his name on it.

We move ahead to November 1942, where a huge stroke of luck comes into play. The Allies invade North Africa, Rommel is on the run and Casablanca is on the front page of every newspaper in the world. Back in Hollywood, Bugs couldn’t be happier. “We’d be blowin’ our brains out if we hadn’t changed the title from RICK’S to CASABLANCA!” A smiling Jack Warner agrees and they move the premiere up from January to November 26th.

The movies open on the same night in New York and Berlin and we follow both premieres, switching back and forth as the differences magnify and the momentum builds. The Berlin audience, filled with high ranking Nazis and the cream of German society, loves HEINRICH’S, cheering the Nazified lines as Hitler and Goebbels smile with delight. But when the airport scene appears, everyone gasps in shock as Heinrich and Strasser’s swastika armbands suddenly morph into British Union Jacks. Hitler erupts in a rage and as he strangles Goebbels screaming “Burn the film, you schwanzlutscher!”, von Bloheim commits suicide before Hitler can hang him from a meat hook. As the audience files out of the theater looking shell-shocked, they know they’ve just witnessed a disaster of epic proportions.

Across the ocean, the American premiere is a huge success and as the audience gives CASABLANCA a standing ovation, many in the cast are surprised and delighted by the enthusiastic response.

It’s Christmas at the Jones Girls’ Fountain Abbey mansion and Ben, Ellie, her father and the girls are stunned by reports that the Berlin premiere of HEINRICH’S was an unmitigated disaster and the film was burned on Hitler’s orders, never to be seen again. Purcell and Q bask in the glow of their outrageous armband coup (“A simple trick of the light, my dears”) saying the Jerries needed to be shown who’s boss. Churchill announces that Ben’s defection was a clever hoax to serve the war effort, putting Ben back in the nation’s good graces and as everyone toasts to King and Country and makes plans to see CASABLANCA when it comes to London, we’re treated to a startling revelation as Bugs wraps things up with a smile: “Louie, I think this is the end of a beautiful picture.”

Commercial Appeal:

CASABLANCA, the world’s most beloved movie, has never been taken it for a ride like this. More than just a crazy romp, FRAULEIN takes a fresh look at a cultural icon and puts it in proper context: Hollywood’s valiant propaganda battle to help the Allies win WWII. Nobody thought CASABLANCA would be a hit. But fortune smiled, the Allied invasion put Casablanca on the map and the rest is history. FRAULEIN’S compelling story world adds a host of new characters to the film we love, turning this new creation into a magical movie within a movie within a movie that will delight and connect with audiences around the world.

Marketing & Franchise Potential:

FRAULEIN is the third movie in the exciting Jones Girls film franchise, preceded by the tense WWI espionage thriller THE JONES GIRLS and the Jazz Age Gatsby mayhem of ROARING INTO THE ‘20s.