In the movie Casablanca, what country is the elderly couple getting ready to come to America likely to be from

Question

When Karl is talking to this happy couple at Rick's cafe, the gentleman calls his wife "Liebchen" which would tend to imply they were from a "German speaking” country like Germany, Austria, or Switzerland ... or it might just be his nickname for her. What threw me is that, after that, one of them asked the time by saying "what clock" ... which is how the question is asked in Finnish ... to which the other answered "ten Clock" ... However, I would have expected the Finnish answer to be "clock ten". Is this likely to be a misstatement of "ten o'clock" or is it from some other language? I have encountered "how many hours" or "what hour" in a variety of languages. However, I am not an expert in European languages. Does anyone know of a language other than Finnish where the common phrase for asking the time is "What Clock?" and what of the answer "ten clock" and is the use of the nickname "Liebchen" relevant to the question?"

Thank you ... it was funny to me too (because of my Finnsh background). I'd initially thought German but what confused me was that although I did take German (and French) in high school, the phrase I learned was clearly "How many hours(or clock)" ... "wie viel uhr" not "what clock" ... "wie uhr" .... however, I am sure there is more than one way to ask the question.

Answer 1

The parts you refer to were played by Ludwig Stössel as Mr. Leuchtag, the German refugee whose English is "not so good". Born in Austria, the Jewish actor was imprisoned following the Nazi Anschluss. When he was released, he left for England and then America. Stössel became famous for doing a long series of commercials for Italian Swiss Colony wine producers. Dressed in an Alpine hat and lederhosen, Stössel was their spokesman. His motto was, "That Little Old Winemaker, Me!"
Ilka Grü*** as Mrs. Leuchtag. Born in Vienna, she was a silent movie star in Germany who came to America after the Anschluss.

They were, supposedly, Jewish refugees who had escaped Germany and were heading for America. Here are the lines you refer to.

Mr. Leuchtag "Come sit down. Have a brandy with us." To celebrate our leaving for America tomorrow."
Carl "Oh, thank you very much. I thought you would ask me, so I brought the good brandy. And -- a third glass!"
Mrs. Leuchtag "At last the day is came!"
Mr. Leuchtag "Mareichtag and I are speaking nothing but English now."
Mrs. Leuchtag "So we should feel at home when we get to America."
Carl "Very nice idea, mm-hmm."
Mr. Leuchtag "To America!"
Mrs. Leuchtag "To America!"
Carl: "To America!"
Mr. Leuchtag "Liebchen-- sweetnessheart, what watch?"
Mrs. Leuchtag "Ten watch."
Mr. Leuchtag "Such watch?"
Carl "Hm. You will get along beautiful in America, mm-hmm."

Answer 2

They are German - either fleeing wealthy or Jews. Liebchen is German and in German, "Uhr" means both time, hour and clock. In German, Zehn Uhr does mean ten o' clock. So the couple is asking the time, reading it as ten o' clock and then saying "Already that time?" which is what "Such clock?" would be in direct translation from the German. Since they are from Germany and just starting to learn English, the joke is that they are trying to use the vocabulary as they would in direct translation - they have not learned the difference in phrasology yet. It is a funny scene for German students, no one else really tends to understand it.