A Night at the Opera (1935)

The interesting thing about "A Night at the Opera" is how much of a genuine, cliché plot it has. There is an obvious villain and protagonist, and both have goals that end in nothing but predictability. However, it gets interesting when the main attraction, that being the brilliant wit of the Marx Brothers, steps in. Every character other than these three wonderful, wild buffoons, is of a cliché and predictable nature, but they certainly aren't! While everyone else is playing it straight, they prove that they're still the same old Marx Brothers as they showcase some of their most hilarious and creative gags. I just find it truly unique and entertaining how this film feels as if its trying to be a predictable and heartwarming musical, but it keeps being interrupted by the absolutely unpredictable creativity of the Marx Brothers. The fact that everybody else is playing it so straight just adds to the great comedy here. Its all so creative and fantastic, and it is all the more creative and all the more fantastic when it is set up against the backdrop of what would normally be considered a melodramatic Hollywood musical!

Groucho Marx is in his element as slick, fast talking business manager Otis B. Driftwood, who spends his time playing up to arts patron Mrs. Claypool (classic Marx Bros. foil Margaret Dumont). When he sees that she's willing to pony up $1,000 a night to have pompous Lassparri (Walter Woolf King) sing, he wants a piece of the action. Circumstance soon throws him together with equally sly Fiorello (Chico) and goofy Tomasso (Harpo), as they become determined to help out young lovers & aspiring opera stars Rosa (Kitty Carlisle) and Ricardo (Allan Jones).Even if one is not a fan of the opera, they shouldn't let that dissuade them from checking out the Marx Bros. in their glory. Some buffs consider this their best film, and it certainly shows off their talents to memorable effect. Musical interludes do go on a bit long, but the quality of the comedy when it occurs is top notch. There are some truly great bits in here, like the "party of the first part" contract, the overcrowded (to say the least) stateroom sequence, and the frantic, farcical efforts of Otis, Fiorello, Tomasso, and Ricardo to pull the wool over the eyes of a suspicious inspector (Robert Emmett O'Connor) by moving beds from one room to another.Groucho is hilarious, as always. Very few entertainers in film history can fire off a one-liner as snappily as he does. Chico and Harpo have their wonderful moments, as well. (It's such a hoot when Harpo does a Spider-Man routine near the end.) Carlisle and Jones are extremely appealing, Dumont is once again a fine "straight woman", King is an appropriately snooty villain, Sig Ruman is superb as eternally frustrated Gottlieb, and O'Connor is likewise good as the antics of Otis and company take a toll on him.The pace isn't always consistent, but there is some enjoyable action and first rate stunt work. Overall, this is a solid comedy / musical that will appeal to any lover of this era in cinema.Eight out of 10.

There must be one and he made this movie for me!...mine...mine...mine...I started to write a review of this crazy Marx Brothers' movie only to find that halfway through I ran out of words and had to go back. So then I found some more words in another dictionary and started out one more time. I was just about to land on the last period of the review and realized I forgot my keyboard (and plane...and gas) and had to go back again.They don't make movies like this anymore...in fact, they didn't make movies like this even back then. All I can say is, such lovely lunacy.

Groucho strikes gold again in Hollywood's age of gold in 'Night at the opera". The hilarious moments start right away at a restaurant where Mrs. Claypool (Margarate Durmonte) is meeting Otis P. Driftwood (Groucho) and he's already there with another woman (and with his back to Margarate) and he then joins Margarate (Groucho to Margarate: "you had your back to me. When I meet a woman I expect her to look at my face, that's the price she hasta pay"). Groucho continues ("I was only with that woman cause she reminded me of you. Everything about you also reminds me of you, your hair, your eyes, everything about you reminds me of you, except you".). The humor continues. The Marxs board a ship. So does Margarate and Rosa (Kitty Carlisle). Kitty sings "Alone" to Riccardo (Allen Jones) with her wonderful voice. She's also very beautiful. Ricardo sings talented too. I also like how even in the middle of "Alone", the Marx bros continue their hyjinks such as Groucho asking a ship crew as ship is about to depart: "do I have time to leave the ship to pay a hotel bill?" Crew member: "no, its too late". Groucho: "thats fine with me". Then "Alone" continues so beautifully that I really didn't care that the song was interrupted halfway with the Marx's hyjinks. Numerous more hilarious scenes coming. Groucho finds out the size of his room when pushing his giant suitcase in there and sees it's almost the size of the room (Groucho to porter: "maybe tomorrow, can you take the case out of the room and I can go in it"). Out of the case comes stowaways Harpo, Chico, and Ricardo. Groucho orders food with them behind him in room (Harpo honks his horn then Groucho to caterer 3 times: "and two hard boiled eggs" Harpo honks shorter honk, "and one duck egg" Harpo honks repeatedly, "either it's getting foggy out or 12 more hard boiled eggs"). Then more people, one after another, enter the room; two maids, an electrician, a manicurist, some girl, three caterers with food, and a cleaner. Groucho to cleaner: " you can mop the ceiling, it's the only place where there's room". Watch what happens then when Margarate opens the door. Hilarious. Then another great music act on the ship deck with Jones singing Casi casa with the Italain passengers dancing enjoying it, then another great Chico piano performance. Soon then Harpo, Chico, and Jones disguising themselves as longbearded aviators (they impersonated the same 3 guys that were on the ship where Groucho said "is that 3 guys or one guy with 3 beards?"), and them presenting themselves City hall antics with Chico's very hilarious story about how they crossed the Atlantic and Harpo drinking glass after glass of water (and Groucho saying "hurry it up, I see a guy in the crowd with a rope"). Continuous very funny scenes include Groucho, the detective, and the disappearing beds in the apartment, and the Marx's antics at the opera including the great "take me out to the ballgame joke. And I know not everyone agrees but I also enjoyed the opera music, Kitty and Jones' "Alone" earlier on the ship, and the songs at the opera. Passion and.hilarious humur are a very really good mix