90. A Night at the Opera (1935)

Running Time: 91 minutes
Directed By: Sam Wood
Written By: James Kevin McGuinness, George S. Kaufman
Main Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Allan Jones, Kitty Carlisle, Margaret Dumont

THE MARX BROTHERS TOP 'DUCK SOUP'...IN MY OPINION

"A Night at the Opera" arrived today in my mailbox, from Netflix and I watched it almost immediately. I couldn't wait to see Groucho, Harpo and Chico take to the screen once more, as I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I would be laughing out loud in no time. I wasn't wrong.

The basic plot of "A Night at the Opera" is a simple one, however it is more detailed than the almost non-existent plot of "Duck Soup". Groucho plays Otis B. Driftwood, a man who is hired by Mrs. Claypool (Dumont) to help her break into high society. Otis suggests that she get into the opera racket and introduces her to Herman Gottlieb, a big wig in the world of opera. Mrs. Claypool winds up donating Gottlieb enough money so that he can procure the top opera singer, Lassparri. Upon signing Lassparri, Gottlieb, Claypool and Otis are on their way back to the States, so that they can debut him in New York.

Meanwhile, Otis has also met up with Fiorello (Chico Marx) and Tomasso (Harpo Marx), who convince him to help out their much nicer, opera singer friend, Riccardo. Tomasso, Fiorello and Ricardo wind up as stowaways in Otis' suitcase and headed to America with the rest of the opera crew. There's also a side romance story between Riccardo and Rosa (Carlisle), who is also on her way to America to debut beside Lassparri. That's basically the entire plot in a nutshell, and it's all sewed together with some wonderful, hilarious bits by the three brothers themselves.

The main reason that I think I prefer "A Night at the Opera" over "Duck Soup", is the fact that this movie seemed to flow along a lot better and some of the gags were just a bit funnier in my opinion. We start out with the discussion of Riccardo's contract between Groucho and Chico, which leads to many parts of the contract being "ripped" out...hilarious! Then there's the statesroom scene, in which a whole lot of people are crammed into a very tiny room and Groucho gets the chance to throw out some of his best zingers...loved it! Then, of course, you get a small break from the comedy and we're entertained by Chico playing the piano, followed by Harpo who plays...the harp, in a scene where we get to see a very different side of two thirds of the brothers. And of course, there's other gags, but those were three of my favorites and it all leads up to a hilarious climax during one night at the opera. I think I laughed much more during "A Night at the Opera" than I did with "Duck Soup", but really, why argue over it. They're both great, hilarious films that need to be watched by any fan of comedies or films in general.

RATING: 10/10 You had to have seen that rating coming and why not, great film with tons of comedy magic.

NEXT UP: The 39 Steps...Finally Hitchcock gets another movie into the book and it's one I have never seen...Can't wait! I'll be back later with the review for this one.

February 3, 2010 2:27pm