Review of A Night at the Opera (1935) by Steve J — 01 Sep 2014

One of the Marx Brothers' best! Groucho plays Otis B. Driftwood, conman and raconteur. In order to get society dowager Mrs. Claypool to agree to marry him, Driftwood attempts to make his mark as an opera promoter.

Through a series of amusing miscues he winds up working out a deal with Fiorello (Chico) to sign struggling nice-guy Allan Jones to a contract to sing in New York. Tomasso (Harpo) is also on hand to create his own particular brand of anarchic mischief, all in a bid to secure Groucho's place in the world of opera, install Jones and love interest Kitty Carlisle as the new singing sensations of New York, and make life a living hell for snobbish tenor Walter Woolf King.

But who cares about the plot??? The point here is to watch the beloved comedy team work their magic, and this film contains some classic bits: the contract scene, the stateroom scene, and most infamously, the climactic sequence at the opera, where they wreak some of their funniest havoc on a live production of Il Trovatore.

While it falls just short of Duck Soup, this production (their first at MGM) boasts a larger budget and classier trappings than before; even the dreaded musical numbers manage to actually CONTRIBUTE to the action rather than distracting from it for once.

One of the greatest comedies of all time right here, folks!!!