Review of At the Circus (1939) by Frances Ann A — 19 Apr 2012
An enjoyable Marx Bros. movie. Their comedy still works after all these years. When the antics were happening the movie flowed quite well. Unfortunately, the musical portions stop the movie in its tracks.
While I do enjoy a good musical, the songs are always my least favorite part of a Marx Bros. movie While Lydia the Tattooed Lady is from this movie, and Groucho is fun to watch during that number, the songs with the tenor are of the style of the time, and choreographed simplistically and poorly that they really date the movie. And Harpo playing the Harp is always fun to see, but that number is a complete tangent to the plot.
There is enough funny Marx Bros. here to make it worth the wait through the songs, and you could actually fast forward through them to get to the next scene and not have to worry about missing a plot point; they are that unrelated to the rest of the film. Recommend.
This review of At the Circus (1939) was written by Frances Ann A on 19 Apr 2012.
At the Circus has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
