A Night at the Opera (1935, Sam Wood)
Up until only a few years ago, I had not seen any Marx Brothers movies. Then I bought myself a box set (which included Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, and Duck Soup), and sat down to watch those in just two afternoons. I loved every minute of them, and don’t believe I ever laughed so hard before. Since then, I haven’t gone back and revisited the brothers. Until now.
This movie is clearly considered a classic by many, as evidence by its inclusion on the most recent AFI list (at spot #85), but I can’t say it entirely worked for me, for a couple of reasons.
First, the problem with this was that the plot felt completely out of place. What worked so well in the other Marx movies I’ve seen is the mayhem and complete anarchy and chaos that reigns, and basically just exists as a vehicle for the brothers to do and say zany things. Here though, a surrounding love story is forced in and it completely destroys any momentum the movie might have had and pushes the brothers into the background. It’s simply too structured.
There are two scenes that stand out though, and they both worked very well for me. One is the “full state-room scene” (”…and two hard-boiled eggs!”) which is hysterical and classic Marx. The other is the finale with the mayhem at the opera house — also classic stuff.
Don’t get me wrong; it’s still definitely worth your time, and better than most comedies that are released today, but out of the five Marx movies I’ve seen, this is my least favourite.
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