Film Review
Along with
Duck Soup,
A Night at the Opera ranks as the
greatest of the Marx Brothers' films, a masterpiece of inspired comic
madness/genius that can never fail to reduce an audience to
hysterics. This was the first film that the Marxes made after
their move from Paramount to MGM and is a far more polished work than
their previous films, slightly less anarchic but just as funny.
At this stage, the Marx Brothers were down to three, as Zeppo, the
straight man and juvenile lead, had decided to leave the team to pursue
a career as a theatrical agent. Zeppo's role in this and
the subsequent Marx Brothers film
A
Day at the Races (1937) was played by the then unknown Allan
Jones, whose obvious singing talents were put to good use.
Once again, Margaret Dumont appears as the stooge / love interest for
Groucho, the role for which she is probably best known.
Much of the success of
A Night at
the Opera is down to Irving Thalberg, MGM's head of production
who sought the highest possible standards in all of the films he
produced. It was Thalberg who persuaded the Marx Brothers
to work for MGM and was not discouraged when their most recent film,
the aforementioned
Duck Soup,
was not the commercial success that had been envisaged.
Determined to get the best out of his new recruits, Thalberg lent them
the services of some of his best screenwriters and came up with a
brilliant idea to proof test their gags. Before shooting the
film, the Marxes would try out their comic routines on stage in front
of an audience, to gauge their reaction. This enabled the comedy
trio and their screenwriters to hone the jokes to perfection, ensuring
that the film was as funny as it could possibly be.
Ironically, the one comedy routine that failed to get a positive
reaction in these audience trials was the famous state room scene,
which is now regarded as one of the greatest comedy sequences in the
history of cinema. Thalberg was convinced the scene would work
far better on film than on the stage and insisted that it be
retained. His instinct was right. There is no funnier
moment in any Marx Brothers film than the one when the door to the
state room cabin is opened and a human tsunami comes crashing into the
ship corridor.
Another memorable routine is the one where Groucho and Chico argue over
a contract and repeatedly tear strips off the contract until all
they are left with is what Groucho terms the sanity clause, at which
point Chico quips: "You don'ta fool me. There ain'ta no
Santa Clause." This is reputedly the gag that got the biggest
laugh when the film was first seen in the 1930s.
In true Marx Brothers fashion, the film ends in madcap anarchic farce,
with the Marxes knocking down the pillars of the establishment like
ninepins and firing a salvo or three for the little man (presumably
decapitating him by mistake in the process). Combining the
impeccable production standards offered by MGM with the unbridled
talent of the funniest comedy team in history,
A Night at the Opera is film comedy
elevated to the level of fine art.
© James Travers 2009
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Film Synopsis
By donating money to Otis B. Driftwood, an opera promoter of dubious
repute, wealthy widow Mrs Claypool hopes to buy her way into high
society. Whilst in Milan, Driftwood signs up an unknown chorus singer,
Riccardo, mistaking him for the great tenor Lassparri. The latter
is signed up for the New York opera company by another promoter,
Gottlieb. Driftwood manages to smuggle Riccardo, his agent
Fiorello and Lassparri's former dresser Tomasso on board a steamship
headed for the United States. Riccardo is doubly grateful,
because he is reunited with Rosa, another opera singer with whom he is
in love. Having been sacked by the New York opera, Driftwood
resolves to take his revenge by sabotaging the opening night
performance of
Il Trovatore.
In the process, he hopes to do a good turn for Richardo and Rosa...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.