A Day at the Races
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Movie Reviews of A Day at the Races
Movie Review: "Doctor! My Metabolism!"
Summary: 5 Stars
The Marx Brothers had a run of four critically and commercial popular films for Paramount--but when DUCK SOUP was released in 1933 it tanked in a major way, so much so that Paramount was suddenly unenthusiastic about future projects. Enter Irving Thalberg, who was best known for "prestige pictures" made at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a studio that tended to emphasize family fare. Thalberg and MGM seemed an unlikely venue for the anarchy of the Marx Brothers, but Thalberg had ideas--and the result was two extremely popular films: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA and A DAY AT THE RACES.
In both instances Thalberg placed the wild humor of the Marx Brothers at the service of a romantic subplot. Where RACES is concerned, that plot is particular bizarre. Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan) has inherited a sanitarium and if she is unable to repay her debts she will be bought out by a casino! Her fiancee Gil (Alan Jones) has a plan to save the day: he has bought a race horse and hopes to win the money she needs. Judy finds the scheme ridiculous and turns instead to wealthy patient Emily Upjohn (the formidable Margaret Dumont)--who insists that Judy employ her favorite doctor, Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush. And with a name like that, this can only be one actor: Groucho Marx.
Marx Brothers fans argue a lot about whether the Paramount or MGM films were better. I tend to come down on the side of the Paramount films, which are edgier, but there's no denying that both A NIGHT AT THE OPERA and A DAY AT THE RACES are exceptionally entertaining films--and when you combine horse racing, a water ballet, a medical sanitorium, mistaken identities, and mix them thoroughly with some of the most outrageous one liners and set pieces imaginable... well, you have a classic on your hands. The whole thing is a hoot, and if you can get through the famous Florida call scene without busting a gut you need to go to a sanitarium yourself.
The DVD release offers an extremely good, if not entirely pristine, print of the film and it comes with several bonuses. Unfortunately, these are not particularly memorable; the commentary track is at best uninspired. But who cares when you've got the Marx Brothers zinging along very close to the peak of their skills? Strongly recommended.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Movie Review: Their last truly great film
Summary: 5 Stars
Like a number of other reviewers, I also prefer this film to 'A Night at the Opera' (although that film is also terrific). I just find 'A Day at the Races' funnier, personally, and with the plot more tightly constructed. There's also more chemistry between Allan Jones (their best imitation Zeppo by far) and Maureen O'Sullivan than there was between Allan Jones and Kitty Carlisle in the previous movie. There's great comedic timing, gags, jokes, funny situations, classic routines, polished acting, you name it. It is kinda slowed down in the middle by the superfluous song and dance performance, although it was common practice for a lot of films at the time, particularly at MGM, to have musical interludes. I was much less bothered by the much talked about African-American musical performances the second time I watched this than I was the first. Some of their speech, mannerisms, and facial expressions are cringe-inducing, even considering that this was actually probably considered pretty progressive by 1937 standards, although the overall scope of these performances is positive, certainly nothing like other films which depicted African-Americans via whites in blackface or which made them all out to be villains and caricaturish negative people, a la BOAN.
The extras are really good too; the documentary could have been longer, but I thought it was pretty good, covering well the making of this film and the stars behind it themselves. There are also the original trailer for the film, a few audio extras, and some cartoons and short films from the era, probably to try to recreate what a night at the movies was like in 1937. This was their last film that was truly great from start to finish, made just when they were on top of their game; we see glimpses of their former greatness in their later films, some more so than others, but never again did they make a film this great, funny, or tight. Like is pointed out in the documentary, who knows what might have happened had Irving Thalberg not passed away during the filming?
Movie Review: For the Love of Ivy
Summary: 5 Stars
Groucho, Harpo and Chico try their best to cheat on the horses but with limited success. Maureen O'Sullivan, one of the most beautiful and underrated of the MGM stars, gives a lively performance here as Judy Standish. She's appealing, strong-willed, yet with a vulnerable streak that found its ultimate expression in the waifishness of her daughter Mia Farrow. O'Sullivan's blonde beauty seems designed to play off both Allan Jones' clean-cut all American appeal, but also the garish, sexually charged performance of Groucho as Dr. Hackenbush. Was there ever a more suggestive actor in the movies? In the 30s, there was Clark Gable, and there was Groucho for when you wanted to get serious about the body. When a guy taunts him, "Are you a man or a mouse?" Groucho doesn't turn a hair, just snaps out, "Throw a piece of cheese on the floor and you'll find out," exactly the kind of repartee you'd get on a good day at Craig's List.
His grimaces, astonished glances, the quick swivel and point of his chin when challenged (or aroused), his bristling hair and beetle-like spectacles, here combine with the stethoscope of his "medical fantasy" to produce a vision of the id gone wild.
They don't call it a day at "the races" for nothing, for few MGM films had as many black actors working alongside the white ones. True racial harmony. The magical moment here is the only appearance (as far as I know) in a full length film of the incandescent Ellington singer Ivie Anderson, singing "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm." I know, what a title! But it is one of the most dazzling musical numbers ever captured on film. Ivie Anderson (here billed as "Ivy," but it seems she was one who honestly didn't care that much who spelled her name wrong or right) had one of the world's great voices, and she's given her due in this Sam Wood-directed number. Alone it would be worth buying just for this track. (There's also an Ellington short with Anderson singing Arlen's "Stormy Weather," but this is miles better.)
Movie Review: Doctor Groucho
Summary: 5 Stars
"A Day at the Races" is one of the better (but not best) of the Marx Brothers movies. It has quick-witted humor evenly spaced throughout the movie and teams Groucho up with Margaret Dumont; his favorite straight woman. He plays a horse doctor hired to head a sanitarium where Ms. Dumont is the bank-rolling hypochondriac. Along the way the other brothers find their way into the plot. The sanitarium is in danger of foreclosure and it turns out that the only way to save it is to win an upcoming horse race. Oh well, good Marx Brothers movies don't require much of a plot.
There are a number of great comic scenes in the movie. One of the best is Groucho having his expertise evaluated by other physicians. One of the more interesting scenes involves Marx brothers spending time with the black community near the race track. Some versions of the movie have expunged some of these scenes due to questionable taste. However, I did not think that they were that bad for Hollywood in 1937. There was a terrific musical number in one of those scenes and it would be a shame if it were editted out. I can't vouch for this particular version since I have only seen the movie on TV.
This is not up in the league of "Duck Soup" or "A Night at the Opera" but is is still very good. All of the first 6 Marx Brothers movies deserve a 5 star rating and a couple of them merit 6 stars.
Movie Review: Insane
Summary: 5 Stars
Marx brothers are insane, a force of chaos. The brothers Marx brothers are like a riff on Marxism, always giving the upper crust a black eye. It's class warfare and it's so damn funny. Margaret Dumont is amazing. What a foil. Like Wodehouse, the Marx brothers attack the upper classes (here, the medical profession) with working class gusto, while acknowledging that the working class is just as bad as the upper class. "We're greedy and mean, too, just not as good at it as you upper class people." Yeah yeah, Margaret Dumont puts on airs, but she's almost always nicer than Groucho. The Marx brothers are so brutally honest. Their films almost always feature a hilarious attack on the upper class, variously defined. They attack the rich, the pompous, the elites, the arty-farts, the intellectuals, anybody who is smug and superior. And yet the Marx brothers zing themselves just as much, if not more. They never fall into the ideological trap of failing to see their own capacity for evil.
Did the Marx brothers ever win an Oscar? What, are you kidding? Oscars are voted upon by elites in the art world. And elites are always just like Margaret Dumont.
My Absolutely Insane Attempt To Rank All Cinema