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Night at the Opera, A

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by MP Bartley

"Anarchy In The USA"

Ah, the Marx brothers. Not as loved as Laurel and Hardy and not as highly regarded as Chaplin. 'A Night At The Opera' isn't even as cutting as daring as 'Duck Soup'. But the sheer insanity that goes into this still elevates into one of the greatest comedies of all time.

Plotwise...aw, who the hell cares about the plot here it's the fricking Marx brothers! All you need to know is that Groucho is as sharp as ever, still trying to seduce Margaret Dumont, Chicho gets some of his best lines ever and Harpo is quite possibly the most insane person to ever be let loose in a film. And there's no crappy fourth brother like Zeddo, Deddo, or Knobbo standing about to cramp their style.

Unfortunately there's horrible musical numbers and a tiresome romance that threatens to slow down the hectic pace that's the trademark of the Marxies.

But look at what you get in return:

- the as-many-people-in-one-room-as-possible-gag
- the room swapping to confuse the detective
- the heroes of the air routine

And some of the best lines ever, including

- "you can't fool me there ain't no sanity clause!"
- "Your table's set for four!"
"that's nothing my watch is set for eight"
- "do you follow me?"
"Why yes"
"well stop following me or I'll have you arrested"

It gets so loopy at one point that they appear to be making each other laugh (at Groucho's hotel breakfast). And this isn't even scratching the surface. Their rat-a-tat-tat pacing means there's jokes you won't even pick up on or remember until the third or fourth viewing. So find it, fastforward through the scenes that don't have any one of them in it, and laugh until your lips bleed.

It may not be their finest hour but it contains enough wit, mania and sheer comic genius to make us wonder and weep at how much Martin Lawrence gets paid for 'Black Knight'.

link directly to this review at https://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=2350&reviewer=293
originally posted: 07/26/02 22:28:47

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User Comments

12/31/20 Anne boring 2 stars

6/28/10 Josie Cotton is a goddess Funny as hell! 4 stars

9/10/08 PAUL SHORTT ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF HOLLYWOOD FILM COMEDY 5 stars

7/28/07 steven kelly Arguably the Marx Brothers' best comedy, and one of the joys of the cinema. 5 stars

7/07/05 John MacKendrick There aint no sanity clause. Not their best, but still awesome. 5 stars

6/30/04 Marcus One of the true great comedy classics of all time. The best Marx Bros movie to boot! 5 stars

2/19/04 Arundel This is the Marx Brothers at their very best! 5 stars

1/24/04 CC OK... 3 stars

1/24/04 LONESOME_WHISTLE Comic masterpiece. Funniest schtick ever in a Marx Bros. movie! 5 stars

12/17/03 Tim Triangle Good in places. Harpo sucks never understood what he was about, looks kind of sad. 3 stars

12/04/03 Andrew Callaway Marx brothers are genious. Their movies better than this are Duck Soup & Animal Crackers 5 stars

11/22/03 ross hendrick the best ever comedy 5 stars

7/27/02 Charles Tatum More laughs than all of Adam Sandler's movies combined 5 stars

2/03/02 Andrew Carden One Of The Most Hilarious and Unique Movie Of It's Time. 5 stars

8/10/01 R.W. Welch It ain't Duck Soup but there are several funny bits. 4 stars

9/03/00 Crappo A weak entry (this was their 1st MGM film), but Harpo's musical solos are beguiling 4 stars

IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
Note: Duplicate, 'planted,' or other obviously improper comments
will be deleted at our discretion. So don't bother posting 'em. Thanks!

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USA 15-Nov-1935 DVD: 04-May-2004 UK N/A Australia N/A

Directed by Sam Wood Written by George S. Kaufman Morrie Ryskind Cast Groucho Marx Chico Marx Harpo Marx Kitty Carlisle Allan Jones Margaret Dumont

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