IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

I have a problematic relationship with the Marx Brothers film A Night at the Opera (1935). It is a movie that I dearly love and cherish. Yet, it is a film that makes me sad and slightly angry.

The movie was enormously important to me in my childhood. Sometime around the age of five or six, my father set me down in front of the old black & white tube television set. He told me that there was a movie coming on, and he thought I’d like the guys in the picture. The movie was A Night at the Opera, and he was right. I did like those guys (those guys being Groucho, Harpo, and Chico Marx). Those guys had a reckless abandon that was more insolent and zany than anything I had seen outside of animated cartoons, and their mix of high and low comedy helped to shape my sense of humor and interest in classic cinema. As a consequence, I’ve been an enormous Marx Brothers fan (and a fan of classic film comedy in general) ever since.

Unfortunately, when I watch A Night at the Opera today, its faults are so glaring to me that it ruins much of my enjoyment of the picture. During the Marx Brothers’ lifetimes, A Night at the Opera was generally considered their greatest triumph and best film. However, I’d rank it as their sixth best picture, after the five films they made for Paramount between 1929 and 1933. After Duck Soup (1933), the Marxes were done with Paramount and Paramount was done with the Marxes. Additionally, Zeppo Marx was done with being relegated to the sidelines and left the act, transforming “The Four Marx Brothers” into “The Three Marx Brothers.” The trio had been absent from the screen for a year and a half when they signed with MGM (the studio where comedy went to die). MGM insisted on sanding down the rough edges of their comedy to appeal to a wider audience. It worked in terms of box office, but it was a terrible blow to the magic of the Marx’s anarchic style of comedy.

A Night at the Opera is the best of the boys’ MGM output, and in truth, it is an excellent comedy. Yet, I feel more malice towards the film than I do against lesser movies from other comedians. I think that is because A Night at the Opera was such an obvious turning point towards a downward slide in the quality of the Marx Brothers’ work. I feel much the same way about Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman (1928), which seen on its own is another first-rate comedy, but it also marked the downfall of a major comedic talent (again due to the meddling of the MGM bosses).

Despite my misgivings, I felt compelled to revisit A Night at the Opera recently, because the Warner Archive Collection has just released the film on Blu-ray from a new 1080p remaster of a 4K scan of the best preservation elements. This was the first remaster of the film in over 20 years. I’ve got a lot more to say about the new disc in the “Video” section below. However, rest assured that the image and sound are improvements over prior home video releases, but unfortunately, the three to four minutes of footage that was cut from the original negative before prints were made for the film’s 1938 Italian release are still missing from the Blu-ray. Still, as the best presentation available (however compromised) fans of the film are encouraged to add the disc to their collections.

If you’re unfamiliar with the film, the story begins in Italy (which is the exact reason that footage was cut for the re-release). Groucho portrays Otis B. Driftwood, the business manager of Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont), a millionairess who wants to be taken seriously in society as a patron of the arts. Driftwood arranges that Mrs. Claypool will donate $200,000 to the New York Opera Company, so the company’s director, Herman Gottlieb (Sig Ruman), can hire Rodolfo Lassparri (Walter Woolf King), a famous Italian tenor. Lassparri has the hots for Rosa Castaldi (Kitty Carlisle), an Italian soprano, but Rosa loves chorus boy Ricardo Baroni (Allan Jones). Ricardo’s friend Fiorello (Chico) and Lassparri’s dresser Tomasso (Harpo) know that Lassparri is a stinker, so they stowaway with Ricardo on the steamship to America to make sure the lovers don’t get separated. They end up hiding in Driftwood’s trunk, and he gets engaged in the romantic subplot.

The focus on plot is the main problem with A Night at the Opera. In the earlier Paramount films, if there was a romantic subplot, the Marxes generally ignored it. They didn’t care if the young lovers got together in the end. They weren’t even concerned about their own well-being. They were too busy having fun by insulting authority figures, chasing after random women, concocting wonderfully horrible puns, breaking the fourth wall, destroying private property, and causing a general disturbance. In the Paramount films, the boys were agents of anarchy, but MGM insisted that that they become more relatable and sympathetic, which sapped much of the dangerous energy that fueled their comedy. Groucho has a couple of cringe-inducing scenes where he consoles the female lead. Chico’s character is blunted by setting the opening in Italy, where he is just another Italian, rather than the “Say, how did you get to be an Italian?” character from Animal Crackers. Finally, both the delinquency and magic of Harpo’s character are muted. You won’t find him lecherously chasing women or magically producing needed items from his trench coat in A Night at the Opera.

Still, there is a lot to love in A Night at the Opera. Most importantly, it has a lot of strong jokes, thanks to a screenplay credited to George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, who launched the Marx’s movie careers with the screenplays of The Cocoanuts (1929) and Animal Crackers (1930). A Night at the Opera also includes uncredited contributions by the Marx’s second greatest writing team, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (Horse Feathers, Duck Soup), and physical gags by Buster Keaton, so there was no shortage of talent behind the scenes. Much of the material, such as “The Stateroom Scene” and Chico’s monologue on “How We Flew to America” are deservedly famous.

The performances are still pretty sprightly from Groucho, Harpo, and Chico, despite the fact that they were in their late 40s, and you don’t get better foils for the Brothers than the great Margaret Dumont and Sig Ruman. Even the romantic leads are less grating than in most Marx comedies. Alan Jones gets to take part in some of the Marxian hijinks (as if his name was secretly Zeppo), and he and Kitty Carlisle get to perform some pretty good songs. Speaking of music, Chico and Harpo get to do their thing on piano and harp, which remained a highlight in even the least of the Marx films.

While most Marx fans hold the Paramount films in higher regard, there is a very solid fan base for A Night at the Opera. I may personally have many misgivings about the movie, but I acknowledge that Opera is better than 90% of the comedies to ever come out of Hollywood. If you love classic film comedy, A Night at the Opera belongs in your personal collection, and the new Blu-ray from the Warner Archive is the best available version to own. Recommended.

USA/B&W-91m./Dir: Sam Wood/Wr: George S. Kaufman & Morrie Ryskind (from a story by James Kevin McGuinness)/Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones, Walter Woolf King, Sig Ruman, Margaret Dumont

For Fans of: You either like the Marx Brothers or you don’t. If you’ve enjoyed other outings with the Brothers, you will like A Night at the Opera. 

Video: The Warner Archive Collection Blu-ray release of A Night at the Opera is recommended with a few reservations. As stated above, the film has received its first remastering in over 20 years from a 4K scan of the best preservation elements. The movie looks better than it ever has on home video, with a sharp, silvery picture and appropriate film grain throughout. Age-related scratches and debris have been digitally removed without affecting the sharpness of the image.

The audio is also solid, without age-related hiss. Finally, optional English subtitles are provided for the feature.

The film still contains several splices from where footage was cut, rather unartfully, back in 1938. It had been stated in the past that the footage was cut during WWII to remove any mention of Italy, who was an enemy of the U.S. at the time; but this has since been disproven. The film was actually cut to appease Italy, prior to the Italian release of the film, due to concerns about caricaturing the nationality. Of course, the cuts couldn’t remove Chico’s fake Italian accent.

In 2008, a film student reported that he saw a print of A Night at the Opera in the Hungarian National Film Archive that contained some of the dialogue that was cut in the post-1938 prints. However, this has not been corroborated by Turner Entertainment and Time Warner, which now holds the copyright. In fact, it isn’t clear if the company even went to the trouble to contact the Hungarian National Film Archive and view the print in question. As a result, the Blu-ray seems incomplete, as they could have easily brought the question of the possible found footage to rest one way or another.

The special features are also a bit of a disappointment, as they are the same vintage supplements that were included with the prior DVD release, with the exception of an additional travelogue short:

• Vintage audio commentary by Leonard Maltin
• 34-minute documentary featurette: “Remarks on Marx”
• Groucho Marx on The Hy Gardner Show (1961 Broadcast, 5 minutes)
• Sunday Night at the Trocadero (a 20 minute short with a brief Groucho cameo)
• Robert Benchley’s Academy Award®-winning short How to Sleep (1935, 10 minutes)
• Los Angeles: Wonder City of the West (an 8-minute travelogue)
• The original theatrical trailer

Since the commentary and documentary are years old, they contain several factual errors that have subsequently been disproven, such as that Duck Soup was a box office bomb during its original release and that the Italian references in A Night at the Opera were cut due to America’s involvement in WWII. An additional commentary or featurette could have brought the research up-to-date. Also, if a new featurette had been produced regarding the Italian cuts, Warner Brothers could have finally answered the question about the potentially longer print in Hungary.

You can purchase the Blu-ray from the Warner Archive store on Amazon or from other retailers (Amazon link below).

Streaming: A Night at the Opera can be rented or purchased from Amazon, Vudu, iTunes, and other digital retailers, but you won’t get the newest 4K remaster provided on the Blu-ray.  The film is not currently streaming as part of any of the major subscription services.

More to Explore: If you want to experience the Marx Brothers at their best, then The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection Blu-ray set is essential. It contains the first five films that they made a Paramount — The Cocoanuts (1929), Animal Crackers (1930), Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932), and Duck Soup (1933). Even if you already own these films on DVD, the Blu-ray set is worth owning, because a worldwide search was performed to find the best possible elements for the new restoration. This resulted in a greatly improved transfer for The Cocoanuts and the reinsertion of a few minutes of censored footage that had been missing from prior releases of my favorite Marx Brothers film, Animal Crackers.

Trivia: Kitty Carlisle initially refused to perform in the film, because the studio planned to dub her singing voice with that of a trained operettic soprano. MGM relented and let her sing for herself. Harpo also performed many of his own stunts, despite his age of 47 at the time of filming.

For More Info: There have been no shortage of books written about the brothers Marx, but Robert S. Bader’s Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers on Stage did something for me that entertainment biographies rarely do; it made me look at the subjects in a whole new way (read my full review here). In addition, The Annotated Marx Brothers: A Filmgoer’s Guide to In-Jokes, Obscure References and Sly Details by Matthew Coniam is a great resource to explain out-of-date pop culture references in the films. If you prefer filmed documentaries, The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell is the gold standard.  Finally, the ongoing Marx Brothers Council Podcast continually reveals unknown details and tasty tidbits about Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, Gummo, and even Manfred. The podcast discussed the possible discovery of the longer Hungarian print of A Night of the Opera in Episode 6.