A Night at the Opera (1935)

Director:

Sam Wood

Writers:

James Kevin McGuinness (story)
George S. Kaufman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 November 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Musical

Tagline:

Don't miss it! The funniest picture ever made!

Plot:

A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.

Plot Keywords:

Opera | Stowaway | Marx Brothers | Singer | Opera Singer

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Groucho Marx	...	Otis B. Driftwood
Chico Marx	...	Fiorello
Harpo Marx	...	Tomasso
Kitty Carlisle	...	Rosa Castaldi
Allan Jones	...	Ricardo Baroni
Walter Woolf King	...	Rodolfo Lassparri (as Walter King)
Sig Ruman	...	Herman Gottlieb (as Siegfried Rumann)
Margaret Dumont	...	Mrs. Claypool
Edward Keane	...	Ship Captain
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Henderson (as Robert Emmet O'Connor)

Runtime:

96 min | USA:91 min (1948 re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #1613) | South Korea:12 (2004) | Sweden:Btl | West Germany:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Some of the stowaway jokes were recycled from the Marx Brothers earlier film Monkey Business (1931)

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The elevator operator uses the old movie trick of rising from a squatting position to make it appear that the car is rising from the ground floor. Unfortunately, the white elevator certificate over his left shoulder remains motionless the entire time.

Quotes:

Otis B. Driftwood: Let's go in my room and talk the situation over.
Mrs. Claypool: What situation?
Otis B. Driftwood: Well, er... what situations have you got?
Mrs. Claypool: I most certainly will not go to your room.
Otis B. Driftwood: OK, then I'll stay here.
Mrs. Claypool: All right, all right, all right! I'll come, but get out.
Otis B. Driftwood: Shall we say, uh, ten minutes?
Mrs. Claypool: Yes, ten minutes, anything. But go!
Otis B. Driftwood: Because if you're not there in ten minutes, I'll be back here in eleven. With squeaky shoes on!

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies: 10th Anniversary Edition (2007) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Strido lassu

Along with "Duck Soup" this is the Marx Brothers best movie

Classic comedy involving Otis P. Driftwood (Groucho Marx) trying to get Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont) into high society--and romancing her to get her money. He figures opera is the best way and gets involved with Chico, Harpo and rising opera singers Rosa Castaldi (Kitty Carlisle) and Ricardo Baroni (Allan Jones).

The plot doesn't really matter too much--it's just a jumping off point for the Marx Brothers to stage one hysterical scene after another. The jokes fly fast and furious and there are quite a few standout scenes: Chico and Groucho negotiating a contract; the infamous stateroom scene; Harpo, Chico and Jones impersonating three airmen; the brothers fooling a policeman by switching furniture from room to room and the total destruction of the opera "Il Travatore" at the end.

This is also one of the few Marx Brothers movies that's not destroyed by an unnecessary romance or lousy sings. Carlisle and Jones make an engaging couple and the two big songs--"Cosi Cosa" and "Alone"--are actually pretty good. "Alone" actually became a big hit back when this movie was released. The only bad points here are Chico and Harpos obligatory piano and harp solos--but those are small points in the whole movie.

I'm really surprised this isn't in IMDb's top 100 movies--this is a true comedy classic. A 10 all the way.