A Day at the Races (1937)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Sam Wood

Writers:

Robert Pirosh (story) &
George Seaton (story) ...

Release Date:

11 June 1937 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Three Great Laff Stars ! . . . more gags and gals . . . more songs and dances !

Plot:

A vet posing as a doctor, a race horse owner and his friends struggle to help keep a sanitarium open with the help of a misfit racehorse.

Plot Keywords:

Sanitarium | Horse | Hypochondriac | Jockey | Singer

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Groucho Marx	...	Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush
Chico Marx	...	Tony
Harpo Marx	...	Stuffy
Allan Jones	...	Gil Stewart
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Judy Standish
Margaret Dumont	...	Emily Upjohn
Leonard Ceeley	...	Whitmore
Douglass Dumbrille	...	J.D. Morgan
Esther Muir	...	Flo Marlowe
Sig Ruman	...	Dr. Leopold X. Steinberg (as Sig Rumann)
Robert Middlemass	...	Sheriff
Vivien Fay	...	Speciality Dancer (as Vivian Fay & Her Ballet)
Ivie Anderson	...	Specialty Singer
The Crinoline Choir	...	Musical Ensemble

Runtime:

111 min | Germany:105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Black and White (Sepiatone) | Black and White (blue tinted)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Portugal:M/6 | Sweden:Btl | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Santa Anita Park - 285 West Huntington Drive, Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

There was originally a song that echoed "Hurray for Captain Spaulding" entitled "Dr. Hackenbush" (written by "Spaulding" songwriters Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby). However, it was decided that something needed to be cut and Groucho Marx volunteered this song. He came to regret this this decision and in later years often sang the song at gatherings.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Stuffy gets on the horse with the wagon, he is wearing a coat and dark trousers. As jockey he wears white pants and jockey shirt. While he could have lost the coat easy enough, there was no opportunity for him to change pants.

Quotes:

Dr. Hackenbush: She's so in love with me, she doesn't know anything. That's why she's in love with me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Remington Steele: Steele Your Heart Away (#3.6)" (1984)

Soundtrack:

Tomorrow Is Another Day

The Last Great Marx Brothers Movie

After this one, the quality fell off...dramatically.

This one has everything but Zeppo. Groucho and Chico work together like a well oiled insane asylum. The ice cream bit still makes me laugh and I've seen it upwards of twenty times. The timing is incredible. The examination room bit with Harpo ("Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped") is equally tight. There isn't a slow moment in the film.

What is unusual in this film is the big musical number with the African-American race track employees. Instead of people in black face or grotesque caricatures, real black singers and dancers are featured. Imagine seeing the Jitterbug fifteen years before white teens were performing it. It is not the only time the Marx Brothers have featured black musicians in one of their movies (At the Circus comes to mind)...

Margaret Dumont as Mrs Upjohn is wonderful. A Marx Brothers fan, like myself, tends to fall in love with the woman after many years. Her beauty and naivety eventually charm even the most cynical Grouchophile...

See it!