The Marx Brothers Collection (A Night at The Opera/A Day at The Races/A Night in Casablanca/Room Service/At the Circus/Go West/The Big Store)

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When it comes to long-awaited treats like The Marx Brothers Collection, you can never get too much of a good thing. These seven comedies can't compare to the sheer lunacy of the five classics (The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, and Duck Soup) that the Marx Bros. made for Paramount between 1929 and 1933 (available in The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection), but when uber-producer Irving Thalberg signed Groucho, Harpo, and Chico to an MGM contract in 1935 (by which time sibling costar Zeppo had become the team's off-screen manager), he knew just how to cure their box-office blues. As a result, A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races were critical and commercial hits, lavishly produced according to the "Tiffany" studio's golden-age formula of glamorous set pieces and musical numbers combined with sensible plots that smoothly integrated snappy, well-written Marxian antics. Opera is the jewel of this set, with timeless scenes (the Stateroom, the Groucho-Chico contract negotiation, etc.) that rank among the greatest bits of silver-screen comedy... not to mention Groucho's flirtatious insults at Margaret Dumont's upper-crust expense.

A Day at the Races deserves near-equal acclaim ("Get-a your tootsie-fruitsie ice cream!"), but Thalberg's death in 1937 dealt a devastating blow, and the Marxes suffered from studio indifference, resulting in a succession of comedies that are timelessly enjoyable even as they fall prey to diminishing returns. By the time they made Go West and The Big Store, the Marxes were out of their element, and a few of the musical interludes indulge racial stereotypes that were common in the studio era. Despite this, these movies remain fresh and frantic, and Warner Bros. (holder of the RKO and MGM libraries) has done a marvelous job of packaging The Marx Brothers Collection to nostalgically approximate the filmgoing experience of the 1930s and '40s, with vintage shorts (Our Gang, Robert Benchley comedies, MGM cartoons, etc.) from the time of each feature's original release. Archival materials are slim but worthwhile (especially Groucho's 1961 interview with TV talk-show host Hy Gardner), and while Glenn Mitchell's commentary on Races is sparse and superficial, Leonard Maltin brings his usual superfan's enthusiasm and encyclopedic knowledge to bear on a full-length Opera commentary track. The new documentaries are somewhat redundant, but essential viewing for Marx Bros. neophytes. With all seven films presented in pristine condition, this is definitely a Marx Brothers Collection worth having. --Jeff Shannon

Description

This set includes seven of only thirteen Marx Brothers films ever made! Collection includes: "A Night at the Opera" (1935) - The Marx Brothers turn Mrs. Claypool's opera into chaos in their efforts to help two young hopefuls get a break. It contains the famous scene where Groucho, Chico and Harpo cram a ship's stateroom with wall-to-wall people, gags, one-liners, musical riffs and two hard-boiled eggs. "A Day at the Races" (1937) - Groucho stars as Hugo Z. Hackenbush, a horse veterinarian dispensing horse pills and quips with equal glee. Chico selling racing tips, Harpo destroying a piano to turn it into a harp and favorite foil actress Margaret Dumont make this thoroughbred comedy wall-to-wall hilarity. "A Night in Casablanca" (1946) - This parody of the Bogart/Bergman 1943 classic features the Nazis vs. the "nutsies" as the Marx Brothers foil Axis criminals when they find stolen jewels and paintings Nazis have hidden in a hotel. "Room Service"/"At the Circus" - These two films are combined on one disc to provide double doses of laughter. In "Room Service" (1938), Lucille Ball and Ann Miller provide comic co-star support while the Marx Brothers play producers trying to keep their show above water and a hotel room over their head. In "At the Circus" (1939) Groucho stars as professional shyster lawyer J. Cheever Loophole in the middle of big-top bedlam as the boys try to save the circus and look to Margaret Dumont for the money to do so. Groucho sings one of his famous songs, "Lydia the Tattooed Lady." "Go West"/"The Big Store" - Another Marx Brothers twin bill makes this a hilarious comedy "two-fer." In the first, the Marxmen "Go West" (1940) to the land of outlaws and Indians where the fun never stops and where they outwit a land grabber. In "The Big Store" (1941), Groucho plays Attorney Wolf J. Flywheel who with sidekick Wacky (Harpo) and bodyguard Ravelli (Chico) are investigating the shady dealings of a crooked department store owner. Bonus extras include commentary by Leonard Maltin.

Customer Reviews:

A lot of laughs here.......2007-09-11

This set features the 3 Marx Brothers - Zeppo had left by this time. The first 2 films they did after Zeppo left are both 5 star classics. "Night at the Opera" is famous for its stateroom scene and Chico selling Groucho all the racing programs he'll need in "Day at The Races" are true classics. "Room Service" was not specifically written for the Marx Brothers and it's really not that good for a Marx Brothers movie- 3 stars. "Go West", "At the Circus" and "A Night in Casablanca" are all pretty good although not great- all in the 3.5 to 4 star area, better than "Room Service" but not the equal of their earlier classics. One of the problems with these movies is that MGM put in too much (bad) singing and dancing and less Marx Brothers comedy into these movies. The Brothers were always funny but they were at their best when not weighted down by too many characters and songs that no one cared to hear.
All in all- 4 stars. Some great ones, some very good ones and one just okay movie here.

An honest to goodness classic comedy!!!!!!.......2007-06-14

If you want a good clean entertainment and a good laugh, and a classic fun, then the Marx Brothers are for you.

Classics.......2007-05-24

By today's standards, these films are fairly slow-paced in places. Even some of the jokes seem lame in contrast to today's vulgarity. But if you've never seen the Marx Bros at the top of their game, you've gotta see this collection. Fast forward through the occasional sappy romantic bits if you must. Savor the interaction between Harpo and Chico and Groucho. I promise you'll laugh.

still laughing.......2007-05-13

The best of the Marx Brothers comes alive into our living room . I laughed when I was a kid , and now when my Grandchildren come over , they want to watch the Marx Brothers, and I still laugh at their satire . It's as funny now as it was back in my younger years . I'm glad my Grandchildren love them , and I hope their Grandchildren love the Marx Brothers also . It's hard to find good clean entertainment now days , and these movies are classics . I recommend the Marx Brothers for anyone who needs a laugh , and an afternoon for good entertainment .
Dan F. Meacham

The Marvelous Marx Brothers Collection!.......2007-03-31

This collection showcases some of the Marx Brothers' biggest film hits. Kitty Carlisle (who was a guest on television's "What's My Line?" in the 1960s) does her own operatic singing in "A Night at the Opera." She is interviewed, with Dom DeLuise and others, in a DVD featurette included in this collection, and talks about that wild, wonderful association with the Brothers. An interview with Groucho Marx reveals the true story of what happened in producer Irving Thalberg's office when he made the mistake of keeping the brothers waiting too long for scheduled meetings! These movies are classics and give today's "movies" more than a run for their money! Well worth ordering, viewing, and treasuring forever.

Average customer rating:

A Day at the Races 1937
Package: 5 stars / Material: 3 stars = ****
A Day at the Races
The third best Marx Brothers film
Marx Bros A Day At the Races Review

A Day at the Races
Starring: Groucho Marx , Chico Marx , Harpo Marx , Allan Jones , and Maureen O'Sullivan
Director: Sam Wood
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0001HAIMW
Release Date: 2004-05-04

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A Day at the Races is the Marx Brothers at their commercial and popular peak, working with a top Hollywood director (Sam Wood of The Pride of the Yankees), supported with a healthy screen budget paying for such extras as a blue-tinted ballet sequence, love songs from crooner Allan Jones, and decorative sets. But the brothers are also at the top of their game in terms of their own comic material and timing. The story finds Groucho, Chico, and Harpo helping out at a sanatorium, where their longtime foil in the movies, Margaret Dumont, is the leading patient. The film has some of the trio's funniest and most memorable bits and a dazzling horserace at the climax. Not quite as good as its predecessor, A Night at the Opera, this is still a highlight in the Marxian filmography. --Tom Keogh

Description

Customer Reviews:

A Day at the Races 1937.......2007-08-16

Some of the trio's funniest set piece . The Comedy content is sensational . The Marxes skewer medicine and bring home a racetrack winner in the hilarious A DAY AT THE RACES. In his favorite role , Groucho is Dr. Hugu Z. Hackenbush - MD , PhD , RFD , MC , PDQ , BYOD and one of the above -dispensing horse pills and quips with equal glee . Groucho (1890-1977) , Chico (1887-1961) , Harpo (1888-1964) and favorite foil Margaret Dumont 1882-1965 join the fun of throughly thoroughbred comedy . Enjoy tootsie-frootsie ice cream , Dumont's medical exam , Harpo's pretty girl pantomime sketch , wallpaper wackies and wall-to-wall hilarity the marx way .High Quality Transfer . Recommended.

Package: 5 stars / Material: 3 stars = ****.......2007-07-02

If you'e looking for "Duck Soup" you may have to settle for slightly diluted consomme, regarding the real comedy herein, although there are several excellent scenes which utilize the remarkable talents of Groucho, Chico, and Harpo ("tuttsie-frootsie" ice-cream, a couple of examinations, one with Harpo, and one with Margaret Dumont), and there some good lines, but this enterprise must be considered a Hollywood musical with the Marx Brothers - and the music is fine. (And what a shame that two numbers were not used, Groucho's "Dr. Hackenbush", which would have worked beautifully in his first big scene at the Sanitarium; and Alan Jones' "A Message From The Man In The Moon", heard only as incidental music).
Talking about "The Message", it is one of the Features here, and should delight those longtime fans who have always enjoyed that small excerpt by Groucho during the formulaic "cast call" production number.
Yes, a Director like Leo McCarey, and additional writing support from folks like Kalmar and Ruby, plus a scaled down water ballet sequence, and cutting about 15 minutes, would have produced a great motion picture. But MGM could not match Hal Roach, Paramount, or Columbia, when it came down to upbeat comedy, despite some nice editing on the Dumont examination scene. The Groucho "seduction scene", if you will, with the bad guys' accomplice has all the right ingredients, the right look and feel, but the pace is too slow. A bigger error is in the story-telling department. It doesn't make much sense to use Chico as the affable con-artist to Groucho on the one hand, if he's the selfless beneficient soul for the lovers on the other hand. And if he does have this split-personality, then why wouldn't the writers simply have him summon up his old dependable friend Hugo Z. when he's working up his scheme? So we have a case of mistaken identity which hurts the free-wheeling style of the Marx Brothers.
As Glen Mitchell, our host/critic in the Features, points out, however, it was absolutely necessary to transform the Marx Brothers into family entertainers, and to smooth out the comedy and put it in a happy, smile up the aisle, framework. The previous two Paramount efforts were pure comedies, appealing more to "educated" males, at the time.
An Amazon reviewer effectively wrote that the mix of Jones and O'Sullivan has something over Jones and Carlysle from the previous MGM film.

A Day at the Races.......2007-06-20

One of the Marx Bros' nuttiest farces, "Races" has all the gut-busting gags you would expect from their follow-up to "A Night at the Opera." The plot isn't as important as the general air of lunacy presiding over the whole affair, as when Groucho attempts to take a medical exam or falls for Chico's "tutsy-fruitsy" tip-buying scheme. Opulent sets and choice musical numbers performed by Allan Jones, who plays Hi-Hat's owner, complement director Sam Wood's goofy scenemaking. All of it culminates, of course, in a magnificently manic "Day at the Races."

The third best Marx Brothers film.......2007-04-28

Sam Wood did a good job directing this film. The dvd quality is gorgeous. It was nice to have so many different sets, indoors and outdoors, that made it more interesting. The dialogue scenes are as funny as they can be. The singing and dancing parts I usually fast forward them, and the plot holds well. Recommended.

Marx Bros A Day At the Races Review.......2007-01-11

Very Minimalist DVD, Just Plays movie only, no extras at all. The video quality was clear and the sound was acceptable.

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A Day At the Races
Director: Sam Wood
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The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection (The Cocoanuts / Animal Crackers / Monkey Business / Horse Feathers / Duck Soup)

ASIN: B000JYNP90

Product Description

Doctor Hugo Hackenbush, Tony, and Stuffy try and save Judy's farm by winning a big race with her horse. There are a few problems. Hackenbush runs a high priced clinic for the wealthy who don't know he has his degree in Veterinary Medicine. This is the Marx Brothers at their commercial and popular peak, working with a top Hollywood director (Sam Wood of The Pride of the Yankees), supported with a healthy screen budget paying for such extras as a blue-tinted ballet sequence, love songs from crooner Allan Jones, and decorative sets. But the brothers are also at the top of their game in terms of their own comic material and timing. The story finds Groucho, Chico, and Harpo helping out at a sanatorium, where their longtime foil in the movies, Margaret Dumont, is the leading patient. The film has some of the trio's funniest and most memorable bits and a dazzling horserace at the climax. Not quite as good as its predecessor, A Night at the Opera, this is still a highlight in the Marxian filmography.

Night At The Opera / A Day At The Races (Two-Pack)

Average customer rating:

An Affordable Introduction To The Marx Brothers
Two classic MGM era films

Night At The Opera / A Day At The Races (Two-Pack)
Starring: Warner 2pak
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002QO3NC
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Customer Reviews:

An Affordable Introduction To The Marx Brothers.......2005-01-18

If case you didn't know, the rock group Queen named two of their albums after these films. Zeppo had quit performing with his brothers and the studio replaced him with Allan Jones to keep the same balance of music and comedy that their other successful films had. Typically, Jones will sing a corny, sentimental song to the female love interest while the Marx Brothers aren't on the screen. Fortunately, their comedic talent more than makes up for these boring parts. Groucho's one-liners are still undated and Chico's and Harpo's musical performances are quite impressive.

Two classic MGM era films.......2004-11-22

"Duck Soup" nearly did them in. The Marx Brothers' last film for Paramount bombed at the box office. Why? It was ahead of its time. Audiences were used to a structured and coherent story and "Duck Soup" featured the brothers at their most anarchic and insane. Thinking their career was over, Zeppo left the brothers (he wasn't happy playing straight man anyway), Groucho almost quit for radio and Chico & Harpo planned to try and carry on. Then Chico ended up playing cards with the wunderkind Irving Thalberg and, suddenly, they had a career again. Thalberg knew that the brothers' humor would reach audiences within the context of a more conventional formula and story. He helped craft "A Night at The Opera" with that in mind. His midas touch helped relaunch their career.

Both of these films receive sharp and clear transfers with numerous extras about the making of the films. "Remarks on Marx" provides a neat summary of their vaudeville career (including how they got their nicknames)and includes a discussion of why "Duck Soup" failed to reach an audience. There's also a discussion with Kitty Carlisle, irving Brecher one of the writers the Marx Brothers worked with, film historian Robert Osborne, Dom DeLuise and others about their comic style, the making of the film and working with Thalberg. There's also an excerpt from "The Hy Gardner Show" where Groucho discusses his then current book (this is 1961)and working with Thalberg. Leonard Maltin provides an enthusastic commentary track on the making of the film packed with trivia.

"A Day at The Races" continued the winning streak for the brothers. While viewed as inferior by many fans because it repeats the formula of "Opera", in some respects "Races" is superior because it hones the formula of the first film. The commentary by author Glenn Mitchell is exceptionally good filled with a number of witty and interesting stories. "On Your Marx, Get Set, Go" discusses some of the difficulties the Marx Brothers encountered while making the film including the death of savior Thalberg. There's also a discussion hot/cold relationship the trio experienced working with director Sam Wood. The audio only outtake of Allan Jones, MGM radio promos and trailer round out this terrific film. "Races" looks and sounds stellar here as well.

If you're only going to pick up a handful of Marx films, I'd recommend both these classics. While the boxed set from Universal featuring "Duck Soup" and all their early Paramount films is essential, the lack of extras and so-so transfers make them a bit more promblematic at best. I'd recommend waiting a bit and picking up "Duck Soup" and "Horse Feathers" when they're released individually. If you can't wait, you'd do far worse than picking up the "Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection" despite the indifference showed by Universal in their release (although the design of the set is nice).

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