Wednesday, January 25, 2012

A Night at the Opera (1935) **

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(This is my contribution to the CMBA’s Comedy Classics Blogathon. Please visit http://clamba.blogspot.com/ for more great comedy classic articles.)

Imagine if you will a world in which a nation finds itself weighed down by hard economic times—a world where a select few have much and the majority of people struggle to make ends meet. In this type of world the masses need something or someone to make things seem less dark and hopeless.  In 1935 the world was a dark place for many Americans.  The Great Depression saw unemployment and a-night-at-the-opera-chico-marx-harpo-marx-groucho-marx-1935homelessness ascend and people’s spirits and dreams descend into despair.  Most people didn’t go to the movies to be reminded that their lives were filled with worry and uncertainty. No, they went to films to escape—at least for a few short hours—from the unpleasant times in which they lived.  Just that one simple act of sitting side-by-side in a darkened theater with people just like themselves and laughing at the absurdity of it all—the jokes, the actors, and the world itself—what a release it must have been!  That is what the Marx Brothers brought to the American people—comic relief from a very unfunny world.

The Marx Brothers made thirteen films (really fourteen, but Humor Risk [1921] doesn’t count, as it was never released); A Night at the Opera (1935) was their sixth film and their first for MGM.  They, like the American people, had suffered some setbacks.  Their previous film, Duck Soup (1933), had not fared well at the box office or with the critics; thus, effectively ending their working relationship with Paramount.  While the world might have seemed insane to most people, they didn’t A-Night-At-The-Opera-1935-MGMwant to go to movies where nothing made sense. Irving Thalberg knew this, and so when he took the brothers on at MGM he proposed that they remain as insane as they already were but that there be an actual plot that ran the insane asylum. What emerged was what most critics consider to be the Marx Brothers best film.

While they no longer carried the keys to the asylum, the Marx Brothers still got Thalberg to allow them to choose their writers, George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, and to showcase their individual talents.  Groucho still got to deliver his quick one-liners. Chico still played the wily ethnic, as well as the piano. And, Harpo was still a silent, childlike figure who could play the harp like an angel and leer at women like a pervert.  Yes, Zeppo was gone, but while his good looks would sorely me missed, the brothers no longer needed him to play the straight man as they now had the ultimate straight man—an actual story plot! 

11By all accounts, the Marx Brothers were viewed as over-the-top, absurd characters.  Well, what better world to place them in than the world of opera?  And, not just any opera, but Verdi’s Il Travatore—one of the most ridiculous (and revered) operas ever.  In the words of NPR, “opera has always been easy fodder for jokes. Even the greatest of operas often seem to teeter on some weird edge between the profound and the preposterous.”  What a perfect setting for a group of men who took great pride in being profanely outrageous.  That is what A Night at the Opera is.

There are three things that are profanely outrageous about this film: 1) People are starving to death in America, but Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont) is willing to pay $200,000 to the New York Opera Company if it gets her name into society. 2) The reputation and arrogance of tenor Rodolpho (Walter Wolf King) is more respected than the talent and industriousness of tenor Riccardo (Allan Jones). 3) And, everything else. That’s right, everything else. 

While the story is held together by the love story of tenor carRodolpho and soprano Rosa (Kitty Carlisle), the film is really nothing more than a cornucopia of Marx Brothers’ gags wrapped in the guise of a romantic musical comedy.  The plot, which they somewhat abide by, is what allows them to do what they do best—run anarchically amok.  Three things stand out in this regard.

First, you have the famous stateroom scene where Groucho’s character, Otis P. Driftwood, finds himself sardined into  a very small room with three stowaways: Riccardo, Tomasso (Harpo), and Fiorello (Chico).  The plot says 12that the stowaways are in the tight space because they can’t afford tickets and because Riccardo can’t be separated from Rosa.  The reality is that the Marx Brothers (with the help of Buster Keaton) saw an opportunity to pack as many people as humanly possible into that small space under the pretext that all fifteen people who eventually end up in it are there for a perfectly reasonable reason. 

The second example is the bed-switching skit in Groucho’s hotel.  Again, Groucho finds himself playing host to the three stowaways, but now they are illegal immigrants wanted by the police.  When Detective Henderson (Robert Emmet O’Connor) comes looking for them and sees three cots in Groucho’s hotel he knows something isn’t right.  What ensues is a ridiculous ruse in which Henderson is used as a human carousel to seamlessly transfer an entire bedroom to another room without him knowing. By the end of the ruse the poor detective is thoroughly convinced that he is in an entirely separate room.

The last example, of course, is the final sequence, harpo%201where Harpo and Chico find themselves in the most unlikely situations: playing catch in the orchestra; playing gypsies in the chorus; and, finally as (for Harpo at least) rope pullers and set changers for the scene backdrops.  The fact that the show would go on when so much chaos is so obviously taking place before the audience’s own eyes is beyond profanely outrageous.

I have always thought of the finale as a reflection on America’s upper class citizens in the 1930s—the whole world is obviously on fire, yet they sit passively by and don’t even attempt to throw a glass of water on it! Perhaps I’m a bit subversive in this thinking, but I wouldn’t put it past the Marx Brothers. Maybe this was their small glass of water to an American public thirsting for a bright and hopeful future.

 

24 comments:

  1. Nice post, Kim. The Marx Brothers were a big glass of water in the desert, that's for sure! I wan't much of a Marx Brothers fan as a kid, but I am coming around real fast. And you're right about the MGM influence. It's fun to watch a few in succession - talk about feeling like your in an alternate reality! Thanks for a day brightener!

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    1. Thanks for commenting. I think if you're going to do a marathon you should see it all. So, I would suggest watching these four films in order (also the order they came out in): Horse Feathers, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera, and Duck Soup. Probably their four best films, but you see variation and growth in all of them.

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  2. If there is one thing I enjoy more than beautiful singing, it is zany comedy and "A Night at the Opera" is an absolute treat. The MGM gloss didn't diminish the lad's hyper high jinks. I really enjoyed your putting the movie in the perspective of its time.

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    1. Thanks, Caftan. I think when dealing with films that might seem dated to some (and some people view the Marx Bros. this way) it is a good idea to frame them with historical perspective that most people understand.

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  3. Good stuff Kim! : ) I'll have to email this write up to my dad, who's Marx Bro's crazy.

    Even their character names are hilarious! Otis Driftwood. I love Duck Soup but A Night at the Opera is my favorite of their work.
    The perfect contribution to the Classic Comedy Blogathon.
    Page

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    1. Glad you liked it, Page. I hope your father likes the article as well. I think I prefer Duck Soup, but this is a good one, too.

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  4. Very interesting comments about the passivity of the audience watching the opera at the conclusion.

    I've always loved the Marx Bros. regardless of whether they were at Paramount or M-G-M. A few years ago the local theater had a revival of "Night at the Opera" for two weekend matinee performances. As many laughs as the stateroom or bed switching scenes got, by far the biggest laugh was Groucho going "Boogedy boogedy boogedy" to the scary looking old gypsy woman onstage at the opera.

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    1. It is funny what some people find, well, funny. I think the Marx Bros. can be funny for many reasons to many people. I've seen most of their films, and I always get a good laugh.

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  5. Kim ~ I think it is fair to say this blogathon is about reminiscing over an old favorite and discovering a new gem. I cannot recall a time, from my teens years till now, when the brothers Marx were not a part of my comedy landscape. The chance to watch Groucho do a little dance, Harpo’s face and Chico’s hand flourishes as they play the harp and piano is comedy at its sublime best. My introduction to the Marx Brothers and their films was “Night at the Opera” and the cramped stateroom scene. During a period when classic films were not as available as today, with TCM and DVDs tantalizing us at every turn, waiting to see a hoped for film could last months or years. I was fortunate to see many of the Marx Brothers films on the wide screen, much as audiences had decades earlier. I came across a quote in my research on Wheeler and Woolsey, Groucho Marx commented on “Duck Soup” saying, "We were trying to be funny, but we didn't know we were satirizing current conditions. It came as a great surprise to us." If Groucho, Harpo and Chico were unaware, the writers were certainly making a point. Thank you for your wonderful addition to the CMBA comedy blogathon.

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    1. For some reason, old classics don't get shown at any of our theaters here. We used to have one that did a Rocky Horror Picture thing once a month on Friday nights and one that did a Casablanca showing on Valentine's Day, but that was about it. You are lucky to have enjoyed some of the classics on the big screen. As for Groucho saying he didn't know what was going on in his own pictures, I suspect he really didn't mean it. He was a pretty liberal guy, but I think he also knew that to survive in Hollywood after 1945 you had to be careful about what you said. Who knows... Glad you enjoyed the post.

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  6. I will never forget the amazing scene with a ton of people stuffed into Groucho's small cabin room. I didn't fully appreciate this film until my second viewing. Now, it is my favorite Marx Brothers film.

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    1. The stateroom scene is a favorite among Marx Brothers fans.

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  7. Kim, another fine review and I don't think you're subversive at all! I was a little surprised that you only gave A NIGHT AT THE OPERA two stars (out of four?) since it's often considered their best film. But, like you, I prefer DUCK SOUP (and HORSE FEATHERS, for that matter). I can't quibble with their often brilliant comedy, but the music interludes disrupted their comic rhythm for me. Had I directed them (and I don't think anyone did...except maybe Groucho), I would've nixed the music and maximized the funny.

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  8. Yes, I don't like the songs in A Night at the Opera at all. As for the two stars--I'm picky. LOL!!! No, I just have my own quirky rating system. Does the story move me? Is the acting good, etc.? etc. etc. etc. While I enjoy most Marx Brothers' films, I can't bring myself to say that they rank among the best of the period. I'm bad...sorry. LOL

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  9. Kim, it's OK with me if you have your own quirky ratings system for movies, because I do, too! Since my version involves drawing goofy pictures, I can't really do it justice here, so I'll just tell you that we of Team Bartilucci love The Marx Brothers. One of the first bits of child-play our daughter did as a tot was a skit about "Mrs. Rittenhouse" from both ANIMAL CRACKERS and TV's TINY TOONS! The first Marx Brothers film I ever saw was A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, and we loved everything about it: the zany comedy, the sweet romance between Riccardo and Rosa (we liked Kitty Carlisle in her later years on TV, too), and the music, especially the brothers' unique ways of playing the piano and the harp (they were self-taught, you see). We liked the MGM Marx Bros. films because the musical interludes and romance gave us a chance to catch our breath after all that laughter! :-) Another thing I liked about your review was your overview of the real world during the difficulties of The Depression; it put things in perspective, to say the least. Anyway, Kim, though I liked A NIGHT AT THE OPERA more than you did, I still enjoyed your review -- great job!

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    1. Great minds don't always think alike, Dorian! I'm glad you liked the historical perspective elements--I always think it adds to the discussion if you know how things were going when a film was made.

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  10. Definitely a fun choice. If I remember correctly, Irving Thalberg had the Marx Brothers take the bits from this film on the road as live performances to make sure audiences would laugh, thereby securing the success of the brothers' first film at MGM. Regardless, I'm a fan of the Marx Brothers and their zaniness often brightens up my days.

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  11. You are right about them taking the bits on the road.

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  12. Kim, I'm just catching up on the blogathon, but I have to tell you how much I enjoyed your post on "A Night at the Opera." I prefer the Paramount Marx Bros. movies, but this one is definitely their best post-Paramount film I've seen. Like others who left a comment, I like the way you placed this kind of crazy comedy, and this picture in particular, in the context of the social and economic difficulties of the time. Comedy films have always served to help people forget their problems for a while, but never more so than during the Depression. Your description of the complexities of those three key sequences and analysis of why they work so well was marvelous. A fine post on these great film comics and one of their best-loved movies.

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    1. Thanks for your kind words, R.D. When dealing with Depression Era films I think it is important to place the film in the context and times on which they were made.

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  13. In the third paragraph, you have the personas of Harpo and Chico reversed. I'd horsewhip you; if I had a horse.

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    1. Like the Groucho quote, and thanks for pointing out my error.

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  14. I entirely agree that the story framework nicely replaces Zeppo. It is because of this framework the wacky antics of the Marx brothers work so well. I found it quite a bit more fun than Duck Soup, probably because that one simply degenerated into chaos. The stateroom scene always makes me roll in laughter. It really works.
    So, the singing is a bit off, well, that just makes me like the crazy stuff so much more.
    Nice review.

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    1. That stateroom scene is iconic. Still, I think I like Duck Soup more.

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