A Night at the Opera (1935) | |
| Director(s) | Sam Wood, Edmund Goulding (uncredited) |
| Producer(s) | Irving Thalberg (executive uncredited) |
| Top Genres | Comedy, Musical |
| Top Topics | Fame, Mistaken Identity, Romance (Comic), Romance (Musical), Slapstick |
Featured Cast:
A Night at the Opera Overview:
A Night at the Opera (1935) was a Comedy - Musical Film directed by Sam Wood and Edmund Goulding and produced by Irving Thalberg.
SYNOPSIS
Probably the finest hour in the Marx Brothers' stellar career, this was their first film for MGM and their first without Zeppo. It was assembled after Irving Thalberg's dictate that the show go on the road before it went in front of the cameras. The result was a polished, blissful union of critical and commercial smash. It features the seminal Marx Brothers juxtapositions of high society and absurdly crooked con men, in this case Groucho trying to waylay the fortune of perennial nemesis Dumont by persuading her to invest in an opera company. The stowaways in the jammed stateroom scene is one of the greatest bits of comedy ever put on film.
(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).
.A Night at the Opera was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1993.
A Night at the Opera BlogHub Articles:
A Night at the Opera (1935) – Updated
By 4 Star Film Fan on Dec 29, 2015 From 4 Star FilmsThat’s in every contract, that’s what you call a sanity clause.” – Groucho You can’t a fool a me there ain’t no sanity clause” – Chico The Marx Brothers had a set formula, where everyone else played the drama straight and they do what ever they want. S... Read full article
Review: A Night at the Opera (1935)
By 4 Star Film Fan on Dec 29, 2015 From 4 Star Films“That’s in every contract, that’s what you call a sanity clause.” – Groucho “You can’t a fool a me there ain’t no sanity clause” – Chico The Marx Brothers had a set formula, where everyone else played the drama straight and they did whateve... Read full article
Review: A Night at the Opera (1935)
By 4 Star Film Fan on Dec 29, 2015 From 4 Star Films“That’s in every contract, that’s what you call a sanity clause.” – Groucho “You can’t a fool a me there ain’t no sanity clause” – Chico The Marx Brothers had a set formula, where everyone else played the drama straight and they did whateve... Read full article
A Night at the Opera (1935, Sam Wood)
By Andrew Wickliffe on Mar 2, 2015 From The Stop ButtonAs good as the Marx Brothers are in A Night at the Opera–and George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind’s strong script is important too–director Wood really brings the whole thing together. The film has its obligatory musical subplot and romantic leads. Wood knows how to balance those e... Read full article
A Night at the Opera (1935)
By 4 Star Film Fan on Aug 14, 2013 From 4 Star FilmsStarring the Marx Brothers, this vehicle for their comedy has Groucho, Harpo, and Chico trying to help two lovers earn ?positions?at the opera. Along the way Groucho tries to marry a rich patron and Chico and Harpo run from the law as stowaways. This film which could be seen as having a dramatic sto... Read full article
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Quotes from A Night at the Opera
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!
Fiorello: [Disguised as one of the world's greatest aviators] So now I tell you how we fly to America. The first time we started we got-a half way there when we run out a gasoline, and we gotta go back. Then I take-a twice as much gasoline. This time we're just about to land, maybe three feet, when what do you think: we run out of gasoline again. And-a back-a we go again to get-a more gas. This time I take-a plenty gas. Well, we get-a half way over, when what do you think happens: we forgot-a the airplane. So, we gotta sit down and we talk it over. Then I get-a the great idea. We no take-a gasoline, we no take-a the airplane. We take steamship, and that friends, is how we fly across the ocean.
Otis B. Driftwood: Signor Lassparri comes from a very famous family. His mother was a well-known bass singer. His father was the first man to stuff spaghetti with bicarbonate of soda, thus causing and curing indigestion at the same time.
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Facts about A Night at the Opera
In the scene where Harpo Marx, Chico Marx and Allan Jones are impersonating the three aviators in front of the mayor, Groucho Marx turns around to speak to them in a "foreign language." What is actually being said is a direct response to the accusations of imposters, only the audio track is played backwards. The first time Groucho Marx actually says, "Did you hear what he said? He said you were frauds and imposters!" which is then followed by Chico Marx and Riccardo protesting loudly, "How can he say a thing like that?", "This is ridiculous," and other such comments.
In Leonard Maltin's commentary on the current DVD release, he states that there was a longer opening sequence. Starting with a title card that places the movie in Milan, Italy, there was then a musical number in which people on the street were "passing along" the melody line of a song, as in the Maurice Chevalier vehicle Love Me Tonight. The song was followed into the restaurant where Mrs. Claypool was waiting for Otis B. Driftwood. Maltin says the scene was cut during World War II to remove references to Italy, and unfortunately, the main negative was cut as well, so the scene is now lost. This was why the stated running time of the movie was three minutes longer than it is now.
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