A Night At the Opera is the first film that three Marx Brothers did at MGM after leaving Paramount. Zeppo, who's contributions to the team are pretty negligible, decided not to make the trip.
Nothing was lost and a lot was gained because Allan Jones assumed a Zeppo like character with a lot more personality and a great singing voice. With the story set at an opera company you would hope that a great voice would be a minimal requirement. In fact we have a bunch of great voices, not only Allan Jones, but Kitty Carlisle, and even egotistical tenor Walter Woolf King.
The plot such as it is concerns the three brothers trying to get talented singer Allan Jones a break at the opera company. They're operating on many fronts here and that includes Groucho wooing the New York Opera Company's grande dame, Margaret Dumont. Harpo and Chico in the meantime become the bane of the existence for opera director Sig Ruman and Walter Woolf King.
I'm always amazed that Groucho, the king of one liners and innuendo, is constantly exasperated and occasionally defeated by Chico who baffles him with non sequiters and ignorance. Case in point their 'negotiation' over Allan Jones's contract and the fact that poor Groucho thinks he's signing star Walter Woolf King. Chico knows better than anyone there's no such thing as a sanity clause.
Allan Jones gets to sing two famous numbers identified with him, a duet with Kitty Carlisle in Alone and later a typical MGM extravaganza number in Cosi Cosa. Harpo does an Alone obbligato on the harp and Chico dazzles the crowd with his pistol fingered piano rendition of All I Do Is Dream Of You.
I'm not sure how Giuseppe Verdi would have taken the finale of A Night at the Opera in which the opening of Il Trovatore is mangled for the ages. All in the interest of seeing Allan Jones gets both a break and Kitty Carlisle. And they do make beautiful music.
And the Marx Brothers make some really funny comedy in one of their best films.
Nothing was lost and a lot was gained because Allan Jones assumed a Zeppo like character with a lot more personality and a great singing voice. With the story set at an opera company you would hope that a great voice would be a minimal requirement. In fact we have a bunch of great voices, not only Allan Jones, but Kitty Carlisle, and even egotistical tenor Walter Woolf King.
The plot such as it is concerns the three brothers trying to get talented singer Allan Jones a break at the opera company. They're operating on many fronts here and that includes Groucho wooing the New York Opera Company's grande dame, Margaret Dumont. Harpo and Chico in the meantime become the bane of the existence for opera director Sig Ruman and Walter Woolf King.
I'm always amazed that Groucho, the king of one liners and innuendo, is constantly exasperated and occasionally defeated by Chico who baffles him with non sequiters and ignorance. Case in point their 'negotiation' over Allan Jones's contract and the fact that poor Groucho thinks he's signing star Walter Woolf King. Chico knows better than anyone there's no such thing as a sanity clause.
Allan Jones gets to sing two famous numbers identified with him, a duet with Kitty Carlisle in Alone and later a typical MGM extravaganza number in Cosi Cosa. Harpo does an Alone obbligato on the harp and Chico dazzles the crowd with his pistol fingered piano rendition of All I Do Is Dream Of You.
I'm not sure how Giuseppe Verdi would have taken the finale of A Night at the Opera in which the opening of Il Trovatore is mangled for the ages. All in the interest of seeing Allan Jones gets both a break and Kitty Carlisle. And they do make beautiful music.
And the Marx Brothers make some really funny comedy in one of their best films.