The anarchic, destructive and crazy Marx Brothers become funny and sentimental protectors of an insufferable couple of opera singers (or what MGM considered opera singers, more like pretty faces with Broadway musical voices).
Without Arthur Sheekman's dialogues, without Kalmar and Ruby songs, under strict control of Irvin Thalberg, we can say the move to MGM was not a good one for the brothers, artistically speaking. Commercially speaking it's a completely different thing.
The film is one of the most famous and reputed of the Marx Brothers, something only justifiable by the fact that in the film there are two of the most famous numbers of the Marxes: the reading of the contract and the scene in the cabin (this one a very good scene).
Taking into account that the scene in the cabin was written by Al Boasberg, and the contract scene is due to main screenwriters Kaufman and Rsykind, and the almost complete lack of the subversive personality of the Brothers, who are now like sentimental fairy godmothers to the sweet young romantic couple, to call the Marx Brothers "main authors" of the film is more unfair than ever.
Apart from those two unforgettable scenes, there's very little else. Some funny scenes with Margaret Dumont (the only one who fortunately remains the same as always), some rude outburst from Groucho.
In the final scene, the three brothers bring chaos to a gruesome production of Il trovatore. There are brilliant moments, but I doubt that nowadays it can really be particularly funny.
As a movie it's not worth much, a bland love story is intended to spin together a few Marx routines. Again Chico plays the piano and Harpo the harp, but the sequences are not memorable. Add a couple of awful songs from the lead couple.
Not especially recommended in its entirely. Just look for the cabin and the contract scenes.
Without Arthur Sheekman's dialogues, without Kalmar and Ruby songs, under strict control of Irvin Thalberg, we can say the move to MGM was not a good one for the brothers, artistically speaking. Commercially speaking it's a completely different thing.
The film is one of the most famous and reputed of the Marx Brothers, something only justifiable by the fact that in the film there are two of the most famous numbers of the Marxes: the reading of the contract and the scene in the cabin (this one a very good scene).
Taking into account that the scene in the cabin was written by Al Boasberg, and the contract scene is due to main screenwriters Kaufman and Rsykind, and the almost complete lack of the subversive personality of the Brothers, who are now like sentimental fairy godmothers to the sweet young romantic couple, to call the Marx Brothers "main authors" of the film is more unfair than ever.
Apart from those two unforgettable scenes, there's very little else. Some funny scenes with Margaret Dumont (the only one who fortunately remains the same as always), some rude outburst from Groucho.
In the final scene, the three brothers bring chaos to a gruesome production of Il trovatore. There are brilliant moments, but I doubt that nowadays it can really be particularly funny.
As a movie it's not worth much, a bland love story is intended to spin together a few Marx routines. Again Chico plays the piano and Harpo the harp, but the sequences are not memorable. Add a couple of awful songs from the lead couple.
Not especially recommended in its entirely. Just look for the cabin and the contract scenes.