A Day at the Races (1937) User Reviews

The Last Great Marx Brothers Movie

[masercot · 8/10 · 25 January 2005]

After this one, the quality fell off...dramatically.

This one has everything but Zeppo. Groucho and Chico work together like a well oiled insane asylum. The ice cream bit still makes me laugh and I've seen it upwards of twenty times. The timing is incredible. The examination room bit with Harpo ("Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped") is equally tight. There isn't a slow moment in the film.

What is unusual in this film is the big musical number with the African-American race track employees. Instead of people in black face or grotesque caricatures, real black singers and dancers are featured. Imagine seeing the Jitterbug fifteen years before white teens were performing it. It is not the only time the Marx Brothers have featured black musicians in one of their movies (At the Circus comes to mind)...

Margaret Dumont as Mrs Upjohn is wonderful. A Marx Brothers fan, like myself, tends to fall in love with the woman after many years. Her beauty and naivety eventually charm even the most cynical Grouchophile...

See it!

Longest Of The Marx Brothers Features

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 8 April 2006]

Well, here's one more zany uniquely-Marx Brothers film, one noted for being the longest feature movie they made at 111 minutes.

Even with the longer running time, it's still not the story but all the gags and musical talent of the Marx Brothers that is on parade here and is the selling point of the film. That was normal procedure for them. In this edition, the gag scenes were longer and the amount of music was much greater.

The major skits involve a race track tout (Chico conning Groucho) , a physical exam (Margaret Dumont, who else?), a delay of the big horse race and a bunch of other crazy skits. Some are good, some go on too long.

Maureen O'Sullivan, of Tarzan fame among other films, gives the film some beauty and Dumont is treated with more respect here than in the other Marx Brothers films. Groucho takes it easy on her because her character has the money that will save the day, so to speak.

This MB film has a ton of music, from Chico on piano, to Harpo with harp and flute solos plus a flute number with a group of black folks. Then there is Allan Jones crooning away to O'Sullivan with several ballads. Also, there are several group numbers featuring the aforementioned group of blacks . I liked their rousing gospel numbers best of all the music.

The ending of this movie reminded me of Horse Feathers, in which the most outrageous football game was ever filmed. Here, it was a horse race, unlike any you would ever see. It is so ridiculous, you just laugh out loud....and that's the idea of the movie.

hilarious; 9/10

[zetes · 9/10 · 25 June 2001]

I haven't seen enough of the Marx Brothers' films to say which is their best and which is their worst. I have seen Duck Soup, which I would say has to be at least one of their best, seeing that I believe it to be one of the funniest comedies ever. I have also seen A Night at the Opera, which is also often considered one of their best, often the best. I myself found it much less funny than Duck Soup. I wanted to kill myself during the musical numbers of that film.

Now I've seen A Day at the Races, the Brothers' follow up to A Night at the Opera, a smash hit in theaters. Generally, Races is considered a weak follow-up to a great film. I disagree. I liked A Day at the Races much more than A Night at the Opera (but a bit less than Duck Soup). All three Brothers are firing bullseye after bullseye. Harpo could stand to do a little bit more. He may have had the funniest role in Duck Soup. He was an utter maniac with total disregard for human life. When the Marx Brothers left Paramount for MGM, their edge was dulled down a bit. Oh well, Races still succeeds.

Also, except for the boring opera voice, even the musical numbers work here. I love to watch Chico play the piano. That's hilarious. Harpo's harp number is less good, but still not bad. The ballet sequence is also quite good. There's one more musical number that's just fantastic: the poor black folk singing "Who's that man?" as Harpo runs around playing the flute. It's somewhat shocking to see a scene like this. It does not exploit them (it may seem to now, but it was probably quite inclusive and progressive in its day), and it's a smash.

The Marx Brothers Best Film.

[JohnWelles · 10/10 · 7 July 2009]

The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico and Harpo, Zeppo left after "Duck Soup) "A Day at the Races" (1937) surpasses "A Night at the Opera" because of its sheer amount of good scenes. For instance, in this picture you have: The Tutsi Fruitsy Ice Cream skit, Chico and Harpo trying to interrupt Dr. Hugo V. Hackenbush's (Groucho) romancing femme fatale (Esther Muir), Groucho's telephone conversation with Whitmore (Leonard Ceeley) and of course the medical examination of Emily Upjohn (Margaret Dumont) by Groucho. One of the reasons I like this film so much is the way it ends up getting rid of the plot and boils down to a series of extremely funny sketches. Not to be missed.

Good Marx Brothers Feature

[Snow Leopard · 11 October 2004]

Overall, this is a good Marx Brothers feature that is sometimes a little uneven, but that looks pretty good as long as you don't compare it with their very best pictures. The basic setup is amusing, and it provides some good material for the cast to work with. Groucho, Chico, and Harpo all get their moments, with Margaret Dumont once again joining in the fun.

The sanitarium setting and Groucho's attempt to run it are used pretty well.

There is a very funny scene when one of the heavies tries to check on Groucho's credentials, and another one when Dr. Hackenbush has to compete with an outside expert (Sig Ruman, who is always fun in this kind of role) for Dumont's confidence.

Not all of it works quite that well, and one or two of the musical numbers could have been skipped with no loss at all. But there are plenty of good moments and creative sequences, and a satisfyingly chaotic finale as good as those in any of their films.

"Getta Your Tuttsi Frutsi Ice Cream"

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 2 December 2007]

When MGM had such a great success with A Night at the Opera, their first film with the Marx Brothers it was only natural that they reunite them with Allan Jones again. Jones is once again doing the Zeppo part and helps out with all the racetrack shenanigans they pull. And of course unlike Zeppo, Jones sings beautifully.

Allan's in love with Maureen O'Sullivan who owns a sanitarium that the wealthy Margaret Dumont patronizes. Douglass Dumbrille wants it real bad and will do everything in the best Snidely Whiplash to get it from O'Sullivan. Dumont will help out, but only if her personal physician, Doctor Hugo Hackenbush takes over the sanitarium. Problem is that Dr. Hackenbush is a fake.

Of course you know Dr. Hackenbush is Groucho. I've said this on many occasions. But there are two schools of thoughts as to who had the best character names in films. W.C. Fields or Groucho Marx.

Jones has both Chico and Harpo as his sidekicks and of course like they had to save the opera in the first film, they have to save the sanitarium for Maureen O'Sullivan and to do it, they have to enter Jones's horse High Hat in the Steeplechase. What they did to delay the opera is nothing compared to the riotous stuff pulled to stall the race.

But I like A Day At the Races most of all because it is the best showing of Chico in that Tuttsi Frutsi Ice Cream bit where the ignorant immigrant takes in the greedy Groucho with his racetrack tips. The only one whoever really got the better of Groucho. Chico invented disingenuous it was the only way to deflect Groucho's razor wit. A lot of people in the audience identified with Chico in fleecing Groucho so thoroughly. It's my favorite Marx Brothers moment.

And if you watch A Day At the Races it might become your's as well.

Three Men on a Horse

[lugonian · 7/10 · 14 June 2006]

A DAY AT THE RACES (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1937), directed by Sam Wood, capitalizes on the current trend of horse-racing movies done by the numbers during the 1937-38 cycle, notably MGM's own 1937 releases of "Saratoga" and "Broadway Melody of 1938" as well as "Stablemates" (1938). Starring those three Marx Brothers, in their second collaboration for MGM, following the enormous success of A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935), this horse opera, being the longest running feature film of their screen career, stop-watched at 111 minutes, did prove quite successful then, and because of its good track record, still remains a sure bet comedy today.

The first Marx Brother to be introduced in the story is Chico. He plays Tony, a chauffeur for Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan), whose sanitarium is in financial trouble. Morgan (Douglass Dumbrille), the owner of a nearby racetrack and hotel, along with his associate, Whitmore (Leonard Ceeley) want to take over the sanitarium so to convert it into a gambling casino. He offers Judy the option of accepting $5,000 from them or face a mortgage foreclosure, but she prefers to wait the 30 days. Gil Stewart (Allan Jones) her fiancé, has purchased Hi-Hat, Morgan's race horse, for $1,500, gambling her life savings hoping to win enough money to get Judy out of debt. However, Mrs. Emily Upjohn (Margaret Dumont), an exclusive patient of the sanitarium, expresses her need for a doctor, even though there is really nothing physically wrong with her. Realizing that Mrs. Upjohn's financial support could save the hospital from ruin, Tony notifies Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush (Groucho Marx) of Palmville, Florida, who is well acquainted with Mrs. Upjohn, unaware he is a horse doctor, and making him chief of staff. Then there's Stuffy (Harpo), Morgan's jockey, with a natural flair for horses, who gets to ride Hi-Hat, who turns out to be a jumper, as well as quite fearful to the sight and sound of Morgan himself.

The Music and Lyrics by Bronislau Kaper, Gus Kahn and Walter Jurmann: "On the Blue Venetian Waters" (Sung by Allan Jones/ danced by Vivian Fay,recently restored to its original sepia tone); "Tomorrow is Another Day" (sung by Jones); "Blow That Horn, Gabriel," "All God's Chillin' Got Rhythm," "All God's Chillin' Got Rhythm" (reprise/finale), along with "A Message From the Man in the Moon" (sung briefly by Groucho Marx/ otherwise cut from final print, and heard instrumentally during opening credits). "Tomorrow is Another Day" is quite a good tune with Jones in fine voice singing to charming heroine O'Sullivan that shifts into a parade from the black community singing and dancing to "All God's Chuillin Got Rhythm" with the Marxes, headed by Harpo playing a flute like the Pied Piper, with one of the vocalists being future star Dorothy Dandridge.

As already mentioned, A DAY AT THE RACES is quite long, in fact, everything about the movie is long: the song numbers, the comedy routines, the narrative, and the horse racing finale (so clever that it's been reused several times since then in other hydrazine), resulting to perfectly timed structures, although the water carnival ballet number performed by Vivian Fay near the beginning could have been shortened, in fact substituted into another movie categorized as a musical. One of MGM's debits is having this look more like a lavish scale musical than a Marx Brothers comedy, with the trio off screen for long intervals, with occasional cutaways during the ballet as a reminder that this is a Marx Brothers comedy and not a ballet musical choreographed by George Ballachine. After it is all over, Chico and Harpo get to do their traditional musical bits with piano and harp at length. Groucho doesn't do a song solo, which is unfortunate, because his style of singing and dancing always brings pleasure during these musical interludes.

With this being the seventh Marx comedy, it's evident that some of their routines are rehashes yet improvements from their earlier outings. At this point, could anything new be added to their comedy material? In fact, something has: Harpo's mimed message through constant whistling, facial and hand gestures, telling Chico about Groucho falling victim to Flo Marlowe (Esther Muir), as schemed by Morgan. The Groucho and Chico exchanges are highlights, the best being their seven minute Tootsie Fruitsie ice cream bit where Chico posing an ice cream vendor actually a race tract tout making a sucker out of Groucho by selling him racing tips that ends up being a stack of hardbound books taken from his pushcart. The madcap examination room sequence involving Harpo and Dumont are notable attention grabbers as well. In true Marx tradition, Margaret Dumont falls victim to their shenanigans, usually being the prime insult by Groucho through one of his classic re-marx: "Emily, I have a little confession to make. I really am a horse doctor, but marry me and I'll never look at any other horse." Sig Rumann should not go unnoticed as Doctor Steinburg, a pointed beard Viennese specialist who arrives to examine Mrs. Upjohn, thus preventing Hackbush from performing his own examination on Emily.

In spite of long stretches, A DAY AT THE RACES does have its doses of winning streaks thanks to the staff and performers combined, several recalls from A NIGHT AT THE OPERA. The film in general is not perfect, but worthwhile comedy thanks to the Marx Brothers expert horsemanship. Recommended viewing during the late evening hours before "hitting the hay." Formerly available on video cassette, a format that had been in circulation since the 1980s, which has since been discontinued in favor of the much improved DVD format, A DAY AT THE RACES can be seen intact whenever shown on Turner Classic Movies. (***)

"For you, I'd make love to a crocodile."

[utgard14 · 8/10 · 16 August 2015]

Classic Marx Bros. comedy with the boys trying to help lovely Maureen O'Sullivan keep her sanitarium open while evil Douglas Dumbrille tries to turn it into a casino. Groucho plays Dr. Hugo Hackenbush, a veterinarian posing as a human doctor to bilk wealthy hypochondriac Margaret Dumont. Their scenes together are priceless, as they always were. Maureen O'Sullivan is perfection in everything and here she brings out a kinder, gentler side of the Marx Bros. Leonard Ceeley is great as Dumbrille's co-conspirator who runs afoul of the Marxes and lives to regret it. Esther Muir is a riot as a blonde floozy who gets more than she bargained for while trying to seduce Groucho. A terrific Marx Bros. film with many memorable lines and scenes, including 'Tutsi Frutsi Ice Cream.' It's a little long but never dull. The musical numbers were never my favorite parts of the Marx films unless they were comedy songs that were part of the story, as in Animal Crackers or Duck Soup. Here, though, there is a great number called "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm." I'm sure it will be controversial to sensitive types today but it's a lively, upbeat number that always puts a smile on my face. It's one of the best musical numbers from any of the Marx films and just one of the many reasons I recommend you see this one.

Overextended but fun

[gridoon2024 · 7/10 · 28 December 2009]

"A Day At The Races" is generally considered the last great movie that the Marx Brothers gave us, and I also agree that it's better than anything that followed, though all their 1938-1949 movies have their moments and are most definitely worth seeing for their fans. The secret of this film's success is that, although it remains loyal to the MGM formulas (let's face it, the pre-1935 Marxes would hardly care about a young couple in love, much less devote themselves completely into helping them out), it retains most of their anarchic and destructive spirit: from the biggest (Margaret Dumont's unorthodox "examination") to the smallest (Harpo and Chico paying one of their debts by using and re-using the same 5-dollar bill!) comedy bit, there are many hits and almost no misses here. Where the film does miss slightly is in the musical numbers: these are entertaining in their own right, but they feel tacked-on, as if they've come from a different movie altogether. Plus, there are too many of them, and they go on too long, making "A Day At The Races" the longest - by far - Marx Brothers movie (and to think that there were two more full numbers eliminated before release!). Still, this is good zany fun that mostly lives up to its reputation. *** out of 4.

Could have been the best Marx Brothers film

[kyle-cruse · 9/10 · 21 August 2008]

"A Day at the Races" ranks as only the third best Marx Brothers film, in my opinion, behind "A Night at the Opera" and "Duck Soup." It does, however, have the potential of being their best movie. Groucho gets some of his funniest lines, the most famous being "Either he's dead or my watch has stopped," but my personal favorite being "Say, you're rather large for a pill yourself." See the film, and you'll find out what that means. The sequence in which Chico keeps selling more books to Groucho proves to be one of the Brothers' all time funniest. Chico and Harpo's interactions are also very entertaining, as usual. One thing that brings down the film's overall quality, however, is the long and useless musical numbers performed about 3/4 of the way through the film. These drag on for far too long to keep the attention of the audience. Also, the film slows down a bit in the middle with long, sustained sequences which really do not benefit the movie. Despite those shortcomings, this is still one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, and it's still way better than most of today's crude and sex-filled comedies. Recommended to Marx Brothers fans and those who like comedies in general.

***1/2 out of ****

"Either he's dead or my watch has stopped."

[The_Movie_Cat · 6/10 · 13 February 2001]

Forty years after the release of A Night At The Opera the rock group Queen released an album with the same title. When, the following year, they released another called A Day at the Races, it was largely knocked for not matching the quality of its predecessor. The actual films follow this pattern, too, with Races, coming two years later, being held to be good but lacking in comparison. It's a fair assessment.

Everyone knows the Marx brothers, of course. There's Groucho (The anarchic wise guy with the drawn-on moustache), Chico (The likable Italian stereotype), Harpo (The mute, childish, slightly annoying one, there for kid appeal) and Zeppo (The normal-looking one who was always left as the straight guy). Zeppo didn't appear in either of these two films, of course, though gets his usual substitute - in Day it's Allan Jones as the stiff romantic lead.

Even today Groucho is still very funny and his rapid one-liners hit the target ("Take these bags and run up to my room and here's a dime for yourself" "Oh, no, no, no, no - this is Mr. Whitmore, our business manager." "Oh, I'm terribly sorry - here's a quarter.") but after many lines there's a forced silence, as if to anticipate the audience laughter. As a result it feels strangely artificial and muted, never more so than in his first scene at the sanatorium. Things do get better, particularly when he's appearing opposite Chico, with whom he understandably has a greater rapport. Groucho talking to Whitmore via phone and Dictaphone, using multiple voices, is another winner.

The need for a romantic subplot and occasional reliance on the traditional trappings of the American sitcom do hold things back. The Brothers would be held to have more art and attitude than Laurel and Hardy, though they're nowhere near as amusing. Perhaps this is because Stan and Ollie generally avoid the over-earnest sentimentality of a Marx Bros. Movie.

Another major sticking point is the song and dance sequences. There are three in total, all of them lasting over twenty minutes combined. That's twenty minutes where we could have had more verbal by-play from Groucho, who is a little neglected in sections. An elaborate routine (not all that well directed) during the first forty minutes slows things to almost a standstill, even before the film has really got going. It's really quite irksome and not what a Marx Brothers film is - or should be - about. Much funnier is Groucho doing the rumba. For someone so well known as a verbal comedian, it's notable how much of a gifted physical performer he is, too. Okay, he's not a full-on slapstick contortionist like some of his peers, but just seeing the way he walks into a room has me in hysterics.

The film adheres to a formula as usual, with Chico again coming across a piano and Harpo again coming across, yes, you guessed it. It's another musical interlude that is too self-consciously cute, and, at six minutes, too long. The best musical segment is a later sequence where Harpo leads a group in a rendition of "Gabriel Blow Your Horn". This is marred only by t he fact that the group in question is the most stereotyped portrayal of black people ever laid to celluloid. After much hand shaking and eye rolling, the brothers themselves get in on the offensive act by dousing their faces in oil in an attempt to blend in. Like Laurel and Hardy's "Pardon Us", this is a film that cannot be judged by contemporary sensibilities... it's just the way things were.

Sometimes the mania can be a little forced and artificial - witness the "examination" scene, where the brothers - Harpo particularly - do zany things just because they're zany and not because of any consequence of plot. The ending is satisfying, though, with a well-presented sabotage of the horse race and the eventual song to play out. This isn't a perfect film by any means - judging it via the rather trite metaphor of a cake mixture, then the ingredients aren't quite right. With two additional songs that were removed, there's clearly too much music in the film. There's also slightly too much Harpo and there was room for more Groucho. The romantic subplot should have been scrapped and there are long stretches that unfortunately discard the need for dialogue. Yet while the cake isn't baked to perfection, the basic ingredients are there, and this is still, if not wholly satisfying, a worthwhile view. 6/10.

POSTSCRIPT 2012: "Now listen, it was nobody's fault but mine." Words that Groucho should never speak. It's almost 11 years to the day since I reviewed this movie, and, as I'd only seen A Night At The Opera beforehand, I really had nothing to compare it to. It was a little bold on my part, reviewing a Marx Brothers movie when I really didn't know the Marx Brothers.

Generally I'd still agree with most of it, except for the examination scene, which is at least an attempt to claw back what they once were, albeit an unsuccessful one. For this is the end of the Marx Brothers, an out of character endeavour that's way too plot-heavy to register. Their longest picture, it drags terribly, and the "boys who just want to help others" is the anathema of the gang who sent Freedonia to war, or cheated in college football games. It's the Marx Brothers stripped bare and declawed, retooled as cutesy foils to a dreary romantic plot, often support in their own film, narratively speaking.

There's still a certain amount of class to the production and enough funny moments to maintain my initial 6/10 rating, but the MGM track record for Marx Brothers movies is a poor one, letting just A Night at the Opera (Q.V.) stand as a genuinely worthwhile work. Should you care, I take up the story in a review of Go West...

Maybe the last great Marx movie

[horrorfilmx · 10/10 · 26 July 2009]

I rate A DAY AT THE RACES a 10 only compared to other non-Marx comedies (as critic James Agee remarked, the worst the Marx's might do would be better worth seeing than almost anything else). As a Marx Brothers movie it's bogged down by long, pointless musical numbers (I'll contradict myself in a moment) and a sappy romantic subplot (remnants of the formula Irving Thalberg devised for the boys in NIGHT AT THE OPERA, but with Thalberg dead it's all formula now and not much else). Then about two thirds of the way through something nearly miraculous happens. The brothers cut lose with the fabulous examination scene, exhibiting all the anarchic genius that made them great, and then following Allan Jones' cloying rendition of "Tomorrow is Another Day" Harpo grabs a flute and goes tootling off to some sort of African American shanty town where he encounters Ivie Anderson, The Crinoline Choir, and Whitie's Lindy Hoppers and the movie just explodes with energy. Many people, as has been pointed out, would consider this sequence "politically incorrect" but since political correctness is mostly the knee-jerk application of 21st century standards to earlier eras that the critics know nothing about I say screw 'em. For maybe ten minutes or so the screen is filled with so much warmth, talent, and exuberance that it nearly brings tears to my eyes. Sure it's got nothing to do with the story and little to do with the Marx Brothers but it is greatness unto itself and it may be the best scene in the movie. And by the way, for those who insist on judging this movie in racial terms the message seems to be that rich white men (Douglas Dumbrille and his flunkies) are evil and heartless and poor black people know that life is about singing and dancing and having fun. Sounds good to me.

Good Marx movie

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 2 January 2015]

Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan) owns the failing Standish Sanitarium. Her rich most important patient Mrs. Upjohn (Margaret Dumont) is leaving. Judy's boyfriend Gil Stewart (Allan Jones) spends all his money to buy a horse and win big for her. She is dismayed that he abandons his singing. Tony (Chico Marx) overhears Upjohn's praise for Dr. Hackenbush (Groucho Marx) and sends for him who turns out to be a veterinarian. Banker J.D. Morgan (Douglas Dumbrille) is trying to buy out the sanitarium with the help of the scheming manager Whitmore (Leonard Ceeley). Gil gets Stuffy (Harpo Marx) to ride his horse Hi-Hat.

Groucho is as snappy as ever. Harpo's physical gags are hilarious. There are some fun long setups like the ice cream bit. When all three get together in the examination, it's a great skit. As always in their movies, there are old fashion musical numbers. Those are not my taste but it's expected. I personally like the musical segments where they inject comedy into them. There is even one with a big cast of black singers and dancers. There are some big laughs although the movie is a bit long.

Too much influence by the MGM standard that specifies that all movies must be made digestible for everyman

[policy134 · 5/10 · 4 October 2005]

The Marx Bros. had such a hit with "A Night at the Opera" that MGM wanted to cash in as soon as possible with another movie that is basically more of the same. That isn't to say that this movie doesn't have enjoyable parts but there is too much emphasis on the rather tired plot of the good woman (here played by the MGM "Jane", Maureen O'Sullivan) trying to save her business from the despicable villain Morgan (Douglas Dumbrille).

Another disappointment is that we don't get to see the usual sparring of Groucho and Margaret Dumont (I think they share only a couple of scenes including the rather ridiculous "Examination") which had been such a staple in most of the Paramount films. Here, Dumont portrays a hypochondriac and there is only so much you can find amusing about that. The one scene that is hilarious between them is when Groucho shows the pill she apparently has been prescribed and tells her how much water is needed to swallow it: "5 or 6 gallons should do it". Never mind. Such a joke always falls flat when having to describe it.

As for the musical numbers, there aren't so many of them but they have totally been grinded through the MGM machine which states: "Make it big and give it class". The rather tasteless musical number with the Marxes in blackface is a product of a more unenlightened time and should therefore be seen as such and nothing more.

The Marxes are of course the same as they always were and there is only so many times you can see them and still find them funny, except maybe Groucho but one of the rather ridiculous scenes is between Harpo and Chico where Harpo makes Chico play a bizarre game of charades to figure out what is going on and it is sort of unnecessary. I have already mentioned the "Examination" scene but one thing is sort of funny about it and that is the great Sig Rumann who again gets to play the totally perplexed character he made a specialty and Groucho saying: "Stop pointing that thing at me unless you intend to use it" (referring to his beard).

The horse race is somewhat funny but is bogged down by the rather poor editing job that many 30's movies suffer from and of course there is a happy ending where all the main characters march down the street singing which is also a typical MGM staple.

So all things considered it is moderately funny but there aren't really any really hysterical scenes as in their former films and the age of the premise and the brothers themselves are also starting to show. That they would make 5 more or so movies as a team is of course surprising but it has been well documented why they did it (see biographies).

A Day at the Races

[Coxer99 · 12 June 1999]

Superb comedy that puts our heroes in a sanitorium to help out owner O'Sullivan and an ailing Dumont. Groucho is the doctor brought in to help things along and it equals hilarious results. He and Chico share a wonderful sequence at the racetrack with Chico, in need of quick cash, looking for a sucker to con...Groucho just happened to walk by. The telephone scene between Groucho (as numerous voices) and Leonard Ceeley is also priceless. Allan Jones appears as O'Sullivan's love interest and even sings a bit. A bit too much for me, but he still sings lovely. The long dance numbers are uninspired and lose the comic flavor after a few minutes. We get it back in the wooing scene between Groucho and beautiful Esther Muir and in the rollicking good finale. The film, under Wood's direction, is well paced, with exception to the barnyard musical numbers. They drag it down for a bit. A comedy classic nonetheless.

An Underrated Classic

[verbalcheese · 10/10 · 14 June 2002]

Though I'll admit it is not on par with the great A Night at the Opera, it is close enough to be considered one of the better comedies of alltime. The same comedic formula that worked so well in the previously mentioned film is applied in A Day at the Races. They even had the same director. Sometimes I wish the Marx Brothers would get more credit than they have received, especially in comparison to the ridiculously stupid 3 Stooges. In any event, Grouch Marx will always be one of my heroes.

The Marx brothers at their comedic peak

[Magenta_Bob · 8/10 · 14 January 2012]

With their seventh film, A Day at the Races, the Marx brothers return with yet another entertaining show. The story, this time, is about Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan), the owner of a sanatorium in financial distress. In order to save the sanatorium from the evil creditors, the dubious horse doctor Hugo Z. Hackenbush (Groucho Marx) is hired, since one of the rich patients Mrs. Upjohn (Margaret Dumont) is hopelessly in love with him. Certainly, it is not the most original plot ever – it is quite similar to the one in most Marx films I have seen – nor is it the best, but after all, it is merely a vehicle for a number of sketches, and as long as those are good enough, it is fine by me.

In fact, for those who have seen a fair share of the Marx brothers' films, a lot of things will be familiar. Margaret Dumont is the naive, hysterical lady who never understands what is going on. Chico is the charming Italian who is trying to save the lady in trouble and gets his moment with the piano. Harpo is the mischievous and silent helper, who, of course, gets to play the harp. Groucho is the quick guy with the killer one-liners, strange posture, and who has a keen eye for most girls, except for Dumont. But the beauty of it is that it works; since the sketches are different, it does not matter much.

Speaking of sketches, A Day at the Races definitely has some of the funniest that the brothers have done. There is a hilarious scene in which Groucho is trying to fool the evil Whitmore (Leonard Ceeley) over the telephone regarding his credentials as a doctor. Another highlight is when Groucho is trying to get a tip from Chico at the race track but ends up with a library. And overall, the sharp dialogue is truly excellent (take, for instance, Dr. Steinberg's (Sig Ruman) claim that Mrs. Upjohn "looks as healthy as any woman I ever met," to which Groucho replies that "you don't look as though you've ever met a healthy woman"). Actually, one of the musical numbers, where Groucho is trying to pick up Flo (Esther Muir) while fending off Dumont, is very amusing as well.

While the musical numbers are always my least favourite part of the Marx films, A Day at the Races offers some of the best ones. The classical dance segment is at least pretty, and perhaps offers the best visuals I have seen in these films, with stark black and white reflections in the water at which the scene takes place, and the lindy hop number is very energetic. Only Allan Jones' "Tomorrow Is Another Day" is somewhat of a drag. That being said, they still hamper the pace of the film severely, and without them the film would be half an hour shorter without losing much in terms of comedy or plot; they were perhaps needed in the vaudeville show, but might just as well have been lost in the translation to film. Still, music or not, A Day at the Races finds the Marx brothers at their comedic peak and, to me, even surpasses classics such as A Night at the Opera.

Fun and hilariously amusing comedy in which the Marx Brothers attempting to win a major steeplechase race for getting money to save a sanitorium from ruin

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 19 September 2020]

Relentlessly comical and outrageous musical comedy that still works very well . The first to follow ¨A night at the Opera¨, their biggest success and use a variation on its formula . Amusing and entertaining Marx Brothers picture , it has a lot of funny material and unfortunately intrusive songs . Groucho's wisecracks and the incomparable Chico and Harpo carry the movie . It deals with a sly veterinary named Dr. Hugo Hackenbush (Groucho Marx) who is illegally employed as the sanitarium director and other wacky friends , as Tony (Chico) , a helper at the sanitarium and Stuffy (Harpo) , a jockey previously employed by the nasty Morgan (Douglass Dumbrille) . All of them betting a horse race to save from the financial ruin . Along with Gil (Allan Jones as a singer) who has invested all his money in Hi Hat , a race horse and Judy (Maureen O'Sullivan) owns the bankrupted sanitarium and she has hopes they will win enough to pay off the debts . Meantime , town villain Morgan has his sights set on taking over Judy's sanitarium and turning it into a casino by attempting to prevent the horse from getting onto the race track . Later on , Marx Brothers anarchize the racecourse , cheating and mocking the riders , while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies .

Classic Marx film with many funny sequences , this is the most sustained bit of insanity , full of crazy gags , antics and amusement , being now deemed a satiric masterpiece and one of the biggest hits . Though not as mercilessly hilarious and outrageous as the movies they played at Paramount with Zeppo , it results to be , nonetheless , an agreeable movie . The Marx Brothers were still at the peak of their fame in this MGM musical/comedy. Although it suffers from staginess and musical comedy plotting , and extremely overlong , but gives the zany threesome plenty of comic elaboration . It works very well , which , unfortunately and sadly , did not prove to be the case with most of the Marx Brothers pictures that went on . Enough gags for give several movies , but our favorite is still the horse race at hippodrome . Despite the abundant songs and silly as well as sappy love story the movie maintains itself very well . Excellent Harpo Marx , as usual , he even did many of his own stunts , he later said it was a silly thing for a 47-year-old non-stuntman to have done . Groucho said that this was his favorite among his movies . The Marx Bros (minus Zeppo) are in peak form in this vintage musical comedy with co-star the legendary Margaret Dumont , an obligatory appearance here playing a wealthy hypochondriac who might also save the sanitarium, including sparkling dialogs and dances with Groucho . Furthermore , Sig Ruman makes his second of three appearances in The Marx Brothers films. However , this is the second Marx Brothers film made without brother Zeppo Marx, it started a new trend of The Marx Brothers movies featuring a Zeppo-like supporting character who carries the love story and sings the song . This is a M.G.M production lavishly financed by Max Siegel and Irving Thalberg. The motion picture was well directed by Sam Wood . Sam Wood, freshman The Marx Brothers director in this film, was a perfectionist filming very charming scenes . Don't miss it , one of the funniest picture ever made by Marx Brothers.

Other important films starred by Marx Brothers -many of them Broadway farce plays transfered by scenarists into vehicle for the Brothers- , they are the following ones : ¨Animal crackers¨, ¨Duck soap¨ that was a flop when first released but today considered a masterpiece , ¨Horse Feathers¨, ¨At the circus¨, ¨A night at the Opera¨,¨Day at the races¨ , ¨Room service¨ , ¨Go West¨, ¨Love Happy¨ and ¨Night in Casablanca¨, though in 1946 the Marx formula was weak and wearing thin. Any film with Groucho , Chico , Harpo and Zeppo is well worth seeing .

Who's Running the Sanitarium?

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 9 January 2015]

How does one begin? Groucho is Dr. Hugo Hackenbush, a veterinarian who has human patients. Chico is a sort of con man and Harpo is a jockey. In order to save the day, a horse with a minimal reputation must be taught to run and save a sanitarium. It's ironic that the Marx Brothers would be in such close proximity to such a place. In addition to Groucho's frantic repartee, there is another wonderful performance by hypochondriac Margaret Dumont who in a hissy fit is about to turn her back on the sanitarium because her doctor has said there is nothing wrong with her. Meanwhile, there is the usual cast of nefarious bad guys who have an investment in stopping the horse from being successful. The boys must hide the horse and figure out a way to get him to run. In the middle of all this is music by Harpo, a group of black gospel singers from that part of town, and the romantic efforts of Groucho toward Dumont who cluelessly goes about her business among this craziness. Of course, there are ridiculous racing scenes that add to the comic soup. Like all Marx brothers movies, it's a series of bits and comic schtick, but sit back and enjoy.

The animal crackers' cracks are starting to show...

[ElMaruecan82 · 7/10 · 18 October 2018]

Here's how I ended my review of "A Night at the Opera": "As good as it is, the film sets a precedent and provides the ludicrous idea that a Marx Brothers movie could be a vehicle for a banal romance, meant to promote two MGM stars. With a reasonable timing and good 'interludes', maybe, but who would believe the audience came to watch anyone but the Marx Brothers?" Well, I rest my case.

Titles don't lie, "A Day at the Races" was obviously meant as the spiritual successor of "A Night of the Opera" and confirmed their new departure in tone and 'gags-ratio' under the supervision of one of their most distinguished admirers, MGM producer Irvin Thalberg. But Thalberg died of pneumonia during production and the iconic siblings would never get the same consideration and even Groucho would lose interest in making films. The Marxes would make a few movies after "Races" but nowhere near the early 30's level, not that "Races" play in that league too.

So long gone were the bestial titles, the Pre-Code raunchy humor and the exhilarating deliverance of pure anarchical fun, the monkeying trolls became "good guys" helping the romantic lead to achieve their dreams and prevent the bad guys from spoiling them. While the formula worked with "A Night of the Opera", "A Day at the Races" made me feel that the previous success was accidental or maybe the opera-setting gave the film a certain edge, or maybe the Paramount spirit was still there or maybe it was just new and kind of interesting. Like Thalberg said "half the laughs and twice the money".

But even "Opera" didn't match that equation, I counted twenty minutes of sappiness out of ninety minutes of fun, "A Day in the Races" is filled with with so many needlessly stretched musical and romantic moments that the whole experience gets excruciating. Allen Jones reprises his romantic role, Maureen O'Sullivan is the new 'Jane' and the villain is the same from "Opera". Whenever the screen is filled with characters who are not Marxes, I was groaning. It's one thing to be supportive characters... but supporting? Can you imagine the same situation in a Buster Keaton or a Chaplin film?

Naturally, when they are brought up together on screen, the film gets on its tracks and provides some unforgettable moments, like the extended "Tootsie-Fruitsy" scene between Groucho and Chico, Harpo's charade, the climactic race with Hi-Hat the horse and the whole mayhem in the hospital which is perhaps one of the most defining of the 'Marxian' power, even Margaret Dumont is hilarious in this. Speaking of the fifth 'Brother', she's never been as flirtatious with Groucho as in her hypochondriac socialite's role and you could tell there was some genuine chemistry growing between the two.

Groucho Marx was at the top of his game as horse veterinarian passing for legitimate doctor Hackenbush, and there's nothing to say about Chico as usual delightfully ethnic and Harpo for once had a pivotal role in the film. But all the good stuff of the film, and there was some, was diluted into an ocean of cuteness and schmaltz making the cocktail as tasty. I can't say I liked every early Marx Brother but at least "Monkey Business" which wasn't even their best had a running time shorter than eighty minutes. "A Day at the Races" for one thing has a lying title as it runs for almost two hours and features scenes that have nothing whatsoever with the racing. It feels more like "A Day at Disneyland" where you get the equivalent of twenty minutes of fun for four hours of waiting in queues.

These fillers in "Races" felt like endless queues, the musical numbers with African-American people and the one on-stage were marvelously choreographed but they're not exactly what everyone's looking forward to seeing in a Marx Brothers film. Don't get me wrong, "A Day at the Races" had all the makings of a good Marx Brothers film but all the dullness of a forgettable chick flick... except for the ending which is perhaps the final hurrah of the Marx brothers making their last "classic" and leave with you a little smile in your face. And don't get this criticism wrong, it all comes from a fan.

Actually, I believe the Marx brothers were big, maybe too big for the big screen. They made their bones on stage, in vaudeville acts and are mostly remembered for sketches such as the "mirror dance", the "crowded cabin cruise", comedic routines involving contract parties, swordfishes or pantomime numbers provided by Harpo 'Honk Honk' Marx. In other words, they were the Monty Python and Saturday Night Live of their generation and it's no surprise that Groucho Marx had a revival of career during the Golden Age of TV. My feeling is that the Marxes would have made terrific TV entertainers in their prime, they were just at the peak of their popularity at the wrong moment, during Hollywood Golden Age and MGM and Marx Brothers mix exactly like Margharita and sugar.

But like Monty Python, the Marxes could make a few great movies, mostly satirical, a classic like "Duck Soup", "Animal Crackers", "Horse Feathers" and "Opera", sometimes, it doesn't take more than three classics to leave a legacy, the Marxes had half a dozen. "A Day at the Races" is still good enough for its time, but not so good for hardcore fans.

"Doctor! My Metabolism!"

[gftbiloxi · 10/10 · 3 February 2008]

The Marx Brothers had a run of four critically and commercial popular films for Paramount--but when DUCK SOUP was released in 1933 it tanked in a major way, so much so that Paramount was suddenly unenthusiastic about future projects. Enter Irving Thalberg, who was best known for "prestige pictures" made at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a studio that tended to emphasize family fare. Thalberg and MGM seemed an unlikely venue for the anarchy of the Marx Brothers, but Thalberg had ideas--and the result was two extremely popular films: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA and A DAY AT THE RACES.

In both instances Thalberg placed the wild humor of the Marx Brothers at the service of a romantic subplot. Where RACES is concerned, that plot is particular bizarre. Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan) has inherited a sanitarium and if she is unable to repay her debts she will be bought out by a casino! Her fiancée Gil (Alan Jones) has a plan to save the day: he has bought a race horse and hopes to win the money she needs. Judy finds the scheme ridiculous and turns instead to wealthy patient Emily Upjohn (the formidable Margaret Dumont)--who insists that Judy employ her favorite doctor, Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush. And with a name like that, this can only be one actor: Groucho Marx.

Marx Brothers fans argue a lot about whether the Paramount or MGM films were better. I tend to come down on the side of the Paramount films, which are edgier, but there's no denying that both A NIGHT AT THE OPERA and A DAY AT THE RACES are exceptionally entertaining films--and when you combine horse racing, a water ballet, a medical sanitarium, mistaken identities, and mix them thoroughly with some of the most outrageous one liners and set pieces imaginable... well, you have a classic on your hands. The whole thing is a hoot, and if you can get through the famous Florida call scene without busting a gut you need to go to a sanitarium yourself.

The DVD release offers an extremely good, if not entirely pristine, print of the film and it comes with several bonuses. Unfortunately, these are not particularly memorable; the commentary track is at best uninspired. But who cares when you've got the Marx Brothers zinging along very close to the peak of their skills? Strongly recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Energetic and lively, if hindered by some inconsistent support playing and one or two hit-and-miss musical interludes

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 16 August 2010]

I love the Marx Brothers, and I like/love their movies. While A Day at the Races is one of my least favourites of theirs, as it is somewhat uneven, it is still very entertaining and definitely worth watching.

Why I didn't like A Day at the Races as much as an outing like A Night at the Opera, Horse Feathers or Duck Soup is because it does have some inconsistent support playing. I am not talking about Margaret Dumont for she is sterling as always, I am talking about Allan Jones and Maureen O'Sullivan whose romantic wooings came across as a little too sappy. What hurt the film more though was some of the musical interludes, some work but others miss more than they hit not because they are terrible but because they are too long and slow the film down pretty considerably. Also I would have shortened the film by about 5 or so minutes.

Criticisms aside, it looks great with fine cinematography, lighting and scenery and has good incidental scoring that is both quirky and charming. The dialogue is also very inspired and quotable, and the gags are hilarious. The "Tootsie frootsie ice cream" sketch is for me the best of Groucho/Chico's wordplay routines. And speaking of the Marx Brothers, all three are splendid particularly Groucho who is still quick-witted and a lot of fun to watch.

In conclusion, an entertaining film but not absolutely wonderful. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Better still

[Spleen · 8/10 · 24 April 2002]

With the same director as its predecessor "A Night at the Opera", and the same cast (down to I don't know how many bit players), "A Day at the Races" is decidedly the better of the two movies - if you ask me, the main reason it's considered less of a classic is that it was made second rather than first.

Groucho is at his best when he's riding high, lodged in a cosy sinecure and exploiting it outrageously. Too much of the opening act of "A Night at the Opera" is spent getting him there; here, he's swiftly made director of the sanatorium in the opening scene, which leaves more time for fun afterwards.

And the fun is more fun this time. The musical numbers are less intrusive, both because they're inserted into scenes where the narrative would naturally pause to take a breath, and because they're inherently better and more inventive. This is surely Chico's best piano-playing scene. Harpo's harp schtick always bores me a little (nothing else about him does), but at least it arises naturally out of the destruction of the piano, so that even if it were positively tedious the tedium would be a price worth paying. And Harpo's flute-playing scene in the black ghetto has as much genuine, living fantasy in it as anything in "The Wizard of Oz". (If you think you can detect any of the racism of the 1930s in what we see on the screen, may I suggest you become a dowser, where you'll be paid to walk over dry land and "detect" the underground water which everyone knows to be there but which reasonable people don't claim to be able to sense.)

I think the jokes are funnier this time, too - marginally. It could be that the Marx brothers are better organised relative to one another, with the right proportion of skits involving all three together, Groucho alone, Groucho playing against Chico, etc. And there's no denying that, in the end, the three are able to wreak more havoc at a race track than they ever could in an opera house. I don't want to knock "A Night at the Opera"; I love that film, too; but this one is more inspired.

Supporting actors in their own movies

[junkof9-1 · 6/10 · 14 September 2008]

I love movies from the 1930s and 1940s and TCM is my favorite channel, so I've seen most of the Marx Brothers movies over the years. My comments here about A Day at the Races could apply equally to any of the movies they made at MGM.

Something I was struck by is the stark differences between their early features - Animal Crackers and Duck Soup to name two - and later releases like A Day at the Races. The difference, I realized several years is in early releases done at Paramount the Marx Brothers are "best actors" - the focal point of the story. Once they moved to MGM the brothers became "supporting actors" and their gags were subordinated to romantic subplots and over-earnest sentimentality.

This change also affected my perception of the song and dance numbers. When the brothers were the leads the predictable formula - Chico comes across a piano and Harpo finds a harp - feels more integrated into the "plot". Whether in A Night at the Opera, The Big Store, or A Day at the Races the musical interludes feel self-consciously cute - an interlude that stops the storyline (opera singers or horse owners) while the music plays.

"Why, I didn't know there was a thing the matter with me till I met him."

[classicsoncall · 5/10 · 18 June 2005]

"A Day at the Races" gets off to a start in the Standish Sanitarium, and that should tell you something about this Marx Brothers movie. Perennial hypochondriac Emily Upjohn (Margaret Dumont) may provide the financial key to solvency for owner Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan), but only if experienced and trusted psychiatrist Hugo Z. Hackenbush (Groucho) can be persuaded to take over. Translate that horse doctor Hackenbush, who in the course of the film is conned by Chico in a version of the "tootsie fruitsie" scam, gets plastered by both Chico and Harpo as he woos blonde troublemaker Flo (Esther Muir), and dons black face grease along with both brothers in the finale of an all black musical number featuring "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm".

As others have noted in their postings, the musical numbers can get tedious, and for his part, Groucho doesn't have his way with the one liners as effectively as in some of the Marx Brothers' more appreciated films. But the maniacal frenzy is still there, punctuated by the horse race finale of the title, appropriately sealing the fate of the sanitarium in a twist when jockey Harpo loses his horse "High Hat" to an aggressive jockey who winds up taking him across the finish line.

There is one particular scene though in the "Winter Carnival" interlude that amazed me, as dancer Vivien Fey literally turns into a spinning top, encircling the dance floor in a blur. I've seen it done on a pair of skates, but to see it performed by Fey on tiptoe was truly incredible - and at the finish she was still standing!

Oh, and lest I forget, the romantic subplot to the story involves Maureen O'Sullivan and Allan Jones in an off again, on again relationship that doesn't really serve to move the story along other than Jones' character providing the financial backing for "High Hat", but with the Marx Brothers involved, the outcome of the race is never in jeopardy.