“THERE AIN’T NO SANITY CLAUSE!”

By Raymond Benson

At long last, the Warner Archive has blessed Marx Brothers fans with a high definition Blu-ray release of one of the comedy team’s most beloved pictures, A Night at the Opera (1935).

Many film historians and critics cite A Night at the Opera (directed by Sam Wood) as the brothers’ “finest” movie, and it has even been named by Groucho Marx as such. While it is certainly one of their best, this reviewer quibbles with that pronouncement. The film’s reputation is a result of the success it had at the box office and with the public’s perception upon release. It was a “reboot” of sorts for the Marx Brothers, as they had moved to a new studio (the prestigious MGM) and were overseen by the young genius studio maverick, Irving Thalberg. Under Thalberg’s guidance, the brothers’ films became more commercial. His goal had been to make their pictures play as well in Middle America as they had in New York or Los Angeles.

The Marx Brothers’ film career can easily be divided into two distinct periods. The first chapter consists of the five excellent pre-Code entries made at Paramount. Most aficionados of the brothers hold these anarchic, surreal, and zany comedies (they include Animal Crackers, Horse Feathers, and Duck Soup) in the highest regard. Unfortunately, 1933’s Duck Soup was not a box office hit because the comedy had become too political for the times (although its stock grew tremendously as the decades went on, and today Soup is generally considered, certainly by this reviewer, as the team’s “finest”—or certainly “favorite”). The team found themselves without a studio. Zeppo, the team’s “straight man,” dropped out of the act, and he would be replaced by a succession of Zeppo-types to serve his function. This left only Groucho, Harpo, and Chico in place.

Enter Thalberg. Over a poker game with Chico, Thalberg discussed bringing the Marx Brothers to MGM. He envisioned making their comedy more “friendly” and emphasizing more story. The result found the three (instead of four) Marx Brothers becoming lovable—but crazily funny—matchmakers to two young lovers (in this case, played by Allan Jones, this movie’s Zeppo clone, and Kitty Carlisle), despite obstacles by defined bad guys.

This formula was a success, and it continued in 1937’s A Day at the Races (the brothers’ most profitable film) and three more at MGM, which grew progressively weaker in quality. By 1941, the blueprint had played itself out and MGM dropped the team. (The brothers made two more inferior films in the late 1940s for different studios, a time which could be considered a forgettable third period in their cinematic journey.)

All that said, A Night at the Opera is easily the most successful and funniest of the MGM pictures. Groucho is “Otis B. Driftwood,” a theatrical manager of sorts, who wants to invest Mrs. Claypool’s money (she is played, of course, by the wonderful Margaret Dumont) in the New York opera scene, which is run by pompous Herman Gottlieb (Sig Ruman). Chico is “Fiorello,” another manager of sorts, who represents his friend Ricardo (Jones), who happens to be an extremely talented singer. Ricardo is in love with Rosa (Carlisle), also an opera singer. She is set to co-star with sleazy Lassparri (Walter Woolf King), who is cruel to his personal assistant, Tomasso (Harpo). Thus, the plot involves subverting Lassparri and Gottlieb, and installing Ricardo and Rosa in the opera. It takes the three Marx Brothers to make this happen.

The script was written by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, who had worked with the brothers several times in the past. Even though Groucho and Chico were known to improvise dialogue, the film contains many of their best bits. For example, the “contract scene,” in which Driftwood and Fiorello hash out the terms to sign Ricardo to the opera, is classic stuff. When they don’t agree on a specific clause in the contract, they simply physically tear it off the paper. When Fiorello gets down to the bottom, the clause which states that if either party is “not in sound mind,” then the contract is void. “That’s the sanity clause,” Driftwood explains. Fiorello isn’t having it. “Oh no, you can’t fool me. There ain’t no Sanity Clause!” And then there is the brilliant ocean liner stateroom scene, the cinematic equivalent of stuffing the most people possible into a phone booth. 

Groucho and Chico do seem to have all the best stuff. Harpo is always splendid, but here too much of his physical comedy is dependent on outrageous stunts (performed by doubles and stuntmen, or visual photographic effects), such as climbing up a vertical theatrical backdrop like a lizard. Harpo Marx’s antics should never be performed by stuntmen or faked with technical trickery. This is probably this reviewer’s biggest complaint about A Night at the Opera, and the one thing that prevents it from overtaking the likes of Duck Soup, Horse Feathers, Animal Crackers, and Monkey Business as the quintessential Marx Brothers movie. At least Opera features two superb musical solos by Chico (on piano) and Harpo (on harp), as well as a couple of lavish, MGM-style musical numbers by Jones, Carlisle, and a multitude of extras.

Warner Archive’s new high-definition transfer is a vast improvement over the previous DVD release. The few splices/missing frames in the film are still evident (nothing to be done about those), but the picture quality is superb. All the supplements are ported over from the DVD release, including the audio commentary by film critic Leonard Maltin, as well as an entertaining documentary on the brothers (featuring the likes of Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, Dom DeLuise, and others), a 1961 television excerpt of Groucho being interviewed by Hy Gardner, and two vintage 1930s MGM shorts (Robert Benchley’s “How to Sleep” and the musical documentary “Sunday Night at the Trocadero”). A third vintage short, “Los Angeles: Wonder City of the West” is new to this Blu-ray release. The theatrical trailer rounds out the package.

A Night at the Opera is a welcome addition to the home video collection of any Marx Brothers fan. Despite the minor quibbles, this is classic, side-splitting, Hollywood comedy.

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