A Night at the Opera (1935)

Director:

Sam Wood

Writers:

James Kevin McGuinness (story)
George S. Kaufman (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 noviembre 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Musical

Frase comercial:

Don't miss it! The funniest picture ever made!

Plot:

A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.

Plot Keywords:

Port Hole | Steamer Trunk | Farce | Marx Brothers | Opera

Awards:

1 win

Comentarios de los usuarios:

awfully good but too much singing

Cast

Groucho Marx	...	Otis B. Driftwood
Chico Marx	...	Fiorello
Harpo Marx	...	Tomasso
Kitty Carlisle	...	Rosa Castaldi
Allan Jones	...	Ricardo Baroni
Walter Woolf King	...	Rodolfo Lassparri (as Walter King)
Sig Ruman	...	Herbert Gottlieb (as Siegfried Rumann)
Margaret Dumont	...	Mrs. Claypool
Edward Keane	...	Captain
Robert Emmett O'Connor	...	Henderson (as Robert Emmet O'Connor)

También conocida como:

Noche en la ópera, Una (Argentina) (Spain) [es]

Duración:

96 min | USA:91 min (1948 re-release)

País:

USA

Idioma:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Clasificación:

USA:Approved (certificate #1613) | South Korea:12 (2004) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivialidades:

Sam Wood, freshman Marx Brothers director in this film, was a perfectionist. The scene in which Harpo Marx hangs from the rope was filmed so many times that Harpo's hands became cut and swollen from the rope.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Driftwood escapes from Gotlieb, you can see the far view of Gottlieb shaking his arm and saying 'That sweinhund!' In the next shot, he does it again.

Quotes:

Otis B. Driftwood: Could he sail tomorrow?
Fiorello: You pay him enough money, he could sail yesterday.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Irving Thalberg: Prince of Hollywood (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Alone

awfully good but too much singing

This film is the first and probably the best Marx Brothers film made by MGM. Unlike later MGM/Marx collaborations, this film has energy and creativity. However, it also has LOTS of singing--hence, the title of the movie. That means in addition to the usual Chico and Harpo songs, there is a lot of operatic-type stuff from the duo of Jones and Carlisle. For me, these songs were frankly the low-point of the picture, but for some dumb reason, Hollywood's conventional wisdom was that comedies MUST have musical numbers to be appreciated by wider audiences. This same formula was foisted upon WC Fields, Abbott and Costello and even Laurel and Hardy. However, this movie is th rare exception that is STILL good in spite of the pointless songs.