A Night at the Opera is a comedy starring the Marx Brothers, Groucho, Chico, and Harpo. The trio made five films for MGM, with this one being the first. This movie was one of the studio’s biggest hits of 1935.
The film starts in Italy, where Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho Marx), a conniving business manager for the Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont, Duck Soup) has asked her to invest $200,000 at the New York Opera company that is owned by her husband Herman Gottlieb (Sig Ruman, Ninotchka). The investment allows Gottlieb to engage with singer Rodolfo Lassparri (Walter Woolf King, Go West) and have him sign a contract. Meanwhile, chorister Ricardo Baroni (Allan Jones, Show Boat) has hired Fiorello (Chico Marx) to be his manager. He is in love with Rosa Castaldi (Kitty Carlisle, Design for Living), a woman that Lassparri is also in love with. Driftwood arrives to sign Lassparri who is attacking his dresser Tomasso (Harpo Marx). Lassparri is knocked out, Fiorello shows up and Driftwood accidently signs Ricardo to a contact instead of Lassparri. Driftwood, Gottlieb, Tomasso, Fiorello, Rosa and Mrs. Claypool then sail from Italy to New York in hopes to find success amidst all the crazy happenings.
After watching A Night at the Opera, I see why it was a huge success, with the Marx brothers one liners, and usual antics that they did. They have a fine cast of veteran supporting actors, which contributed to making the film thoroughly entertaining. The intertwining of their comedy with romance and non-comedic moments worked so well that these routines would continue for years to come.
A Night at the Opera receives a Blu-ray release courtesy of Warner Archive. The filmhas been sourced from a recent 4K scan of the best-known restoration elements with tremendous results. Contrast is well-balanced with and boasts an excellent greyscale. Shadow details are perfect, with whites looking bright. Grain is always present adding to much detail to the scenery to interiors and exteriors. There are a few missing frames during the presentation but overall, this is an outstanding video presentation. This is the 92-minute cut as the extra scenes are not part of the release.
The English DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio soundtrack overall is fine but there is some minor hissing that occurs. I don’t believe this to be Warner Archive’s fault and is probably due to film elements. The audio is crisp and easy to understand the dialog. Herbert Stothart’s original musical score and other background sounds coming in as good as it can be. English subtitles are available for the release.
Extras are from their DVD release. This includes a full-length audio commentary with film critic Leonard Maltin, who discusses the film in detail.
Remarks on Marx directed by Karen Hillhouse is a feature about The Marx Brothers which Dom DeLuise, Carl Reiner, Robert B. Weide, Robert Osborne, and others with some short clips from classic Marx Brothers comedies.
Groucho Marx on the Hy Gardner Show is a 1961 show excerpt, features a short interview with Groucho who brings along a cigar and his usual humor, but there is no grease-painted eyebrows or moustache.
Vintage Shorts is three short films that were typically shown before A Night at the Opera during its original theatrical run and are here for your entertainment. How to Sleep, Sunday Night at the Trocadero and Los Angeles: Wonder City of the West are the short films. A theatrical trailer is also part of the extras package.
With excellent production values, A Night at the Opera is a quintessential release for fans of The Marx Brothers. It’s a landmark film seeing some changes to their routine but overall, their comedy remains as funny as ever. Warner Archive’s Blu-ray overall is easily recommended and will most likely be the holy grail for years to come
A Night at the Opera
Director- Sam Wood
Cast- The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo)
Country of Origin- US
Distributor – Warner Archive / Warner Home Video
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date – 10/13/21