A Day at the Races (1937)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Dr Hugo Z Hackenbush is the new chief of staff of Standish Sanitarium, owned by Judy Standish. The Sanitarium has fallen on hard times and a wealthy banker, JD Morgan, is attempting to take it over and turn it into a casino. Judy's boyfriend, Gil Stewart, aims to save the Sanitarium by winning a big race with his horse, Hi-Hat.Another Marx Brothers classic. As always, the highlights are Groucho's one-liners, but Harpo's clowning is a treat too. It's not all good though. The plot drifts, and gets more absurd, in the second half. Also contains a fair amount of padding - the musical numbers were unnecessary (except for Chico's piano solo, which was brilliant, and Harpo's subsequent playing of the piano until it is a harp!). Plus, some of the skits went on beyond their punchline.

Here's the Thing. If You Like Raw, Unfettered, Unpolished, Marx Brothers Without Sometimes Intrusive Overblown and Dated Musical Numbers, the Paramount Films are It. The MGM's were Ultra-Polished, Audience Tested, Over Thought, Overblown, and Slick.This is the Longest of the Brother's Movies and it Feels Like it. The Musical Numbers Go on and On and the Romantic Subplot with Alan Jones and Maureen O' Sullivan is as Sappy as it Gets, and the Conclusion, the Race Itself is So Overstuffed it Can Feel Like a Marathon.But, the Marx's Comedy Routines are Superb and Despite the Attention to Detail and the Glossy Production of the Ballet, it is the Jitterbugging, African-American Number, "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" Combined with "Who Dat Man" that Highlight.The Zany Medical Examination, and Tutsi Frutsi Ice Cream Skits are Classic Marx Brothers Routines and are the Most Remembered. The Movie May Seem Long, and It Is, the Energy May Dissipate at Times, but Still, This is a Prime Marx Brothers Movie and Most Fans Place it in the Top Half of All Their Output.Paramount or MGM...Take Your Pick...In the End it's Still...The Marx Brothers...and You Can't Get Any Better in Depression Era, or Any Era, Comedy.

'A Day At The Races' is another laugh riot from the Marx Brothers. Ranging from slapstick to dialogue oriented humour, the story may be uneven and at times it may feel like a series of sketches connected together into one story, this film remains a fun watch. More than 70 years have passed but this is proof that a great comedy will survive and go on for decades. The inclusion of music, such as the song and dance sequences were also a delight to watch. The three brothers display their comedic gifts but for me it is Chico Marx who stands out. Maureen O'Sullivan gives a charming performance and Margaret Dumont is hilarious, especially in her scenes with Groucho. There are several memorable laugh-out-loud scenes but it is the final race sequence that tops them all. Many seem to have a problem with the way black people were portrayed in this film. However, I found that song sequence a sheer delight and perhaps one of the best parts of the movie. Regarding the painted face, I don't think that part was designed to be derogatory or a joke on black people but to show how the stupid authorities (who were searching for the three brothers) fail to see beyond skin colour.

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.