I recently saw this movie as part of a triple billing with 'Men at Work' and 'Joe Dirt.' I prefer it to 'Men at Work,' personally, and everyone present agreed that it was better than 'Joe Dirt,' which is a ringing endorsement if I ever heard one. (To be fair I should note that this peculiar selection of comedies was shown only at my home, and there were only three people in attendance, so it's not as if we're talking about an audience of thousands.)

My one-year anniversary with Epinions is coming up tomorrow, so I should by rights compose a really stunning article that will sum everything up, from those awful first reviews I keep meaning to revise but never get around to, to the glorious works of genius I've produced lately...but man, I just don't have the energy. So here's some ravings about the Marx Brothers instead.

'A Day at the Races' is the usual Marx Brothers nuttiness, with very little depending on the plot (or even referring to the plot at times). The plot is really just a loose framework on which the Brothers M. drape various outrageous skits, interspersed from time to time with musical numbers. In this particular movie, the basic plot outline is as follows:
A young woman owns a sanitarium, but it's not making any money, and the wicked businessman who owns the nearby racetrack wants to take it over, tear it down and turn it into a nightclub. The woman's boyfriend, a singer, just bought a racehorse named Hi Hat, in hopes of winning a lot of money for her. Harpo, the silent Marx Brother, is the horse's jockey.
Chico, the Brother who always uses an Italian accent, works for the sanitarium and is friends with the jockey. Margaret Dumont, the incomparable straight woman, is the sanitarium's single wealthy patient and is a determined hypochondriac. She says she may pay off the debts of the place if a certain Dr. Hackenbush (who really understands her rare nervous condition) comes to take over the staff, so Dr. Hackenbush is hired. Unfortunately he's actually just a horse doctor and loves gambling, loose women, etc.

As the plot unfolds, various people try to prove that Dr. Hackenbush is not a real doctor, the businessman tries to foreclose on the sanitarium and the racehorse, and other bizarre things occur. As I said, the plot isn't really the point here, it's all about the inspired antics that surround the plot.

There are several very funny scenes. I like one bit where the businessman is demanding money to pay for the horse's feed and Chico and Harpo give him the same $5 bill several times. The scene where Groucho is attempting a romantic tryst with a woman is also very funny and had me and my sisters saying "thank YO" everytime someone said "thank you" for weeks after the first time we saw this movie (maybe you had to be there). There are a lot of short jokes and one-liners as well as more extended scenes, like the three Marx brothers trying to conduct a proper medical examination of a patient. (Saying 'the three Marx Brothers' reminds me that there's a fourth, and even a fifth, but they don't tend to be nearly as funny and we don't miss them even though they're not in this film.)

There are some jokes I didn't quite get that were probably referring to some aspect of the world back then that is no longer relevant (and some things that I got even though they're no longer relevant but that might confuse young people not acquainted with, say the history of telephones and how you used to have to work them), but for the most part the humor has aged very well. There's a lot of slapstick goofiness, which of course comes through fine, but even the purely verbal jokes are mostly understandable and still funny. Since this was made back in the day, the jokes are squeaky clean and fit for relating to your grandmother (who may have already seen this movie), although Groucho does give a interesting cast to a few of them with his waggling eyebrows and expressive leer.

On this note, of course, the Marx Brothers are just darn funny to watch. Groucho's every move is like a joke, with his odd, slippery walk and his ridiculous drawn-on mustache and wildly moving eyebrows; the man can throw a sidelong glance like no one else. Chico keeps a fairly straight face and is less peculiar to look at, which makes his jokes especially amusing, and of course Harpo, with his innocent-looking face, odd body movements and various noisemakers in lieu of speech, can be hilarious.

I think this movie contains some pretty good examples of the Marx Brothers' madcap shenanigans (don't mind me--it's just that somehow this film cries out to be described with words like 'antics,' 'madcap' and 'shenanigans') for those who aren't familiar with them and are interested in having a look.

I do think having a look is worthwhile, too, because there are some very funny things here. I know there are people who simply have no interest in watching anything filmed in black and white and who scorn old movies as a waste of time--but they're missing out! Some of this stuff is wonderful, and black and white movies have a style all their own. I also find it very interesting just to watch the way old movies are made, without a lot of the camera angles and familiar shots we're used to in modern films, but with odd conventions that were completely familiar in their own time.

One of those conventions, of course, would be the idea that people frequently pause to express themselves through heartfelt songs, and occasionally also jump into wild dance routines, or just pause to play the piano for minutes at a time. This is not something we see much of today, as even Disney has moved away from song and dance numbers with their last couple of movies, and frankly, to someone not used to these pauses in the action, it can be pretty boring.

At one point in the middle of 'Day at the Races' the whole plot (what there is of it) and, more importantly, all the comedy, just screeches to a halt and we all sit and watch a song, followed by a dramatic ballet number, and then Chico playing the piano, and then Harpo playing the harp. When we used to watch a lot of Marx Brothers we would routinely fast forward through these bits, and as far as plot and funny stuff goes it's pretty safe to do so without fear of missing anything. Anytime anybody sings or picks up an instrument--fast forward!

On the other hand, just for the heck of it, we actually sat through the whole movie this time, including the middle bit and the near-the-end cheering-up song, and the grand dancing finale, and in a way it was kind of interesting. There are some really nice shots of Harpo's hands on the harp strings, if you like that kind of thing, and Chico is, as always, very entertaining to watch on the piano, with his weird little hand-jumps from key to key.

We speculated--and this may or may not have any basis in fact--that possibly comedy just wasn't seen as worthy of being the basis for a whole movie back in the day (1937), so they throw in all these artistic bits so that people can feel they're improving their minds as well as being amused. In the same vein, there are points where the movie--which to my mind is merely an excuse for the Marx Brothers to be funny with all else decidedly secondary--seems to be actually trying to convince us that the tender love story between the little sanitarium owner and the singer-boyfriend is the main substance of the thing, as if we're actually supposed to get really worked up about that and to think of the Brothers' antics as comic relief from a drama that would otherwise be too heavy to handle.

That, in itself, is pretty funny, and may be a good reason to watch the whole thing rather than hitting the FF button whenever Groucho, Chico or Harpo isn't onscreen.

In the end, though, I'll sum it up like this: even though this is an old movie, and looks and sounds like it (film and sound quality just weren't what they are today), it's worth watching. It's interesting AS an old movie if you're interested in seeing how films have changed, and it's also got some very funny parts that stand up supremely well against modern comedy (at least as exemplified by 'Men at Work' and 'Joe Dirt'). Further, because it's old it's got no swearing or nudity or bloody violence, so all you parents can safely show it to your children.
And you can always fast forward through the musical bits if you want.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening