Musical Monday: A Night at the Opera (1935)

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It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.

This week’s musical:
A Night at the Opera (1935) – Musical #853

Studio:
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Director:
Sam Wood

Starring:
Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle, Allen Jones, Walter Woolf King, Sig Ruman, Margaret Dumont, Edward Keane, Billy Gilbert (uncredited)

Plot:
Opera promoter Otis B. Driftwood (Marx) is hoping that wealthy Mrs. Claypool (Dumont) will invest in his opera company. The company’s stars, Rodolfo (King) and Rosa (Carlisle), are at odds because Rodolfo is in love with Rosa and Rosa is in love with tenor, Riccardo (Jones). When the opera company goes to the United States, Riccardo is a stowaway on the boat, with hopes of being with Rosa and the opera company. When the group arrives in the U.S., conflicts arise when Rodolfo feels threatened by the prescience of Riccardo.

Trivia:
• This was the first Marx Brothers film to appear without Zeppo Marx, according to the American Film Institute (AFI). Zeppo Marx’s last film was DUCK SOUP (1933) at Paramount Pictures.
• The first Marx Bros. film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and production head Irving Thalberg personally signed their contracts, according to the AFI.
• Selections of “Pagliacci” and “ Il Trovatore” were recorded by the New York Metropolitan Opera, according to a July 1935 Hollywood Reporter news item.
• While developing the script, Irving Thalberg recommended the Marx Brothers perform scenes live on a road show tour in Seattle, Salt Lake City, Portland and Santa Barbara. Lines and scenes were adapted based on audience response, according to Turner Classic Movies.
• A Night at the Opera was selected in 1993 for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
• Second film of actor, opera singer Allan Jones

Highlights:
• The famous too-small stateroom scene
• Harpo Marx performing on the harp

Notable Songs:
• “Alone” performed by Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones
• “Cosi-Cosa” performed by Allan Jones
• “Anvil Chorus” performed by the chorus
• “Di quella pira” performed by Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones

My review:
In the 1930s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was focused on being cultured, with high brow music. Opera was a key focus in some musicals, with the rising stars of opera singers Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. The fact that MGM worked to build up opera singers Allan Jones and Kitty Carlisle isn’t surprising.

What is unique is that they set high opera to slapstick comedy in the Marx Brothers’s first film at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Considered to be the Marx Brothers best film, this week’s Musical Monday, A NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935), marked a shift in films starring the comedic brothers. Previously, while under contract at Paramount, their humor was wild and anarchic. But once they were signed at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and under the eye of producer Irving Thalberg, their characters were more humorous and likeable.

Truth be told, while the plot does matter in A NIGHT AT THE OPERA and it took a great deal of time and frustration for script writers, Thalberg and the Marx Bros. to agree on a story, I almost feel the plot is still superfluous. If you’re watching a Marx Brothers film, it’s for the humor and jokes.

In the film, Groucho Marx plays, Otis B. Driftwood, an opera promoter. Driftwood hopes that wealthy Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont) will invest in his opera company. The company’s stars, Rodolfo (King) and Rosa (Carlisle), are at odds because Rodolfo is in love with Rosa and Rosa is in love with tenor, Riccardo (Jones). When the opera company goes to the United States, Riccardo is a stowaway on the boat, with hopes of being with Rosa and the opera company. With all of this setting … comedy ensues.

I’ll admit, the Marx Brothers are a blind spot for me, so when I was looking for a Marx Brothers musical, I had to turn to friends for a recommendation. Film historian and friend Raquel Stecher recommended NIGHT AT THE OPERA (1935), citing that it is has their best gags with the stateroom pile up and hardboiled eggs scene, actress Margaret Dumont co-stars and it’s the one film they made at MGM while Irving Thalberg was still alive.

While the slapstick humor of the Marx Brothers may not actually be for me, the backstory around the making of NIGHT AT THE OPERA is fascinating. As Stecher cited, it was fun to see their famous gags that I’d seen in other film clips shows in the past, including everyone piling into their stateroom.

But their comedic transformation from Paramount to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is fascinating. In addition, Irving Thalberg’s heavy involvement is also interesting, especially because I associate him with the glamorous films of his wife, Norma Shearer.

Thalberg was so interested in the success of the Marx Brothers at MGM that he had them take their comedic routine on the row. The Marx Brothers performed scenes to live audiences on a road show tour in Seattle, Salt Lake City, Portland and Santa Barbara. If the scenes didn’t land, they were either altered or omitted all together, as the writers made notes about the audience reactions, according to Turner Classic Movies.

Thalberg also gave the brothers a makeover, with their comedy that is. Previously, their humor was harsh and anarchic with anyone in their path in danger of their jokes. Here they are more kind, palatable but also humorous.

It’s true, there actually isn’t as much opera music as I anticipated, but that’s alright. We still get some wonderful performances by Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones, both underrated singers. It led me to watching this film that represents a large blind spot in my classic film viewing.

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