A Day at the Races (1937)

People are voting emotionally.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

"A day at the races" is yet another hilarious Marx comedy from the age by of gold. No modern comedians can hold a candle to Groucho. I always thought he was funny looking, but his looks are only one portion of his funniness. Groucho's jokes, delivery, timing, wit, and style all wrapped into one is what made him the classic comic genius he was.In "races", Groucho is Dr. Hackenbuch of the local sanitarium. The different funny moments around his character are endless, such as the telephone scene where the head of the sanitarium Whitmore (Leonard Ceeley) is calling Groucho's old employment for a reference but is actually talking to Groucho himself, Whitmore asking about Hackenbush (HACKENBUSH!!) and Groucho jerking him around in the most amazingly funny ways. Then the classic tootsie frootsie scene at the tracks between Groucho and Chico. Then comes the outdoor musical scene, I've read how a lot of people don't like all the sentimental passionate musical parts of MGM Golden Age films and how the musical sections of the Marx brothers films while they were with MGM make the films worse. Change in common tastes since those days, when MGM musicals were enormously popular and loved. I'm more like people then than like people today. I like when Allen Jones sings (he sang well in Judy Garland's film " Everybody sing" also), then the beautiful dancing stage girls. I love the beautiful dresses girls generally wore back then, either down to the middle of the lower leg, or floorlength. I always notice how in these old films how the girls in long floor length dresses almost always sing in a soft opererettic way, the two things go together very nicely. We get a moment of several pretty girls in front of the little lake sitting down in their gorgeous big long dresses singing a bar of the song in their beautiful operettic voices. Then the ballerina dancing very well, very pretty. The whole number was great. After the show, Groucho is dancing with Mrs. Upjon (Margarate Dunmont). This is another funny scene where Hackenbush is saying things to Ester Muir, standing behind Margarate, and Margarate thinks Groucho is speaking to her. He makes a date with Muir without Margarate even knowing. Only Groucho can pull off a scene like this so convincingly and still make it funny too. Adding to the hilarity in that scene is Groucho's "change your partner" bit and the hilarious way he said it not letting Margaret know he's the one who said it. After Harpo overhears Muir talking about how her date with Groucho is really Muir trying to get him in trouble, Harpo tries to tell Chico, with Harpo's style of charades he has in each Marx bros film. (since Harpo doesn't talk). The remainder of the film has endless funny things in it. Muir: "hold me closer, closer". Groucho: "if I hold you any closer I'll be behind you". How Groucho keeps saying "thank yup". Chico and Harpo's antics to try to convince Groucho about Muir. Then the scene with Sig Ruman as 'that mountain goat" Dr. Stienburg. Groucho to Sig: "don't point that beard at me, it might go off". The Marx's antics in front of Dr. Stienburg and Whitmore at the clinic while Margaret is the patient is classic. There are still many other funny scenes and funny lines in this film but I don't have enough room to write them all here. Then there's Allen singing to Maureen O'sullivan, Mareen looking beautiful and romantic. This is a great film.

Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan) owns the failing Standish Sanitarium. Her rich most important patient Mrs. Upjohn (Margaret Dumont) is leaving. Judy's boyfriend Gil Stewart (Allan Jones) spends all his money to buy a horse and win big for her. She is dismayed that he abandons his singing. Tony (Chico Marx) overhears Upjohn's praise for Dr. Hackenbush (Groucho Marx) and sends for him who turns out to be a veterinarian. Banker J.D. Morgan (Douglas Dumbrille) is trying to buy out the sanitarium with the help of the scheming manager Whitmore (Leonard Ceeley). Gil gets Stuffy (Harpo Marx) to ride his horse Hi-Hat.Groucho is as snappy as ever. Harpo's physical gags are hilarious. There are some fun long setups like the ice cream bit. When all three get together in the examination, it's a great skit. As always in their movies, there are old fashion musical numbers. Those are not my taste but it's expected. I personally like the musical segments where they inject comedy into them. There is even one with a big cast of black singers and dancers. There are some big laughs although the movie is a bit long.

Maureen O'Sullivan may very well have been out of place here with the British accent.The antics of our Marx Brothers becomes tedious as the scenes are lengthy in nature.Everyone though is allowed to portray their specific gifts-Allan Jones singing, Harpo on the harp, Chico on the piano, and Groucho is as zany as ever in this 1937 film.Margaret Dumont was such a perfect foil. Always playing a society matron, she diversifies here as a chronically complaining woman regarding her health. Douglass Dumbrille makes a fine heavy here.

This is actually my favorite Marx Brothers movie. The reason is due to the fantastic showcasing of the Harlem Renaissance during the scene where the Marx Brothers are hiding out from the Sheriff by going to the part of town where the African Americans live. The result is a performance of African Americans playing music and doing the Jitterbug in an absolutely fantastic way, which even today is highly exciting and entertaining to watch. I am not too sure about this, but this movie may have been the first time that average Americans had the opportunity to SEE what the Jitterbug looked like. The Marx Brothers were very bold in bringing African American culture to a mainstream Hollywood film like this, and it still is worth watching, just for that reason alone.The film also has a great moment with Chico doing his special piano playing thing, followed by Harpo taking over and completely destroying the piano, turning it into a harp, which he then plays.The dialogue is pretty witty - some scenes especially so. And overall it's a great movie and well worth anyone's time to watch.