Rating: 
Summary: Doctor Groucho
Review: "A Day at the Races" is one of the better (but not best) of the Marx Brothers movies. It has quick-witted humor evenly spaced throughout the movie and teams Groucho up with Margaret Dumont; his favorite straight woman. He plays a horse doctor hired to head a sanitarium where Ms. Dumont is the bank-rolling hypochondriac. Along the way the other brothers find their way into the plot. The sanitarium is in danger of foreclosure and it turns out that the only way to save it is to win an upcoming horse race. Oh well, good Marx Brothers movies don't require much of a plot.
There are a number of great comic scenes in the movie. One of the best is Groucho having his expertise evaluated by other physicians. One of the more interesting scenes involves Marx brothers spending time with the black community near the race track. Some versions of the movie have expunged some of these scenes due to questionable taste. However, I did not think that they were that bad for Hollywood in 1937. There was a terrific musical number in one of those scenes and it would be a shame if it were editted out. I can't vouch for this particular version since I have only seen the movie on TV.
This is not up in the league of "Duck Soup" or "A Night at the Opera" but is is still very good. All of the first 6 Marx Brothers movies deserve a 5 star rating and a couple of them merit 6 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderfully entertaining
Review: "A Day at the Races" is one of the top Marx Brothers movies. It's clever, humourous, full of memorable scenes and is great for entertainment value. The humour is up to a very high standard and the musical scenes are full of energy. Parts of it, such as the Tootsie-Frootsie and the jitterbugging scenes, are so absorbing you almost forget about the rest of the film. On a critical analysis though, the film falls short in a few areas. The acting and delivery of some of the lines in just a few places lacks conviction and seems a bit weak and some of the songs have to be heard quite a few times before you can really remember the tune of them. But ultimately, "A Day at the Races" wins both on entertainment value and from a critical viewpoint.
Rating:
Summary: "A Day At the Races" - Marxs' last great film
Review: "A Day At the Races", the Marx Bros. seventh film, released in 1937, is their last real great film in the sense of its overall humor and comic genous. Groucho plays a horse doctor, Dr. Hackenbush, who is more interested on betting on horses than treating them. The plot revolves around a sanatorium which is loosing money. Run by Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan), she is offered five thousand dollars to sell it to a shady character, Morgan (Douglas Dumbrille). He wants the sanitorium for his race track. However, the sanitorium's leading patient, Mrs. UpJohn (Margaret Dumont) comes to the aid of Judy Standish when she offers finicial support - but only if she hires Dr. Hackenbush. Of course nobody knows he is just a horse doctor. Harpo plays a jockey. Chico (Tony) plays the sanitarium's loyal employee. When he overhears the conversation about Hackensbush, he quickly wires him to come. He also sells ice cream and racing tips on the side. In a later scene, one of the film's highlights, he sells Groucho a library's worth of books which are intended to have the name of the horse and jockey in a particular race. As is many Marx Bros. films, there is a love interest. This one involves Allan Jones (Gil Stewart) and Judy Standish. He spends his life's savings on a horse, Highhat, in the hopes it will win a race and enough money to bail the sanatorium out of its near bankruptcy. Over-all, this is a fast paced comedy, expect for the songs which really have no place in the film, and seem to go on forever. However, they may be fast forwarded through. The film's highlights include a roarous scene with the Marx Bros. and a seductress, Flo Marlowe (Esther Muir). Morgan uses her to seduce Groucho, and have Dumont come in on the act, knowing she would quickly dispense of his services, and the sanatoruim would be his. However, Hapro and Chico, through a series of hilarious events, foil the plan. Another highlight comes when Sig Ruman, playing Dr. Leopold Steinburg, comes to examine Dumont and prove there is nothing really the matter with her. The Marx Bros. have another of their field days. The climax comes when Highhat is entered in a race, and Morgan tries everything he can to keep him out of it. The Marx Bros. see to it that Highhat remains in the race, at any cost. "A Day At the Races" contains enough comic humor and classic Marx Bros. material to be considered a great film, and still stands the test of time as a Marx Bros. classic.
Rating:
Summary: Superfulous Marx masterwork!
Review: "A Day At The Rcaes" is excellent, and sometimes I enjoy it more than "A Night At The Opera". It has funny dialogue given, especially by Groucho, when he does the hilarious sequence with Chico as to what race horse he should bet on as he keeps buying more and more code books for a dollar to crack the code. When Chico places $6 on a particular horse, he's overelated. (He's supposed to be selling ice-cream). He's calling out "Get-a your tootsie fruitsie ice cream." When his horse wins, he collects a pile of money. The reason being is that he works at the Standish Sanitarium, run by Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan), and the sanitarium is deeply in debt. Plus, Chico and Gil Stewart (Alan Jones) owe over a hundred dollars to the sheriff for a feed bill. It's up to Groucho, Chico, and Harpo to save the day despite many hystericaltwists and turns along the way. You'll enjoy it a lot, especially when Harpo begins to play the piano and bangs so hard on it he wrecks the whole piano piecemeal, and uses the strings of it to make himself a harp. He plays excellently as you see him take the music seriously until he goes back to acting crazy again! Cream of the crop classic!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully entertaining
Review: "A Day at the Races" is one of the top Marx Brothers movies. It's clever, humourous, full of memorable scenes and is great for entertainment value. The humour is up to a very high standard and the musical scenes are full of energy. Parts of it, such as the Tootsie-Frootsie and the jitterbugging scenes, are so absorbing you almost forget about the rest of the film. On a critical analysis though, the film falls short in a few areas. The acting and delivery of some of the lines in just a few places lacks conviction and seems a bit weak and some of the songs have to be heard quite a few times before you can really remember the tune of them. But ultimately, "A Day at the Races" wins both on entertainment value and from a critical viewpoint.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully entertaining
Review: "A Day at the Races" is one of the top Marx Brothers movies. It's clever, humourous, full of memorable scenes and is great for entertainment value. The humour is up to a very high standard and the musical scenes are full of energy. Parts of it, such as the Tootsie-Frootsie and the jitterbugging scenes, are so absorbing you almost forget about the rest of the film. On a critical analysis though, the film falls short in a few areas. The acting and delivery of some of the lines in just a few places lacks conviction and seems a bit weak and some of the songs have to be heard quite a few times before you can really remember the tune of them. But ultimately, "A Day at the Races" wins both on entertainment value and from a critical viewpoint.
Rating:
Summary: "A Day At the Races" - Marxs' last great film
Review: "A Day At the Races", the Marx Bros. seventh film, released in 1937, is their last real great film in the sense of its overall humor and comic genous. Groucho plays a horse doctor, Dr. Hackenbush, who is more interested on betting on horses than treating them. The plot revolves around a sanatorium which is loosing money. Run by Judy Standish (Maureen O'Sullivan), she is offered five thousand dollars to sell it to a shady character, Morgan (Douglas Dumbrille). He wants the sanitorium for his race track. However, the sanitorium's leading patient, Mrs. UpJohn (Margaret Dumont) comes to the aid of Judy Standish when she offers finicial support - but only if she hires Dr. Hackenbush. Of course nobody knows he is just a horse doctor. Harpo plays a jockey. Chico (Tony) plays the sanitarium's loyal employee. When he overhears the conversation about Hackensbush, he quickly wires him to come. He also sells ice cream and racing tips on the side. In a later scene, one of the film's highlights, he sells Groucho a library's worth of books which are intended to have the name of the horse and jockey in a particular race. As is many Marx Bros. films, there is a love interest. This one involves Allan Jones (Gil Stewart) and Judy Standish. He spends his life's savings on a horse, Highhat, in the hopes it will win a race and enough money to bail the sanatorium out of its near bankruptcy. Over-all, this is a fast paced comedy, expect for the songs which really have no place in the film, and seem to go on forever. However, they may be fast forwarded through. The film's highlights include a roarous scene with the Marx Bros. and a seductress, Flo Marlowe (Esther Muir). Morgan uses her to seduce Groucho, and have Dumont come in on the act, knowing she would quickly dispense of his services, and the sanatoruim would be his. However, Hapro and Chico, through a series of hilarious events, foil the plan. Another highlight comes when Sig Ruman, playing Dr. Leopold Steinburg, comes to examine Dumont and prove there is nothing really the matter with her. The Marx Bros. have another of their field days. The climax comes when Highhat is entered in a race, and Morgan tries everything he can to keep him out of it. The Marx Bros. see to it that Highhat remains in the race, at any cost. "A Day At the Races" contains enough comic humor and classic Marx Bros. material to be considered a great film, and still stands the test of time as a Marx Bros. classic.
Rating:
Summary: amazing entertainment
Review: 'A Day At The Races' is a movie every single person alive might find pleasure in. The musical aspects of the film are unreachable in their attributes. This movie reflects on human history through edicate, music, sport, culture, and not to mention....COMEDY....One need not to understand the English language as the sets, the expressions, and activities are self descriptive
Rating:
Summary: "Marry me, and I'll never look at another horse."
Review: A DAY AT THE RACES is the second of the Marx/Wood/Thalberg collaborations (Marx Brothers, director Sam Wood and producer Irving Thalberg) movies made at MGM, the first the delightful A NIGHT AT THE OPERA. Irving Thalberg (called "the boy genius" about a hundred times in the DVD extras) died partway through production, bringing this successful combination to an unhappy end. Critical opinion will have you believe that NIGHT is the stronger of the two, but I've always preferred DAY. I'm absolutely tickled to have it now on a fantastic DVD. First, I think the jokes are just a little sharper and sillier here than in NIGHT (not that they were poor there by any means). Also, the romantic subplot was handled a little better here. It helps, I think, that Allan "Imitation Zeppo" Jones has better chemistry with Maureen O'Sullivan than he did with Kitty Carlisle. The stricter structure that Thalberg imposed on the films is improved. I have an entertaining time cheering on the Brothers' attempting to win a horserace to save a young heroine's sanitarium. But, of course, the real fun from a Marx Brothers film comes from the one-liners and comedic set pieces that abound, and the gags here rival their best material. As you'll hear loads of times if you peruse the DVD extras, Irving Thalberg encouraged the Brothers to take their material on the road for testing in front of an audience before filming it. Hence, the timing, the punch lines and the individual words themselves are all finely honed. It's this attention to detail that makes them work. You could easily imagine the "Tootsie Frootsie" sequence dragging and dying if the lines hadn't been performed perfectly. The bad guys in this one are a lot of fun too, and go a long way towards making this such a success. Sig Ruman is welcomed back after OPERA, and it's great to see him eye-popping in shock whenever insulted by Groucho. By the end of his segment, his voice has risen so high in outrage that he sounds like Dr. Strangelove. Similarly, the fake telephone call from Florida wouldn't be as funny as it is without Leonard Ceeley's wonderful over the top frustration. As a modern movie viewer, I couldn't help but be amused by a scene, which, if DAY had come later, would have been seen as a parody of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. In one of that science fiction epic's more famous sequences, Johann Strauss' "Blue Danube" plays majestically in the background as a space station slowly spins in orbit, ready to engage in docking procedures. Here, the same piece of classical music plays while we see Groucho Marx in a dressing grown, slowly spinning and dancing in front of a mirror, as he eagerly awaits engaging in docking procedures with the beautiful Esther Muir. Well, I was amused anyway. One more thing I should mention about the film: the song and dance sequence in the poor, black community. Now, compared to other films of that time, this is almost progressive in its attitude towards race (which, admittedly, isn't saying much). But there is one thing that makes me a little uncomfortable. In context, it almost appears to be saying that, yes, the blacks are poor, and yes, they're outcasts from white society, but, well, they've got their singing and dancing, and, gosh, aren't they happy, and doesn't that make it all okay? I can't help but think that's the subtle message, though perhaps it's just me. Still, I shouldn't complain too much, because it is by far the best singing and dancing in the entire film (though I'll grudgingly admit the ballerina was also quite skilled). Imagine, people actually having fun with song and dance! It's certainly a change from the stoic, restrained and boring performances elsewhere. The DVD comes with several extras, so you really get your money's worth, even if you aren't quite thrilled with all of the offerings. The documentary is based upon the same structure as on the DVD of A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, which means there's valuable trivia and knowledge from the lips of all manner of comedians, co-stars, and writers, and also Dom DeLuise talking about food. I'll bet I'm not the only one surprised and delighted that both the female romantic leads from NIGHT and DAY are still alive and sharp enough to recall details from almost seventy years ago. The commentary track is relatively good when fan Glenn Mitchell is actually speaking, but there's an unfortunate amount of dead air. At least he's honest though; he recommends viewers take advantage of the chapter-forward button to skip through the interminable ballet sequence since he's decided it's not any good and he has nothing to say until the next scene. Some of the trivia he imparts is interesting, but he has an unfortunate habit of pointing out continuity errors and things that most the audience won't care about. Still, he said some stuff I didn't know (the song "A Message From The Man In The Moon" that Groucho sings a snatch of at the closing was intended to be the movie's big song, but was cut), which is always appreciated. You can skip over the rest of the DVD extras. Robert Benchley had an Oscar winning short on the NIGHT release, but A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES is rather predictable and dull. Also included are three vintage cartoons, which are quite clearly from a different age. And they're welcome to them. I'm not sure whether I'd place this film or DUCK SOUP as my all-time favorite Marx Brothers flick. But honestly, who cares which one is the best? This film is available separately or as part of the recent "Marx Brothers Collection" DVD box set. If you're going to buy only one of those films (and why not just buy the set?), then I'd recommend this one above all.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT MOVIE!!!
Review: A GREAT ALL AROUND FAMILY MOVIE-AND VERY FUNNY!
| 
