A gem. The Marx brothers go to the opera and help two singers -- Alan Jones and Kitty Carlisle -- become stars. The plot is otherwise too screwy to lay out.Margaret Dumont plays her accustomed role as the dowager burdened with lots and lots of money. There's a minuscule scene in an opera box that illustrates Groucho's deep devotion to Margaret Dumont. The two are seated and someone else enters the box and begins a conversation with Dumont. That exchange is the focus of the scene. Yet, in the background, almost blurry we see Groucho at once turn and begin whispering to the young girl in the next box. She looks appalled and her escort snatches her away. Groucho quickly pivots back to Dumont as if nothing had happened.The jokes are too many too recount. Probably the most popular is the stateroom scene but I get more of an arousal jag out of the brothers driving the police sergeant, Emit O'Connor, nuts by shuffling beds around from one room to another while he tries to understand what's happening and meanwhile the apoplectic cop is moaning and pulling out what's left of his hair.The final scene at the opera is full of pratfalls and dangerous acrobatics until it settles down into a straight duet from Il Travatore.

Groucho strikes gold again in Hollywood's age of gold in 'Night at the opera". The hilarious moments start right away at a restaurant where Mrs. Claypool (Margarate Durmonte) is meeting Otis P. Driftwood (Groucho) and he's already there with another woman (and with his back to Margarate) and he then joins Margarate (Groucho to Margarate: "you had your back to me. When I meet a woman I expect her to look at my face, that's the price she hasta pay"). Groucho continues ("I was only with that woman cause she reminded me of you. Everything about you also reminds me of you, your hair, your eyes, everything about you reminds me of you, except you".). The humor continues. The Marxs board a ship. So does Margarate and Rosa (Kitty Carlisle). Kitty sings "Alone" to Riccardo (Allen Jones) with her wonderful voice. She's also very beautiful. Ricardo sings talented too. I also like how even in the middle of "Alone", the Marx bros continue their hyjinks such as Groucho asking a ship crew as ship is about to depart: "do I have time to leave the ship to pay a hotel bill?" Crew member: "no, its too late". Groucho: "thats fine with me". Then "Alone" continues so beautifully that I really didn't care that the song was interrupted halfway with the Marx's hyjinks. Numerous more hilarious scenes coming. Groucho finds out the size of his room when pushing his giant suitcase in there and sees it's almost the size of the room (Groucho to porter: "maybe tomorrow, can you take the case out of the room and I can go in it"). Out of the case comes stowaways Harpo, Chico, and Ricardo. Groucho orders food with them behind him in room (Harpo honks his horn then Groucho to caterer 3 times: "and two hard boiled eggs" Harpo honks shorter honk, "and one duck egg" Harpo honks repeatedly, "either it's getting foggy out or 12 more hard boiled eggs"). Then more people, one after another, enter the room; two maids, an electrician, a manicurist, some girl, three caterers with food, and a cleaner. Groucho to cleaner: " you can mop the ceiling, it's the only place where there's room". Watch what happens then when Margarate opens the door. Hilarious. Then another great music act on the ship deck with Jones singing Casi casa with the Italain passengers dancing enjoying it, then another great Chico piano performance. Soon then Harpo, Chico, and Jones disguising themselves as longbearded aviators (they impersonated the same 3 guys that were on the ship where Groucho said "is that 3 guys or one guy with 3 beards?"), and them presenting themselves City hall antics with Chico's very hilarious story about how they crossed the Atlantic and Harpo drinking glass after glass of water (and Groucho saying "hurry it up, I see a guy in the crowd with a rope"). Continuous very funny scenes include Groucho, the detective, and the disappearing beds in the apartment, and the Marx's antics at the opera including the great "take me out to the ballgame joke. And I know not everyone agrees but I also enjoyed the opera music, Kitty and Jones' "Alone" earlier on the ship, and the songs at the opera. Passion and.hilarious humur are a very really good mix

While I personally prefer the Marx Bros' Paramount films, this one is probably the best of their MGM work. It features some of their most famous bits. The contract scene between Groucho and Chico ("Party of the first part...") and the stateroom scene are comedy classics. There are tons of great lines throughout. Groucho's zingers are hilarious, as usual. It's not all good, though. The terrible singing numbers from Allan Jones and Kitty Carlisle leave a lot to be desired. The Marx Bros' comedy works best when it's a free-for-all, with rapid-fire jokes and one gag after another. The more they included forced romantic subplots and musical numbers, the slower the pace was. Still, the comedy is superb. Watch and enjoy the laughs. Just be prepared to fast-forward through the Jones/Carlisle scenes.

The comic timing of the one-liner is a lost art, and there are very few in the cinematic field that has that special delivery.A Night at the Opera should be the how-to guide for all aspiring actors that want to pursue the skill. But it's more than just the quick-paced jokes and subtle innuendo, Night at the Opera is arguably the most complete Marx Brothers film as we get a combination of opera, romance, comedy, music, and best of all each Brother having their chance to shine on the big screen. With a plot to loosely tie in all the mayhem this is one of the best films of the early cinema era.This movie follows the brothers playing a manager, a dresser, and a good friend of an aspiring singer running into each other as an opera in New York is about to be underway. Unlike most Marx Brothers movies which usually featured a take-no-prisoners approach, this time the chaos is unveiled to combat the villains in the story. This gives the Marx Brothers an actual dosage of humility and allows us to actually root for them as opposed to feel sorry for all the innocents that get trampled by their insanity.Like the best of comedies, you get a little bit of everything: dialogue humor, physical humor, subtle humor, visual humor, and of course all the hilarious innuendo of Groucho Marx. And although the romantic subplot and the operatic moments might be a bit much, it at least gives us a chance to breathe and relax after the machine gunfire of jokes that the Brothers can through in a limited amount of time. There is clearly a better director/writing combination to catch the Marx lightning in celluloid.The talent of the Marx Brothers is on full display here, and if you ever want to truly see what they are capable of, this film is their best example. Groucho's comic timing is amongst the best in film history. Harpo and Chico are excellent with the physical stunts and can play a mean piano. And just wait until you see Harpo have his fun with a harp in the middle of a musical interlude.Not just a great comedy, but one of the best in the history of the medium. A Night in the Opera starts out strong, rushes through with great bit after great bit, and finishes off with a great climax that displays excellent cinematography, stuntwork, and physical humor that has made the Marx Brothers a staple in American comedy. It ages well, holds up well, and remains a gem after all these years.