11. A Night at the Opera

Otis P. Driftwood (Groucho Marx) is tasked with making Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont, who is a perfect foil to the Marx Brothers, see Animal Crackers or Duck Soup) a member of high society. Of course Driftwood is in it just for the money. Driftwood introduces Mrs. Claypool to the biggest jerk at the Opera, Rudolfo Lassparri (Walter Woolf King) who likes nothing better than abusing members of the Opera. None more so than his dresser, Tomasso (Harpo Marx). Rudolfo harbors a crush for the beautiful soprano Rosa Castaldi (Kitty Carlisle), who has caught the eye of Ricardo Baroni (Allan Jones). A love triangle soon appears with the star of the opera going against the lowly choir boy, who is managed by Fiorello (last but not least Chico Marx), who cons his way into a contract for Ricardo, setting up a fun jaunt from ocean liner to the musical stage.

A Night at the Opera is the Marx Brothers at their best. All of them are given moments to shine and steal the picture, which balances slapstick and witty banter with the best comedies of all-time. Some might argue Duck Soup is the Marx Brothers at their best, and they would also be correct.

A Night at the Opera contains some of the funniest scenes committed to film, from the abrupt opening at a restaurant to the “Stateroom” the film oozes with classic scenes and dialogue, such as this gem;

Driftwood: It’s all right, that’s in every contract. That’s, that’s what they call a sanity clause.

Fiorello: Ha ha! You can’t fool me. There ain’t no Sanity Claus!

Grade: A+

A Night at the Opera Video Quality

A Night at the Opera brings the house down with a stunning 4K scan that removes scratches and imperfections giving way to a highly detailed film. The black and white picture is near flawless with detail oozing in every scene. I read that there is a longer version of this film that was trimmed due to World War II, and those minutes have never been found.

Grade: A+

A Night at the Opera Sound Quality

A Night at the Opera mostly hits all the notes with its DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio. Dialogue and sound effects all sound great, however there is a little hiss that pops up in a couple of scenes, it doesn’t truly distract you, but it is there.

Grade: B+

A Night at the Opera Bonus Features

Audio Commentary by Leonard Maltin: Have I mentioned that I love listening to Leonard Maltin talk about film, here you get a full length commentary, which he discuss the abrupt opening and how World War II’s politics changed the film, this feature is worth the price of the disc alone.

Remarks on Marx: A nice documentary about the Marx Brothers with interviews with the likes of Carl Reiner, Dom DeLuise and more.

Groucho Marx on the Hy Gardner Show (1961 Broadcast) A really cool interview that showcases Groucho’s wit.

3 Vintage Shorts: Los Angeles: Wonder of the West, Saturday at the Trocadero, and Robert Benchley’s Academy Award Winning How to Sleep: A cool collection of shorts that were shown before the film, it’s fun experiencing the film the way it was originally shown in theaters.

Theatrical Trailer

Grade: A+

A Night at the Opera is comedy gold. It is a standard that all comedies should be measured. From razor sharp dialogue to slapstick scenes, it is one of the funniest films ever made. Warner Archive did an amazing job bringing this all-time classic to blu-ray.

Grade: A