The Marx Brothers Collection contains seven movies and follows their Paramount years. Starting with A Night At The Opera and ending with A Night In Casablanca the Marx Brothers are giving a purpose were in their first five films the where just wacky and the movies did not make sense. The first four movie are good to watch, but starting with Go West the trio start to loose their magic and they never seem to regain it. Overall if you are a Marx Brothers fan want all of the movie they were in then this is a great set. The only movies that are not include are Love Happy and if you want to call it a Marx Brothers movie the History of Mankind. The Marx Brothers Collection gets an AAAA++++.
A Night at the Opera is one hour and thirty – one minutes and was released in theaters on November 15, 1935. Basically the Marx Brothers get caught up trying to put to lovers in the opera of Il trovatore.
This movie has some firsts to it. It was the very first movie the brothers did after Zeppo left the group. Also Groucho was thinking of leaving the group but Chico talked him out of it. It was the first movie the brothers did for Warner Brothers after they were let go by Paramount Pictures and finally this movie would be the first of a long line of movie story plots. In their first five pictures the Marx Brothers were just zany and would insult the good and the bad. Starting with A Night at the Opera till their final movie Love Happy the Marx Brothers would only insult the bad people and come to the rescue of the innocent. Lastly this is the first movie to feature the first of many fake Zeppos; at least that what film historians call them.
I am not got into the plot of the movie because I am sure that a few other reviewers gave away the whole story. The Marx Brothers as a trio, would be their finest film and the only to come close to (performing as a trio) is A Day at the Races. After A Day at the Races the quality of the Marx Brothers goes downhill big time. A Night at the Opera is known for two main scenes; the stateroom and contract scenes. One other footnote the Marx Brothers went on tour acting out part of the scenes to see what was and was not funny. A Night at the Opera gets an AAAAA+++++.
DVD EXTRAS
Play Movie
Scene Selections
Special Features
I. Commentary by Leonard Martin
II. Remarks On Marx (33 minutes)
III. Vintage Shorts
a. How to Sleep (10 minutes)
b. Sunday Night at the Trocadero
IV. Theatrical Trailer
Languages
I. Spoken Languages
a. English
II. Subtitles
a. English
b. Français
c. Español
d. Off
A Day at the Races is one hour and forty – nine minutes and was released in theatres on June 11, 1937. Basically Judy Standish is the owner of Standish Sanitarium for which the sanitarium is in dept. Her friend Tony brings is Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush because Emily Upjohn trusts only him. Mrs. Upjohn does not know that Dr. Hackenbush is actually a veterinarian. When Dr. Hackenbush is exposed as a fraud by Tony and Stuffy he is tricked into helping to save Standish Sanitarium. In order to save the sanitarium Judy friend Gil enters his horse in a steeplechase race. Due to the death of Irving Thalberg during the making of the film, the brothers went to doing A Films to doing B Films because the head of MGM, Louis B. Mayer did not think highly of the Marx Brothers. A Day at the Races has the distinction of being the longest Marx Brothers movie and the only one to be nominated for an Academy Award. The film was nominated for Best Dance Direction, but lost to A Damsel in Distress. A Day at the Races gets an AAAA++++.
DVD EXTRAS
Play Movie
Scene Selections
Special Features
I. Commentary by Glenn Mitchell
II. On Your Marx, Get Set, Go! (27 minutes)
III. A Night At The Movies (9 minutes)
IV. Vintage Cartoons
a. Old Smokey (7 minutes)
b. Mam’s New Hat (8 minutes)
c. Gallopin’ Gals (7 minutes)
V. Audio Vault
a. A Message from the Man in the Moon (2 minutes)
b. Leo Is on the Air Radio Program
VI. Theatrical Trailer (2 minutes)
Languages
I. Spoken Languages
a. English
II. Subtitles
a. English
b. Français
c. Español
d. Off
Room Service is one hour and eighteen minutes and was released in theatres on September 30, 1938. The main story is that Gordon Miller (Groucho) has the entire cast and crew held up in a hotel while he tries to find a backer for the play Hail and Farwell. In the meantime he has racked up a huge hotel bill and tries not to get evicted or thrown in jail along with Chico, Harpo and Leo Davis who is the writer for the play. Granted there are some laughs in this movie but not the kind that were in a Night At the Opera and a Day at the Races. Room Service has a few footnotes to it. Room Service is the only movie not written specifically for the Marx Brothers and the only movie the Marx Brothers made for RKO Studios. This is the only movie where Harpo does not play the harp and Chico does not play the piano. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is song by all three brothers at the fake death scene and at the end of the movie. Also missing from this from this movie is Margaret Dumont; Groucho’s love interest. Room Service gets a B.
DVD EXTRAS
Play Movie
Scene Selections
Special Features
I. Party Fever (9 minutes)
II. The Daffy Doc (6 minutes)
III. Theatrical Trailer (1 minute)
Languages
I. Spoken Languages
a. English
II. Subtitles
a. English
b. Français
c. Español
d. Off
At The Circus is one hour and twenty – six minutes and was released in theaters on October 20, 1939. The main plot of the movie is the Marx Brothers help out Jeff Wilson, the owner of Wilson Wonder Circus, who has been robbed of ten thousand dollars. The whole movie is very predictable and except for when you get to the last ten minutes are there any laughs. Some of the joke sketches run too long and the musical ‘Swingali’ for which Harpo plays the harp could have been omitted from the movie. It ads nothing to the story and does not move it along. Margaret Dumont, Groucho love interest in the Marx Brothers movies, does not appear until fifty – five minutes into the film. At The Circus gets a C- for little laughs and a weak story.
DVD EXTRAS
Play At The Circus
Scene Selections
Special Features
I. Dog Daze (10 minutes)
II. Jitterbug Follies (8 minutes)
III. Theatrical Trailer (3 minutes)
Languages
I. Spoken Languages
a. English
II. Subtitles
a. English
b. Français
c. Español
d. Off
Go West is one hour and twenty – six minutes and was released in theaters on December 6, 1940. Basically the boys try to recover a deed that was given to them but get stolen by a couple of greedy gangsters. Just like At The Circus the laughs are few and missing from this movie is Groucho’s love interest Margaret Dumont. Some interesting notes is Groucho does not have a solo song in this movie like past movies though he does sing with his brother Chico (a rarity) and John Carroll. Also Groucho plays guitar in this movie, something he has not done since Horse Feathers. There are very few funny scenes in this movie. Finally if you go to the Theatrical Trailer of the Special Features of this DVD, it looks like some scenes were cut. Go West gets a D+ for very few laughs and a weak story.
DVD EXTRAS
Play Go West
Scene Selections
Special Features
I. Vintage Shorts
a. Quicker in a Wink (9 minutes)
b. Cavalcade of San Francisco (8 minutes)
II. The Milky Way (7 minutes)
III. Leo Is on the Air – Go West
IV. Theatrical Trailer (2 minutes)
Languages
I. Spoken Languages
a. English
II. Subtitles
a. English
b. Français
c. Español
d. Off
The Big Store is one hour and twenty – three minutes and released in theaters on June 20, 1941. Basically the main story is the Marx Brothers help Tommy Rogers and his Aunt Martha Phelps from being taken over by Mr. Grover (the store manager) who wants to kill them both and run the store. There are some funny scenes like the bedroom scene and the final chase scene but that is it. The musical numbers are good; there are seven in all. This is the only Marx Brothers film where Harpo is teamed up with Groucho, Harpo and Chico play the piano together and Harpo plays the harp twice in the movie. Also this would be Margaret Dumont (Groucho’s love interest) seventh and final film with the group. The Big Store was billed as the final Marx Brother movie but would go on to make another three more films together: A Night in Casablanca, Love Happy, and The Story of Mankind (not a true Marx Brothers film, but all three appear in it). The Big Store gets a C-.
DVD EXTRAS
Play The Big Store
Scene Selections
Special Features
I. Flicker Memories (7 minutes)
II. Officer Pooch (8 minutes)
III. Where There’s Music (3 minutes)
Languages
I. Spoken Languages
a. English
II. Subtitles
a. English
b. Français
c. Español
d. Off
A Night In Casablanca is one hour and twenty four minutes and was released in theatres on May 10, 1946. This is the twelfth Marx Brothers film. Basically Groucho takes over the Hotel Casablanca were three previous hotel managers have been murdered. Unbeknownst to Groucho there is hidden World War II German treasure hidden in the hotel and Count Pfferman/Heinrich Stubel is trying to sneak it out of the country. That is basically your movie in a nutshell. The laughs are gone in this movie and there are very little musical numbers. Groucho doesn’t even sing in this movie. One little bit of trivia is Sig Ruman who plays Count Pfferman/Heinrich Stubel was also in A Night At The Opera and A Day At The Races. A Night In Casablanca gets a D- for no laughs.
Play A Night In Casablanca
Scene Selections
Special Features
I. Acrobatty Bunny (7 minutes)
II. So You Think You’re A Nervous Wreck (10 minutes)
Languages
I. Spoken Languages
a. English
Subtitles
I. English
II. Français
III. Español
IV. Off
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Customer reviews
Just in time for...Marx...Madness...
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2016
Though I'm not too keen on a few of the films, "A Night at the Opera" and "A Day at the Races" alone made this purchase a no-brainer. Overall, very pleased - especially with the commentaries and short extras.
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2016
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