A Night at the Opera

I appear not to be a Marx brothers fan. With a title with the word opera in it, I did raise my hopes slightly. I imagine that many of the stereotypes people have about opera--rich, old people watching, ridiculous plots and costumes was partially formed by this film. The two actual singers, the soprano and tenor, are quite good, but had little to actually do or say, aside from being the plot pieces around which the Marx brothers operated.

Duck Soup

The first Marx brothers film I've ever watched and I wish it was the last, but Night at the Opera is also on the list. I can't tell if this was supposed to be a musical or slap stick--it did a pretty poor job of being either. It was intriguing to see the original mimed mirror sequence but the rest of the film was pretty absurd and painful to watch, particularly the scenes with the lemonade vendor.