A Night at the Opera (1935)
95%RT Audience Score: 91%
Awards & Nominations: NA
Watermelons may go out of season, but in A Night at the Opera, the Marx Brothers’ daffy laughs are never anything less than uproariously fresh.
A Night at the Opera is a hilarious masterpiece that will have you laughing until your sides hurt. Groucho, Harpo, and Chico are at their absolute best in this film, delivering one zinger after another. The stateroom scene and the party of the first part are both comedic gold, but the entire film is filled with memorable moments. It’s no wonder that this film is considered one of the Marx Brothers’ best. If you’re in need of a good laugh, A Night at the Opera is the perfect choice.
Production Company(ies)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios – 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Passed
Year of Release
1935
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:1.37 : 1
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Runtime:1h 33m
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Language(s):English, Italian
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 15, 1935 Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 4, 2004
Genre(s)
Comedy
Keyword(s)
Comedy, Opera, Marx Brothers, Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Kitty Carlisle Hart, Allan Jones, Margaret Dumont, Sam Wood, George Kaufman, Morris Rysklnd, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, box office, budget, reviewed by Edwin Schallert, SMH Staff, Colvin McPherson, Age Staff, TIME Staff, Globe Staff, Matt Brunson, Josephine O’Neill, Robert B Phillips Jr., P.S Harrison, NZ Herald Staff, directed by Sam Wood, written by George Kaufman, Morris Rysklnd, produced by Irving Thalberg, MPAA rating, comedy classic, musical numbers, romantic subplot, stunts, heart-pounding, tender scene, wacky, hilarious, endless charm, classic comedy
Worldwide gross: $3,956,700
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $103,996,626
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 993
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 11,340,963
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Harpo Marx – Tomasso
Kitty Carlisle Hart – Rosa Castaldi
Chico Marx – Fiorello
Margaret Dumont – Mrs. Claypool
Allan Jones – Ricardo Baroni
Director – Sam Wood
Distributor – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Director(s)
Sam Wood
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (70) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (68) | Rotten (2)
Uproarious high spots — the best, perhaps, of their kind — render A Night at the Opera, starring Groucho, Harpo and Chico, a champion comedy in the year’s output. In some ways, it is the best comedy in which the three brothers have ever appeared.
November 20, 2020
Edwin Schallert
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Considering that the dialogue of A Night at the Opera was written by two such theatrical craftsmen as George Kaufman and Morris Rysklnd, it reaches a surprising nadir of inanity.
November 20, 2020
SMH Staff
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
A Night at the Opera is the most beautifully timed madness of 1935.
November 20, 2020
Colvin McPherson
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
TOP CRITIC
This is pantomime at its best, and the greatest clown of the three is Harpo.
November 20, 2020
Age Staff
The Age (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
Groucho follows his own formula of throwing out gags, good and bad. as fast as he can talk, letting the good ones float the bad ones, trusting that the average will favor him.
November 20, 2020
TIME Staff
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
A Night At the Opera is quite the funniest, the most ambitious and the most entertaining of any of the Marx cinema offerings.
November 20, 2020
Globe Staff
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
It’s impossible to determine which is the greater scene: the stateroom or the party of the first part.
October 2, 2021 | Rating: 4/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Their eccentric adventures from Milan to New York contain such notable scenes as that in Groucho’s cabin; the impersonation of the foreign aviators; the disruption of the opera orchestra; and the final, breathless sequences.
November 20, 2020
Josephine O’Neill
Daily Telegraph (Australia)
Groucho, Chico and Harpo continue to be collectively and individually three of the really first-rate comedians of today. Their only peers are Mr. Charles Chaplin and Mr. W. C. Fields.
November 20, 2020
Robert B. Phillips, Jr.
Washington Star
The scenes at the opera house during a performance offer not only good music but extremely laugh-provoking comedy, caused by the antics of the Marx Brothers.
November 20, 2020
P.S. Harrison
Harrison’s Reports
Clowning such as these players indulge in must be clever if it is not to become boring, and the fact that their idiosyncrasies, no matter how extravagant, never pall, is the best indication of the success they achieve.
November 20, 2020
NZ Herald Staff
New Zealand Herald
To attempt to criticize the Marxes is heresy and schism and we’ll have none of it.
November 20, 2020
Landon Laird
Kansas City Star…
Plot
The Marx Brothers take on high society. Two lovers who are both in opera are prevented from being together by the man’s lack of acceptance as an operatic tenor. Pulling several typical Marx Brothers’ stunts, they arrange for the normal tenor to be absent so that the young lover can get his chance.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The Marx Brothers are collectively and individually three of the really first-rate comedians of their time, according to one critic review.
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