Such a frustrating disappointment

It is a performances centric movie

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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.

Wise-cracking con-man Groucho Marx (as Otis B. Driftwood) wants matronly Margaret Dumont (as Mrs. Claypool) to invest a fortune in the opera. Already involved in musical theater are Italian manager Chico Marx (as Fiorello) and mute dresser Harpo Marx (as Tomasso). They team up to represent handsome opera singer Allan Jones (as Riccardo Baroni). As usual, the plot is secondary to the Marx Brothers' antics. In this case, the story compliments the comedy team very well. Moving to upscale MGM, the brothers and producer Irving Thalberg wisely hired Marx regulars George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind to sweeten, then write the screenplay. They were the gold standard Marx Brothers writers and this film contains some of the team's most memorable scenes and routines..."A Night at the Opera" begins a more polished, less crazed, Marx era. More dependent on wit and one-liners, Groucho's shtick made the transition better than his brothers. Still, everything essential to the formula is preserved, including unfairly criticized non-comic brother Zeppo, who left the group after their previous "Duck Soup". Zeppo's shoes are nicely filled by Mr. Jones. Likewise maligned, the musical interludes serve to break up the comedy and pace the skits in a feature film. It's great to see "To Tell the Truth" game panelist Kitty Carlisle as the young ingénue. Walter Woolf King is a splendid villain. Regulars Sig Ruman and Ms. Dumont round out perfect support. In this case, listening to opera music with the Marx Brothers is the most fun you're ever going to have at the opera.********** A Night at the Opera (11/8/35) Sam Wood ~ Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Allan Jones

Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho Marx) is the business manager for wealthy Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont) investing $200k with Herman Gottlieb (Sig Ruman) of the New York Opera Company. Chorus man Ricardo Baroni (Alan Jones) is love with Rosa Castaldi (Kitty Carlisle) who is pursued by the arrogant Rodolfo Lassparri (Walter Woolf King). Ricardo's illiterate friend Fiorello (Chico Marx) takes on the task of managing him. Tomasso (Harpo Marx) is Lassparri's abused silent whistling dresser. Gottlieb hires the great tenor Lassparri for $1000 a night. The opera company is traveling to NYC on a ship. Ricardo, Tomasso and Fiorello sneak on board as stowaways.I'm not a fan of the song and dance routines. It doesn't help that I really dislike opera. It stops the movie for me every time. Chico playing the piano for the kids is kinda cute and Harpo too. However there is nothing like Groucho's rapid fire jokes and Harpo's silent charm. I love their slapstick and they don't get better than the crowded room scene. This is a comedy classic.

A Night At The Opera inspires memories of Kitty Carlisle and Alan Jones as 2 charismatic young lovers. Their, uh, operatic romance was a highlight of 1930s cinema, overshadowing everything else in this picture. Oh, but the movie was missing a key ingredient. The hilarious Zeppo Marx had retired from acting after his one-of-a-kind work in Duck Soup. A pity.Okay, reverse everything in that first paragraph and you'll have the truth. Nobody cares about Carlisle or Jones, probably not even Carlisle or Jones. As for Zeppo, the day he gave up his career as a thespian, the film world's yawn was very loudly indifferent. No, this picture is all about the zaniness of the non-Zeppo Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico and Harpo). The former vaudevillians overshadowed everyone else who ever appeared in their films. Groucho's oft-naughty wordplay and Harpo's silent antics are legendary. Chico never got enough credit for playing off his 2 brothers as well as he did.You can't talk about A Night At The Opera for even 2 minutes without bringing up the infamous stateroom sequence. The 3 Marxes, various workmen, maids and other hangers-on, all crowd into one small room on an ocean liner. Why they're all in there and how the situation resolves itself won't be revealed here. It's funny and it's been imitated by dozens of movies and TV shows in the years since A Night At The Opera came out. You probably recognize it even if you haven't seen this movie.Was that scene and the Marx Brothers typical insanity enough to make this movie worthy of being on the American Film Institute's Top 100 list in 2007? It's a dubious choice, especially if your feeling is that a little of Groucho goes a long way. The piano/harp scene by Chico and Harpo is a great one, but it stops the, uh, story cold. So, no, A Night At The Opera is not one of the greatest movies ever made, but it's not without its charm...and it has Carlisle and Jones! Remember them? Oh. Right. No one does.If you got anything at all out of this quickie review, check out the website I share with my wife (www.top100project.com) and go to the "Podcasts" section for our 18-minute Night At The Opera 'cast...and many others. Or find us on Itunes under "The Top 100 Project".