maninahat
Since: Apr, 2009
12/22/2023 00:00:00
There's a couple where Groucho isn't in the driving seat. The first I watched was their last movie, Love Happy, which was basically a Harpo picture. In Races, Groucho is still in the position of authority, even if he's not leading the show.
As to the blackface, it's a bitter pill but it goes down a little better knowing that the rest of the movie is clearly sympathetic to black people, giving them an extended musical bit and keeping them on equal footing with the Marx brothers and white heroes, which I wouldn't expect for a 1937 movie.
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Another entertaining Marx movie with a twist
Marx Brothers aficionados may argue endlessly over whether Duck Soup or A Night at the Opera is their best picture, but A Day At The Races is no slouch in their filmography. While the Rapid-Fire Comedy may be a tad slower than usual here, it's still a solidly enjoyable romp that follows the comfortably familiar Marx movie formula.
Against that familiarity, what made A Day At The Races interesting to me is how it plays against that formula. While other Marx Brothers movies feature Groucho as the Wonka-style Captain of Chaos, effortlessly dancing on top of a nonstop ball of zaniness, this is the first film where he's not the man in control. Instead, Races gives Chico a rare opportunity to steer the story, as he's the one who does the most to save Miss Judy's sanitarium and foil the antagonists' schemes. All of the Marxes ultimately get their moments of proactivity, but the initial change in focus is an interesting twist for longtime fans of the Brothers.
As for the rest of the movie, it still holds up well even after all these years. The Minstrel Show sequence with Whitey's Lindy Hoppers is a Moment of Awesome for the film, simply due to the sheer energy and zest of the scene. I also think the pearl-clutching over the Blackface sequence is overdone — it's a quick bit that's barely more than a minute long, and it's obviously meant to be a simple "hide in the crowd" gag that isn't out to denigrade anyone. Fewer excuses can be made for the water ballet scene, which quickly overstays its welcome and feels like a contractually obligated spectacle than anything else.
A Day At The Races might not be the best Marx Brothers movie ever, but it's certainly worthy to stand beside them.