Night at the Opera - A night to remember

Who can perhaps not know the famous Marx brothers - no, not as in Karl Marx and Frederich Engels, but Groucho, Chico and Harpo Marx, the famous brothers who had us in splits with their absolutely mad antics in the movies they acted in? The Night at the Opera was perhaps their greatest offering to world cinema, with a crazy plot and even crazier actors. Begining from the begining, they don't end at the end - anyone who has seen the 1935 movie will agree with me that they must have seen the eerie face of Groucho Marx in their dreams for days and nights to come. The impact of the movie is such that you are left breathless (yes, the gasping for air kind), just by severe stints at a hapless, stupid and utterly slapstick comedy.

The setting of the story is really simple (atleast that's how I'm sure the writers must have written it). Mr Otis B Driftwood (Groucho Marx) has been emplyed by typical rich American widow, Mrs Claypool (Margaret Dumont) to put her into high society. After years and years of only drawing a handsome salary ("that's nothing eh? How many men do you thing draw a handsome salary?" - Driftwood to Claypool), he practically hasn't done a thing he was hired for. Finally, he had got a brainwave - he wanted her to use her money and become a patron of the theatre - the New York Opera and thereby easily present herself into the higher strata of society. So they bring on the Director of the New York opera, Mr Herbert Gottlieb (Sig Ruman) and arrange the plans to get the greatest tenor in the country to sing for them. And who indeed is sent to hunt for this world famous tenor? Why, Mr Otis B Driftwood!

Meanwhile, at some other opera company, Tomasso (Harpo Marx) is having trouble with his owner, the 'greatest' tenor, Rodolfo Lassparri (Walter Woolf King) who is typically an arrogant and dominating bourgeouisie (that's the only link with Karl Marx in this article). Tomasso seeks revenge. Meanwhile Fierello (Chico Marx), fresh out a job (a con man basically) decides to himself appoint himself as a manager to a new tenor Ricardo (Allan Jones) and then he meets the perpetual fool Driftwood. He convinces him that Ricardo is the world's greatest tenor that he was looking for and they strike a deal for the world's best tenor at $ 10.

However, the goof up is soon spotted and the tenor replaced. But Driftwood has to put in Ricardo in the opera. What follows from there onwards cannot be described in this article, or for that matter any article, because words are the weakest symbols to desctibe it. A treat for the eyes (which blead in time), the Marx brothers leave no stone unturned in ruining the Opera. Like the famous saying goes, "its the Marx brothers against the rest of the world."

A laugh a minute saga ensues. And the point to be noted here, is that its just not a fiasco that errupts on the screen. The performances themselves speak volumes. Grucho, Chico and Harpo appear to be this way in their personal lives. They just "come, see and conquer" the stage. This movie is the powerhouse of slapstick.

I recommend this to anyone who can cry laughing. It's a must, must, must see movie. You haven't lived if you haven't been to the Night at the Opera.