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A Day at the Races (film)

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A Day at the Races
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySam Wood
Written by
Screenplay by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJoseph Ruttenberg
Edited byFrank E. Hull
Music by
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • June 11, 1937 (1937-06-11)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$2,016,000[1]
Box office$2,305,000[1]
The film's trailer

A Day at the Races is a 1937 American comedy film, and the seventh film starring the Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo and Chico), with Allan Jones, Maureen O'Sullivan and Margaret Dumont. Like their previous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature A Night at the Opera, this film was a major hit.[2]

Plot

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The Standish Sanitarium, owned by Judy Standish, has fallen on hard times. Banker J.D. Morgan, who owns a nearby race track, hotel and nightclub, holds the mortgage on the sanitarium and is attempting to foreclose on it in order to convert the building into a casino. Tony, Judy's faithful employee, suggests asking financial help from the wealthy patient Mrs. Emily Upjohn, who is a hypochondriac, living at the sanitarium. After being pronounced healthy by the sanitarium's doctors, Mrs. Upjohn threatens to leave for treatment by Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush. Tony overhears her praise of Hackenbush, who is, unknown to anyone, a horse doctor. Tony gets an idea to invite Hackenbush to run the Sanitarium so Mrs. Upjohn will stay and help Judy financially. Tony contacts Hackenbush in Florida by telegram and when the Doctor arrives he immediately insults the Sanitarium's business manager Mr. Whitmore. Whitmore, being Morgan's stooge, is suspicious of Hackenbush's medical background.

Meanwhile, Judy's beau, singer Gil Stewart, who performs at Morgan's nightclub, has just spent his life savings on a racehorse named Hi-Hat. He hopes the horse, which he purchased from Morgan, will win a race and the money will allow Judy to save the Sanitarium. The two have a falling out over the horse, but reconcile when Gill admits that he has doubts about Hi-Hat winning. Gil has no money left over to pay for Hi-Hat's feed, and he, Tony and Stuffy, Hi-Hat's jockey, have to resort to trickery to fend off the Sheriff who has come to collect money for the feed bill. Tony raises some money by scamming Hackenbush in the "Tutsi Fruitsy Ice Cream" scene, selling him a tip on a horse in code—and the numerous books needed to decipher it.

With help from Tony and Stuffy, Hackenbush sabotages Whitmore's attempts to out him as a horse doctor, first by crank calling Whitmore until he's annoyed, then hiding a blonde floozy from Mrs. Upjohn, and finally disrupting an examination on Mrs. Upjohn by another doctor. The three, plus Gil and Judy hide out in Hi-Hat's stable that evening. Upset by the thought of losing the sanitarium, Gil tries to lift Judy's spirits with a song. Stuffy helps by leading a community of poor black people into the stable to dance. Morgan, Whitmore and the Sheriff arrive to arrest Hackenbush, with a written letter from the Florida Medical Board confirming that he's a horse doctor. Hi-Hat hears Morgan's voice and bolts, easily jumping over several obstacles in the way. Judy suggests to Gil that Hi-Hat is a jumper and Gil enters him into the upcoming steeplechase race.

On the day of the race, Hackenbush, Tony and Stuffy delay the start of the race until Gil sneaks in Hi-Hat behind Morgan's back. They all use Hi-Hat's fear of Morgan to their advantage, using Morgan's voice to scare him before the fence.[3][4][5] On the last lap, Hi-Hat and Morgan's horse wipe out; when they reach the finish line, it appears that Morgan's horse has won. Stuffy realizes that the mud-covered horses were switched after the accident, and Morgan's jockey was riding Hi-Hat in the finish, thus making Gil's horse the winner, and the sanitarium saved. Hackenbush tells the truth to Mrs. Upjohn and proposes to her, promising to "never look at any other horse".

Cast

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Production

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The Marx Brothers on the set with director Sam Wood

The film went through numerous outlines, treatments, drafts, revisions and a total of eighteen different scripts before arriving at its final version. A major portion of the final screenplay was written by Al Boasberg who also contributed to A Night at the Opera, but due to a disagreement with MGM, he chose not to be given any credit for his work. As they had with A Night at the Opera, the Brothers honed the comic material during a pre-production vaudeville tour.

Groucho's character was originally named "Quackenbush" but was changed to "Hackenbush" over threats of lawsuits by several real doctors actually named Quackenbush.[citation needed] In My Life with Groucho: A Son's Eye View, Arthur Marx relates that in his later years, Groucho increasingly referred to himself by the name Hackenbush.[8]

During production, Irving Thalberg, who had brought the Marx Brothers to MGM in 1934, died suddenly in September, 1936 of pneumonia at the age of 37. Thalberg's death left the Marxes without a champion at MGM, and the studio never gave the same level of care and attention to the team they had received under Thalberg. As a result, the Marx Brothers' three later MGM films are generally considered to be vastly inferior to the first two produced by Thalberg.[9]

The original release of A Day at the Races presented the water carnival sequence in light brown sepia and the ballet scene with a blue tint.[10]

Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California was used as a filming location for some of the racetrack scenes.[11]

Music

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The songs in the film, by Bronislaw Kaper, Walter Jurmann, and Gus Kahn, are "On Blue Venetian Waters", "Tomorrow Is Another Day", and "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" (featuring Ivie Anderson from Duke Ellington's orchestra). Two other songs were slated for the film, but ultimately cut. One, "Dr. Hackenbush", sung by Groucho about "what a great doctor he is" ("No matter what I treat them for they die from something else") was performed on the pre-filming tour, but was apparently never shot; Groucho later recorded the song separately. The other, "A Message From The Man In The Moon", sung by Allan Jones, was shot, but was cut at the last minute because the film was too long. The melody is heard during the opening titles, as some incidental music during the Water Carnival scene, and is "reprised" by Groucho during the final scene. The DVD release of the film includes a rediscovered audio recording for the film soundtrack of the song, performed by Allan Jones.

The film's Lindy Hop dance sequence is set to the tune of "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm", and featuring Whitey's Lindy Hoppers, including Willamae Ricker, Snookie Beasley, Ella Gibson, George Greenidge, Dot Miller, Johnny Innis, Norma Miller and Leon James.[12]

"Cosi-Cosa", a song sung by Allan Jones in A Night at the Opera, makes an instrumental cameo at the opening of the climactic racetrack scene. The tune would be heard again in the Marxes' final MGM film, The Big Store (1941).

Musical numbers

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Reception

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Colorized publicity shot featuring Harpo and Chico.

Contemporary reviews from critics continued to be positive for the Marx Brothers through their seventh film. John T. McManus of The New York Times called it "comparatively bad Marx," although still deserving of "a much better than passing grade" because "any Marx brothers motion picture is an improvement upon almost any other sustained screen slapstick."[13] Variety declared, "Surefire film fun and up to the usual parity of the madcap Marxes."[14] Harrison's Reports wrote, "Very good! The Marx Brothers are at their best and funniest here."[15] John Mosher of The New Yorker was also positive, writing that "Groucho, Harpo, and Chico are in full blast again," and the film "reaches a fever pitch even beyond earlier records."[16] The Chicago Tribune called it a "ridiculous farce, plummed with unique gags, laugh provoking situations, fast action ... The finale sends audiences away grinning and happy."[17]

Writing for Night and Day magazine of London, Graham Greene gave the film a generally good review, summarizing it as "easily the best film to be seen in London", but he criticized some elements of the film's portrayal. Greene observed that the film gave him "a nostalgia for the old cheap rickety sets" rather than the realistic sets, and although he praised Harpo's performance as "shin[ing] the brightest", he complained that the strong realism in O'Sullivan's acting set up a strong juxtaposition against the "silliness" of the Marx brothers' antics.[18]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

— Nominated[20]

According to MGM records, the film earned $1,602,000 domestically and $703,000 foreign, but because of its high cost recorded a loss of $543,000.[1]

Awards

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The dance sequence for "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" was nominated for the short-lived Academy Award for Best Dance Direction, only given from 1935 to 1937.[21]

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British rock band Queen named their 1976 studio album after the film. Their 1975 studio album was named after A Night at the Opera, the Marx Brothers' previous film. Groucho sent a handwritten note to the band, congratulating them on their excellent taste.[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. ^ Giddins, Gary (June 18, 2000). "There Ain't No Sanity Claus". The New York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
  3. ^ Tinee, Mae (July 3, 1937). "Marx Brothers Go Fast Pace in 'Day at Races'". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 9. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
  4. ^ Schallert, Edwin (June 17, 1937). "Marx Brothers Run Riot In "A Day At The Races"". Los Angeles Times. p. A15. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
  5. ^ "Full synopsis" at TCM.com
  6. ^ Bill Crow From Birdland to Broadway: Scenes from a Jazz Life, New York: Oxford University Press, 1992 [1993], p. 24
  7. ^ Nemerov, Alexander (2005). Icons of Grief: Val Lewton's Home Front Pictures. University of California Press. pp. 97–99. ISBN 978-0520241008.
  8. ^ Marx, Arthur (June 1991). My Life with Groucho: A Son's Eye View. Robson Book Ltd. ISBN 978-0-86051-494-7.
  9. ^ Thames, Stephanie. "The Big Store" on TCM.com
  10. ^ "A Day at the Races". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  11. ^ "A Day At The Races – 1937". movie-locations.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  12. ^ Manning, Frankie; Millman, Cynthia, Cynthia (2007). Frankie Manning: Ambassador of Lindy Hop. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press.
  13. ^ The New York Times Film Reviews, Volume 2: 1932-1938. The New York Times & Arno Press. 1970. p. 1402.
  14. ^ "Film Reviews". Variety. New York: Variety, Inc.: 12 June 23, 1937.
  15. ^ "A Day at the Races". Harrison's Reports. New York: Harrison's Reports, Inc.: 103 June 26, 1937.
  16. ^ Mosher, John (June 19, 1937). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker. New York: F-R Publishing Corp. p. 79.
  17. ^ "Marx Brothers Go Fast Pace in 'Day at the Races'". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago: Chicago Daily Tribune: 9. July 3, 1937.
  18. ^ Greene, Graham (12 August 1937). "A Day at the Races/King Solomon's Mines". Night and Day.
    Reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. Oxford University Press. pp. 160–161. ISBN 0192812866.
  19. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs" (PDF). American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  20. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-08.
  21. ^ A Day at the Races - Awards at IMDb
  22. ^ A Day At The Races’: How Queen Scored Pole Position at discovermusic

Further reading

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  • Buxbaum, Elisabeth (2006). Veronika, der Lenz ist da. Walter Jurmann – Ein Musiker zwischen den Welten und Zeiten. Mit einem Werkverzeichnis von Alexander Sieghardt. Vienna: Edition Steinbauer., ISBN 3-902494-18-2.
  • Green, Stanley (1999). Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.). Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 0-634-00765-3. p. 70.
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