The story follows Jack Gurney, played by O’Toole, who inherits the estate of his father after a bizarre death, who was also a member of the British House of Lords. When he returns home, the Gurneys are shocked to find that he is adamant in the belief that he is the second coming of Jesus Christ, and wishes to return the world to love and charity. Unfitting of a member of the aristocracy, Jack’s family plot to take the estate from him in any way they can.

As water is wet and as the sun is hot, Peter O’Toole delivers an Oscar worthy performance (though he would lose that year to Marlon Brando for his role in The Godfather). For the first half of the film he plays a seventies infused Christlike man with grace and humorous absurdity. He was good at being dainty, flighty and scatterbrained with a dash of unsettling innocence.

After the pivot point of the movie, about halfway through when the family goes to their most extreme measure to cure Jack of his paranoid schizophrenia, O’Toole’s performance is no longer just unsettling, it becomes frightening. His actions and words in the last half of the film sit in the pit of my stomach like a rock, and it’s truly uncomfortable as much as it is unforgettable, especially in one scene that is used in so many O’Toole montages, and for good reason. All I’ll say is that it involves a scream.

The rest of the cast performs well and don’t detract from the film, in any way. Each character is particularly slimy in their own way, especially Jack’s family members played by William Mervyn, Coral Browne and James Villiers.

With a run time of two and a half hours, The Ruling Class is almost twice as long as the average comedy and it hits harder. It’s an indictment of pretty much every institution one could shake a stick at from religion to government to the aristocracy. The Ruling Class pulls no punches. It is mean spirited and relentless in the rejection of establishment.

The humor, which is sometimes important in a comedy, is more often than not a slow burn in The Ruling Class. There are a few moments that are genuinely funny, and they’re all in the first half with Jack’s hi-jinks as Jesus Christ. Much of the comedy also stems from the crafty dialogue scattered throughout.

The Ruling Class does not feature many gut busting laughs nor does it feature a great deal of musical numbers (in fact there are only a handful) for a musical comedy. As a genre movie it is a black sheep, a beast of its own, in a league of its own.

Another facet of this film which is truly standout, is its imagery. The costume and makeup artistry on O’Toole in the first half of the movie gives him a striking resemblance to most Caucasian depictions of Christ. The shock therapy scene also features tremendous direction and visuals energizing it full of suspense and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. Lastly, the ultimate scene of the film has a blunt yet effective visual to represent a certain set of the British establishment, and it resonates.

The Ruling Class deserves a spot in the pantheon of black comedy alongside Dr. Strangelove and Kind Hearts and Coronets (a film that I look forward to exploring later on). It is darkly humorous, sometimes shocking, often times uncomfortable, and altogether unforgettable.

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The story follows the successful son of Henry Frankenstein, Baron Wolf von Frankenstein and his family as they move in to a town suspicious of his family name. Although he is eager for a fresh start, Wolf can’t help but be enthralled by his father’s papers and laboratory from his life changing experiment with the Monster.

Meanwhile a misanthropic old shepherd and grave robber named Ygor knows the secrets of the Monster, and plans to use Wolf to restore the Monster back to life and take revenge on the local town for hanging him.

The technical level of the film may not be mind blowing or game changing, but it retains the impressive makeup artistry of the previous films and the Monster looks as impressively inhuman and frightening as ever. The sets are grand and stylish from the massive castle to the creepy cramped caves around the laboratory.

The score is big and booming like most horror films of the day and serves as a superb exclamation point to each rise in tension.

Son of Frankenstein features an all-star front three of Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff, three legends of an elder age of horror and mystery cinema.

Rathbone is suave and charismatic as Wolf, although while the story continues and he starts to crack, his performance also cracks and gets awkward in an inorganic way.

Lugosi, on the other hand, rocks his role as Ygor from start to finish. Dracula himself joins the film as another sinister character of a spiteful old man with the power of a monster at his whim. He plays the role of the crackpot old coot perfectly with a touch of menace in the right places.

Last but certainly not least, Boris Karloff returns in his signature role as the Monster. All the way down to his frightening growls and uncanny movements, Karloff embodies the terrifying image of Frankenstein’s Monster once again.

Now in the context of the present day, it’s worth discussing that there are two ways to watch this movie. The first way is to watch it for the movie itself and have a silver age scare; the second way is to examine the movie to see what Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein lifted from and parodied.

There’s a number of scenes and elements in Son of Frankenstein ripped off in Brooks’ love letter to the classic series: the inspector with the wooden arm, the use of music to control the Monster, just to name a few.

So in a way Son of Frankenstein serves not only as a continuation of the Frankenstein series, film royalty, but as setting the stage for one of the most brilliantly executed parodies of film ever made.

While it’s not a trend setter like the original or as recognizable as Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein holds it own and with creations like Young Frankenstein, proves that it still has a satisfying amount to offer among the higher classics.

For more Basil Rathbone, check out The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Adventures of Robin Hood.

For more Bela Lugosi, watch another horror classic Dracula. 

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The story follows an unnamed protagonist (listed as “Nada” in the credits) played by Roddy Piper, a famous WWF pro wrestler. Piper plays a drifter moving to Los Angeles from Colorado, looking for a new job. He joins a construction crew where he befriends another down on his luck man named Frank, played by Keith David. Frank takes Nada to stay at a homeless camp for some food and some rest. At the camp, Nada sees that something strange is going on with a neighboring church and a faint transmission on the camp’s television.

The transmission warns that humanity has been taken over and enslaved, lulled into complacency by hypnotic radio signals, and that rising up against their recently discovered masters is imperative. Nada investigates the church to find it’s a hideout for freedom fighters against this enemy, working on means of striking back.

After he discovers the true purpose of the church, the camp is raided by the police, and everyone is scattered, leaving behind only hidden boxes of sunglasses. Nada tries the sunglasses on, and through the lenses he sees an alien race in disguise among humans and the hidden messages they spread through advertisements and magazines and the like.

From then on, the film becomes a fun, exciting action-packed romp. The gunfights are entertaining, every punch and kick has weight to it, and all the action is kicked off by one of the best lines in movie history. 

Roddy Piper is so entertaining as Nada. At first he plays it quiet and soft like a gentle giant, but when the plot picks up he hits the ground running, turning into the epitome of the 80s-90s pulpy action hero. He has the grit and intensity punctuated by schlock-filled one liners and moments of human heart and charm.

His costar Keith David does an excellent job as a hardworking down on his luck every-man. His reactions to the absurdity of their situation are really grounded and relatable. He’s really the heart and soul of the movie. Some of his actions may be frustrating to the audience because the plot stalls, but it’s all part of an earned character development that pays off so well the audience is rooting for him again.

These moments are not only a testament to Piper’s and David’s talent, but to Carpenter’s writing and direction as well. Carpenter put a human heart in his macho juggernaut and this really helps the movie thrive. He puts Nada and Frank through the wildest of situations and really makes the audience care about their well being.

It’s a punk rock opera with a lot of heart. The story is blatantly anti-establishment, anti-bourgeois consumer culture and places the responsibility for these societal ills on the shoulders of humanity. Sure, the aliens are the masterminds behind the humans’ captivity but they do it with the help of willing participants.

Underneath the shining paint of a fun action movie, Carpenter does instill a moral story of solidarity, particularly in the lower levels of society to work for what really matters. To stand up together, even in defying authority, to survive and thrive. Maybe consumer culture isn’t the right direction for humankind to truly thrive.

Elements like strong character and a provocative story make for a really memorable action movie, putting it head and shoulders above the other action films of its time. They Live is a hallmark of 80s action, and is a full on classic. 

For more John Carpenter, check out The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, and of course Halloween.

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Fantasia is not like the average animated film, let alone Disney film. Its structure is made up of a series of 10+ minute segments punctuated by introductions to their follow up segments. There is no overarching story to Fantasia, as the segments are mostly linked together by theme.

Fantasia is not for everyone. Well, at least not all of it at once. To watch it all requires a patient audience who is either open minded, or is totally fine with sitting through a 2 hour orchestral performance with visual accompaniment. But that is not to say it is too mature for its own good. It has moments of excitement and charm to reward the audience for sticking along (the scene wherein Mickey Mouse talks to renowned orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowsky is a perfect example of that classic Disney charm).

Visually speaking, Fantasia is totally diverse. It features picturesque vistas of nature, adorable ponies and pegasuses with big eyes, majestic and detailed imaginations of the ancient dinosaurs, menacing conjurings of the devil and his demons, ostriches and hippos in ballet costume, and of course, Mickey Mouse and an army of living broomsticks.

While there aren’t really dips in quality of the movie as it’s remarkably consistent throughout, I did come from the movie with some favorite segments.

The first favorite is obviously the one everyone knows and loves, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, based on the German poem of the same name. The story centers around a mighty old wizard and his apprentice, characterized as Mickey Mouse. Fed up with carrying buckets of water to a cauldron, the Apprentice steals the wizard’s hat and casts a spell on a broomstick to do the job for him. But things quickly get out of hand when the Apprentice realizes he can’t get the broom to stop.

The visuals in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice are quaint and charming as well as grand and fantastical. From one moment the audience is treated to seeing Mickey and the broom dance around in a cute way, and the next they see the luminous stars in the sky clash together in fireworks.

It’s a fairly accessible segment. It has a good message of the importance of patience, it’s nice and concise, and everyone loves Mickey Mouse.

My other favorite is the final segment, Night on Bald Mountain, centering around the Devil and his minions celebrating their special night. It’s an incredible animated short through and through in just about every way.

The visuals are on another level. The Devil is huge and imposing and really worthy of the name. He creates his minions from fire in his hands and casts shadows over the neighboring town to summon even more of his creatures. All sorts of crazy things appear on screen when the ball gets rolling with skeletons, pig men, bats, and harpies swirling around to a swelling score that gets more and more intense. And at the end is the sweet release from all the tension and excitement that makes a really beautiful ending to both the short and the entire movie.

Fantasia is truly one of a kind, one of the best animated films ever made. It’s elegant, thoughtful, and an evening watching it would not be an evening wasted.

As for supplementary content… it’s Disney. There’s so much to choose from over generations of movies. But to get an experience closer to Fantasia, it would be best to start with films released around the same time.

Start from the very beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves…

Try Pinocchio, which came out from the same year as Fantasia…

Or Dumbo, which has its own fair share of unique visuals

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We begin with a man named Francois (played by Vincent Price), who receives a phone call from his sister-in-law Helene (played by Patricia Owens), claiming that she killed her husband Andre (played by David Hedison) with a hydraulic press. A confused and distraught Francois gets the police involved whom confine the bizarrely behaving Helene to bed. When she becomes hysterical over a simple house fly, Francois and the police inspector start to question her further, and she tells her full side of the story, and the mystery behind Andre’s death unravels.

The Fly boasts superb performances out of its leads, particularly from Hedison and Owens. Hedison is bold and charismatic as Andre, giving the character life from his flights of fancy to his deep love for his wife and child. His wide eyed idealism and his warm presence around his family makes his descent into his experiments sting more and fill the audience with dread. Owens plays the role of the bedeviled housewife witnessing the birth of the terrifying Fly monster. She plays the emotions of complacent, hysterical, and grieving all very well and certainly does not bring down Hedison and Price. Speaking of Price, this time the horror icon plays a more straight and narrow man who cares deeply for his family. His shock and grief is believable and potent, and he once again delivers a memorable performance.

Where the movie does falter in a few areas is in its script. There are times where the lines are not concise enough to be really believable and feel awkward and take away from the film. For example, at the end of the film the police inspector says “I will not forget what I saw for the rest of my life.” Lines like that would be an easy fix by just trimming a couple of words and restructuring the sentence. On the surface it’s a nitpick but the uncanny valley of human dialogue requires that kind of specific attention to detail to work properly and keep the viewer engrossed.

At the present, The Fly functions best as a tragic science fiction drama rather than horror. While the concept of this feature’s creature is certainly grotesque and even chilling, it has been remade and lampooned left and right that it unfortunately loses its punch, with the exception of one truly unnerving scene at the very end. However, The Fly is more than serviceable for what it was in its time.

Interestingly it shares a key concept in common with The Day the Earth Stood Still, that of bewaring dangerous technology, a legitimate fear of the Cold War years. It’s a remarkably unorthodox cautionary tale against science going too far without being too on the nose like The Day The Earth Stood Still was. In fact, I would say it was among the fleet of films to cleverly modernize the “creature feature” to the frightening nuclear age like Godzilla did four years prior (without the deep societal subtext that Godzilla had beyond the arms race). The film is unforgettable, and frankly deserves its spot in the creature feature hall of fame.

And now, some supplementary content.

For more Vincent Price, check out House of Wax and House on Haunted Hill.

For more David Hedison, check out Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Live and Let Die.

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The film follows Peter Sellers as Chance, an older man with a childlike mind and affinity for gardening and watching television on an wholly bizarre journey. Chance worked most of his life as a gardener and tenant in a rich man’s manor, and is put out on the street when the rich man dies and lawyers close down the house, leaving him to wander around Washington D.C. aimlessly. Chance is given purpose once more when he’s taken in by another dying, wealthy and powerful man named Ben Rand after Chance is struck by one of Rand’s cars.

Rand and his wife Eve take a liking to Chance and his simplicity, mistaking it for some deeper level of thought, even to the point of Rand taking Chance to meet the President of the United States, who is also taken in by his simple words of gardening and gives them deeper political meaning. As a result, the political class in Washington starts tripping over themselves trying to figure out what kind of motives Chance has and who he really is. And they all fail to understand that Chance is as simple as his words.

Being There is an incredibly tight satire, clearly mocking the Washington environment of intrigue from the politicians to the press. Everything and everyone in politics have some kind of motive to the point where no one understands it when the come across a man with no real motive at all. Another impressive facet of the movie is how Chance’s mentally handicapped mind is not the punchline of every joke, as the punchline is instead every other person’s reaction to him.

But overall, Being There is a movie about listening and dissonance. No one seems to listen to Chance in the film, save for a couple of characters at the beginning and end, and that is the core of each of their interactions with him. The other characters seem to only listen for what they want out of Chance, and so they miss what he’s really about. For example, Rand wants an intellectual confidant to ease his nerves as he comes closer to his deathbed, and so he places his own meanings in the interactions between him and Chance to get what he wants.

The writing of Being There is so fascinating with so much to unpack, but it’s time to look at the biggest marvel of the film: Peter Sellers as Chance. The supporting cast turn in good performances as well, like Shirley MacLaine as the fragile bourgeois socialite Eve and Melvyn Douglas as the brash Ben Rand, but Sellers’ performance is truly something special.

Sellers has a remarkable talent of becoming the characters he portrays, each one so different from the others. His performance as Chance is no exception, a far cry from his characters in The Pink Panther and Dr. Strangelove, his two other most popular roles. Every expression, mannerism and simple sentence strung together feel so believable. His attention to detail is incredible as the audience can see him struggle to put his thoughts into words and how he curiously looks at his surroundings without stealing the attention from the other actors in a scene.

While not entirely accessible due to its quiet nature and slow pace, Being There rewards the patient viewer with excellent writing and one of the best performances by a comedic actor they’ll ever see.

Some supplementary content:

For more Peter Sellers, check out The Pink Panther and Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

For more Shirley MacLaine, watch The Apartment and Terms of Endearment.

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The story begins with an aging politician named Ransom Stoddard (played by Stewart) returning to the tamed western town of Shinbone to attend the funeral of an old friend of his, a man named Tom Doniphon (played by John Wayne). After some prodding from the local newspapers, Stoddard tells the tale of his relationship with Doniphon and Shinbone, and how he came to be a politician, the tale of how he became a local legend by killing the vicious outlaw Liberty Valance (played by Lee Marvin).

Many years prior, Stoddard was on his way to Shinbone as an attorney until he was robbed and left for dead by Valance and his gang. Stoddard was recovered and taken to Shinbone by Doniphon, and was nursed back to health by a local Swedish family. After Stoddard gets back on his feet, he resolves to help rid the town of Valance and his gang but by law and not by gun. He also resolves to act as a teacher of reading and writing, much to the chagrin of Doniphon.

James Stewart is an absolute powerhouse in this film. The way he pulls off boiling frustration and anger is just perfect. He’s borderline frightening when he loses his patience and composure. He puts everything into the emotions as a put-upon attorney pushed to his very limit to go against his moral code. He shakes when he shouts and clenches his fists and when poised and dignified he has complete control over the stillness of his body. Stewart is mostly known for his humble idealist characters and his unmistakable voice, but what’s glossed over is how physical of an actor he is, and how that might be his strongest tool. It’s certainly his strongest tool here. (He punches John Wayne and makes it believable, which sounds insane on paper!)

Once again John Ford gets an excellent performance out of John Wayne after collaborating in the The Quiet Man and the western classic called The Searchers. Wayne plays the part of the hardened cynic, wary of the ways of the wild west. He values the gun over the word when it comes down to business. Underneath the hardened exterior is a great level of care for the town of Shinbone and everyone in it, including Stoddard. This brings excellent nuance to Wayne’s role as a grumpy mentor figure and is a great foil to Stewart’s idealism.

Lee Marvin is as imposing and terrifying as Liberty Valance. While he doesn’t get as much screen time as Stewart or Wayne, he makes the most out of every onscreen appearance. He is everything you fear in a criminal: arrogant, sinister, a total psychopath. All characteristics that are illustrated by how he laughs when he’s in control and by his bouts of violent anger when things don’t go his way. And even when he is not onscreen he’s still imposing just by how the people of Shinbone speak of him with fear in their voices.

The supporting cast is excellent as well from the bold love interest Hallie (played by Vera Miles), to the goof of a marshal (played by Andy Devine) to an especially entertaining performance out of the local newspaperman/town drunk Dutton Peabody (played by Edmond O’Brien). The town of Shinbone feels so alive with these colorful characters, and their interactions are so believable and fulfilling.

(The Quiet Man is another prime example of how John Ford makes a community within a film feel alive, and that’s perhaps my favorite aspect of his work)

While the skeleton of the story is one we’ve seen in so many Westerns, “save the town from the outlaws,” it’s in the way The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance approaches the solution to that ordeal, as well as the strength of the characters and the actors that make this film an unforgettable classic from beginning to end.

And some supplementary content:

For more James Stewart, check out It’s a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

For more John Ford movies starring John Wayne, check out The Searchers and The Quiet Man.

For more Lee Marvin, watch The Dirty Dozen and a television program called M Squad.

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The story is fairly basic and gets rolling right when the opening credits end, which is a blessing compared to movies that meander to introduce themselves before getting their plots going. A flying saucer UFO has landed in Washington D.C. and the United States scrambles to figure out what to do about it as the military secures the landing site. That is until the alien inside it emerges, a human looking alien named Klaatu. And when they take Klaatu in for questioning, a fearsome robot emerges from the ship and demonstrates its power by melting all weapons of the surrounding soldiers.

Klaatu escapes and wanders around Washington until he befriends a single mother named Helen and her boy named Bobby. From there Klaatu must figure out how to broadcast his warning message to the world for the safety of both mankind and the universe surrounding them.

The film is simple and easy to follow, at the expense of thematic depth. But that is not to say it’s paper thin. The Day the Earth Stood Still is very much a Cold War film. It’s a preacher on the pulpit condemning the tensions between the United States and Soviet Union and the chaos their long feud created. In 2017 a message like that is practically taken for granted but for the time period is very poignant.

While thematically the film has at least some depth, the same cannot be said for the characters. There is only one real character arc, and that’s Helen’s. Klaatu remains the same stoical wise man from space through the whole movie, the government authority figures are the same through most of the film until the very end with the final speech, and the movie just drops Bobby halfway through the film and his character goes nowhere.

On the bright side, the acting in this film is not nearly as jarring as schlocky early sci-fi films can get. Michael Rennie is charming and charismatic as Klaatu, Patricia Neal is a believable woman of the 50’s, and Billy Gray is more than a little cheesy as the stereotypical 50’s boy though he did not really detract from the scenes he was in.

And because this is low hanging fruit, the visual effects are worth mentioning last. The flying saucer UFO looks like a pie tin with a dent in the bottom. The robot is obviously a man in a helmet and spray painted silver suit. By today’s standards these visuals are not only bad, they’re nearly laughable. But in 1951, these visuals were state of the art. In fact, it’s the first film to feature a flying saucer and fantasized robot. In context of the time period the effects are nothing short of commendable. And today they aren’t even awkward or annoying, but rather charming and almost quirky.

So yes, The Day the Earth Stood Still is more than a little dated. While the message is good and delivered well, it’s a message you’ve heard before in more ways than you could shake a stick at. But for science fiction fans and film buffs, there is more than a little value to be had by giving it at least one viewing. For everyone else, it’s probably best viewed as clips on YouTube to have a chuckle at the outdated visual effects.

For more classic science fiction, check out War of the Worlds and Forbidden Planet

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Walter Matthau plays Willy Clark, a brash, disagreeable, loud, and scatterbrained old man struggling to keep his acting career going with the help of his put-upon agent and nephew Ben (played by Richard Benjamin). The stubborn Willy refuses to believe it’s time to retire, and when his old partner comes back into his life, he insists above any and all rational reason to be hostile towards him over bad blood.

Matthau delivers a remarkably entertaining and surprisingly nuanced performance as the misanthropic Willy. He puts his whole voice and body into his character’s screaming rants, and he reserves himself in his more quiet, nostalgic moments to where it’s like he’s playing two different characters. He is the embodiment of the rambunctious grandfather that wears you out but still stays endearing at the end of the day when everyone is cooled off.

Alongside Matthau is George Burns as Al Lewis, the almost polar opposite of Willy Clark. Al is slow, quiet, and soft spoken with his gravelly voice. Instead of fighting for his acting career, he enjoys his retirement with his daughter’s family in a New Jersey suburb while his partner still resides in the hustle and bustle of New York City. While he wants peace with his old partner, his patience for Willy’s irrational behavior only goes so far. And his impatience is potent, especially when Willy keeps pushing him.

The interactions between Burns and Matthau are the lifeblood of the film. They have such excellent chemistry from their yelling spats to their calm, civil moments of catching up after so much lost time. Underneath Willy’s righteous indignant anger and underneath Al’s annoyance and frustration is a deep respect for one another. They show the multiple dimensions of their relationship very well, a credit to both their acting and the screenplay they’re given.

The screenplay was written by writer Neil Simon, who wrote The Odd Couple, both the movie and television show in the late sixties and early seventies. Simon just gets the interactions and nature of the relationships between grumpy old men with heavily conflicting personalities and just dealing with each other.

And that’s really the heart and soul of this screenplay, the importance of working together in the absence of pride and how a friendship or partnership can exist between two people in spite of their flaws. It’s an age old lesson presented in a rather unique and simple way.

Speaking of simple, this movie is unlike the other movies I’ve reviewed for this column. Neil Simon also wrote The Sunshine Boys as a stage play, and that fact is evident in the film. The way the film is blocked and the way the sets are presented gives the film the simple intimacy of a stage play put to film. There is no real spectacle in this film, and it doesn’t really need it either. The performances of Matthau and Burns are certainly worth the price of admission.

And now some supplementary content.

For more Walter Matthau, check out Grumpy Old Men and The Odd Couple.

For more George Burns, check out The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.

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The story follows the mischievous Marx Brothers as they turn the New York Opera company upside down to stick it to the snobbish management keeping their friend Ricardo from starring alongside his lovely girlfriend, Rosa, in her New York opera debut.

Madcap comedy rules each and every second of this underdog story from the beginning where the audience gets a classic Groucho flirting with Margaret Dumont scene, to the famous “state room” scene on the cruise to New York, to, of course, the climax in the opera house. It’s a wonderful showcase of each of the Brothers’ comedic strengths: Groucho and his sly and sharp lines, and the slapstick hi-jinks of Chico and Harpo.

The brothers are as funny as ever, befitting of movies where the main attraction is seeing what they’ll do next onscreen. A Night at the Opera has a fine blend of humor and heart. Sure, they have their signature moments of comedy like Groucho’s wise anchor routine with his quips and liners, and Chico and Harpo’s slapstick antics punctuated by Chico’s humorously overdone Italian accent and Harpo letting his hilariously expressive face do the talking. But that doesn’t mean the movie is short of sweet moments as well, like Groucho delivering a love letter to a homesick lady and Chico and Harpo putting on a show for the lower class passengers of a cruise liner.

In addition, the music is nothing to sneeze at as well. The audience is treated to the big orchestral swells to the sweet singing from the lovebirds Ricardo and Rosa, and on top of that are treated to the always entertaining piano playing by Chico and harp strumming by Harpo.

A Night at the Opera is not a film that is very ground breaking, mind blowing or even all that thoughtful, minus the sweeter scenes. But it does deliver a very entertaining experience and is a very fine way to spend an hour and a half.

If you want to see more classic Marx Brothers comedy, check out A Day at the Races, Duck Soup, and Horse Feathers.

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