听 User Rating 
"A Night at the Opera" is generally regarded as the last great instalment in the Marx Brothers' film series before the studio suits at MGM diluted their anarchic comedy with overdoses of sappy sentiment and romantic interludes.
It follows Groucho, Chico and Harpo as they battle arrogant opera tenor Lassparri (Walter King) in an attempt to help their friend Ricardo (Jones) take centre stage and win the heart of Rosa (Carlisle).
Ignore the boring romance and enjoy the rib-tickling delights of the Brothers' surreal anarchy as Groucho and Chico discuss contract negotiations ("That's what they call a Sanity Clause"; "You don't fool me, there is no Santa Claus!"), an ocean liner's tiny stateroom gets overpopulated, and bandy-legged Groucho woos the towering form of Margaret Dumont with a classic selection of choice insults ("I saw Mrs Claypool first. Of course, her mother really saw her first, but there's no point in bringing the Civil War into this").
Fortunately not even the painfully sickening romance between Jones and Carlisle (including a quayside to ocean liner duet) can detract from the effortless majesty of the Marx Brothers' comic antics. The delirious climax sees the threesome wreck a performance of Verdi's "Il Trovatore" in a completely irreverent assault on high culture by their inimitable blend of disreputable shenanigans.
It's easy to see why "A Night at the Opera" remained Groucho's favourite film. It may not be as much of a masterpiece as their earlier films "Horse Feathers" or "Duck Soup", but it's guaranteed to have you giggling from one end of the musical scale to the other.
The most brilliant comedy in the history of the Marx Brothers -- and ergo in film as a whole.
