Maureen O'Sullivan, on hiatus from playing Jane in the MGM Tarzan movies, came on board as the film's female lead.
In another attempt to re-create every possible A Night at the Operaa factor, Allan Jones was back as the male lead (and occasional straight man). The ever-popular "eternal dowager" Margaret Dumont was back for her fifth stint as Groucho's straight woman and foil.
He would sometimes sign his letters using that name and according to his son Arthur, he would even refer to himself as "Hackenbush" occasionally in real life. Hackenbush was his all-time favorite role. Quackenbush, a seemingly-safe sounding name, but it was soon discovered that over a dozen real doctors in America actually had that surname, and the threat of potential lawsuits demanded a switch. Groucho was originally set to play a horse doctor named Dr. After his passing, the production, writing, and general caring and interest level of Marx Brothers movies took a massive drop, never to return to the A Day at the Races high level again. Thalberg loved the Marx Brothers and being the head of MGM, he made sure they were protected and their films were kept at a grade A level. Groucho was later to claim he "lost all interest" in film-making after the death of Thalberg. Irving Thalberg, MGM's "boy genius," was the film's producer, but sadly, he died unexpectedly of pneumonia just two weeks into production. Final writing credits went to Robert Pirosh and George Seaton.Ī Night at the Opera director Sam Wood returned to the helm. But Boasberg demanded full credit as the film's screenwriter, a request MGM was not willing to grant, thus a furious Boasberg requested his name be erased from the film's credits altogether. Most of the A Day at the Races screenplay and gags were written by Al Boasberg, who was also a major contributor to A Night at the Opera. Before live crowds, jokes and gags were gauged and either kept or discarded. Trying to duplicate the successful formula of A Night at the Opera, before beginning filming, Groucho, Chico and Harpo took a live version of A Day at the Races on the road. It was also their second film post-Zeppo, the youngest Marx Brother, their wooden straight man, having retired as an actor after 1933's Duck Soup.
A Day at the Races was the follow-up to the boys' biggest and most popular film, their previous effort, 1935's A Night at the Opera.Ī Day at the Races was their second film for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was 1937 and the Marx Brothers were back with their seventh motion picture A Day at the Races. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook. Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen.
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