Production

thumb|275px|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. 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.

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.

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

Music

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.

"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

  • "On Blue Venetian Waters"
  • "Tomorrow Is Another Day"
  • "Gabriel (Who Dat Man)"
  • "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm"
  • "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen"
  • "A Message from the Man in the Moon"

Reception

thumb|268px|Colorized publicity shot featuring [[Harpo Marx|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." Variety declared, "Surefire film fun and up to the usual parity of the madcap Marxes." Harrison's Reports wrote, "Very good! The Marx Brothers are at their best and funniest here." 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." 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."

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.

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

  • 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #59
  • 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
  • Flo Marlowe: "Oh, hold me closer! Closer! Closer!"
  • Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush: "If I hold you any closer, I'll be in back of you."

:: — Nominated

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.

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.

See also

  • List of films about horses
  • List of films about horse racing

References

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Further reading

  • 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., .
  • Green, Stanley (1999). Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.). Hal Leonard Corporation. . p.&nbsp;70.
  • Full description of A Day at the Races from Filmsite.org
  • Scenes and moments from A Day at the Races on Filmsite.org
  • The Marx Brothers Council Podcast episode discussing A Day at the Races