PRESS RELEASE
‘We really need a second
|
The Marx Brothers
A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races,
Room Service, At the Circus,
Go West, The Big Store
A Night in
Seven Comedy Classics Debut as Deluxe Five DVD Gift Set on May 4 from
Collection DVDs Include New Documentaries, Commentaries, Vintage
Shorts, Cartoons and Audio Treasures
The Marx Brothers -- Groucho, the bushy-browed, cigar-smoking wisecracker with the funny mustache and walk; Harpo, the loveable mute with the curly blonde hair, top hat, raincoat and horn; and Chico, the rakish con artist with the Italian accent -- were madcap comedians of the first order who paved the way for generations of comedians and made the world safe for puns. They started off in vaudeville in the 1920s and followed their popular stage act with a total of 13 sound feature films made between 1929 and 1949. Their most popular and successful films were those made at MGM, where the brothers were brought under contract in 1935 by the studio’s legendary head of production Irving Thalberg. Thalberg personally supervised A Night at the Opera and began preparation of A Day at the Races before his untimely death prior to the beginning of filming. The brothers remained at MGM for several years thereafter, only leaving the studio on loan-out to RKO for 1938’s Room Service, and then making their last true comic romp for independent producer David L. Loew in 1946 entitled A Night in Casablanca.
According to
George Feltenstein, WHV's Senior VP, Classic Catalog, "The Marx Brothers
trademark brand of lunacy has often been imitated but never equaled, and their
unique style of comedy is timeless. At the present time, no Marx
Brothers features are actively in distribution on DVD and we
know consumer demand has been building. Warner Home Video is proud to
reward the anxious Marx fans with these seven films, which are as fresh and
hysterically funny as they were when they were first shown in theaters decades
ago."
WHV’s Marx Brothers
Collection DVDs
A Night at the Opera – Maltin calls this 1935 comic masterpiece
“arguably their finest film. This is as
good as it gets.” In it, the Marx
Brothers turn Mrs. Claypool’s opera into chaos in their efforts to help two
young hopefuls get a break. It contains
the famous scene where Groucho,
Favorite quote:
Otis B. Driftwood: It’s all right, that’s in every contract. That’s what they call a sanity clause.
Fiorello: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ... you can’t fool me. There ain’t no sanity clause!
Enhanced content includes:
§ Commentary by Leonard Maltin
§ All-New Documentary Remarks On Marx
§
The Hy
Gardner Show (
§
Three Vintage MGM Shorts: Fitzpatrick
Traveltalk’s
§ Theatrical Trailer
A Day at the Races (1937) – Groucho stars as Hugo Z. Hackenbush, a horse veterinarian dispensing horse pills and quips with equal glee. Chico selling racing tips, Harpo destroying a piano to turn it into a harp and favorite foil actress Margaret Dumont make this thoroughbred comedy wall-to-wall hilarity. Many of the sequences in the film were performed by the Marx Brothers on a special road tour of live engagements before making it to the screen.
Favorite quotes:
Dr. Hackenbush (Taking a pulse): Either he’s dead or my watch has stopped.
Dr. Hackenbush: If I hold you any closer, I’ll be in back of you.
Enhanced content includes:
§ Commentary by The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia Author Glenn Mitchell
§ All-New Documentary On Your Marx, Get Set, Go!
§ Four Vintage Shorts: Robert Benchley’s OscarÒ-Nominated A Night At The Movies plus the rarely-seen MGM Cartoons Gallopin’ Gals, Mama’s New Hat and Old Smokey
§ Audio-Only Treasures: Musical Outtake A Message From The Man In The Moon (performed by Allan Jones) and an MGM Radio Promo Leo Is On The Air
§ Theatrical Trailer
Room Service/At the Circus – These two films are combined on
one disc to provide double doses of laughter.
In Room Service (1938), Lucille Ball and Ann Miller provide comic
co-star support while the Marx Brothers play producers trying to keep their
show above water and a hotel room over their head. In At the Circus (1939) Groucho stars as
professional shyster lawyer J. Cheever Loophole in the middle of big-top bedlam
as the boys try to save the circus and look to Margaret Dumont for the money to
do so. Groucho sings one of his famous
songs, “
Favorite Quotes:
Room Service
Leo Davis: Well, if you fellows don't mind, I'm going to wash up.
Harry Binelli: Yeah, go ahead. The rest of us are already washed up.
At the Circus
J. Cheever Loophole: No, no, I'd rather not. I have an agreement with the houseflies. The flies don't practice law and I don't walk on the ceiling.
Enhanced content includes:
Side A:
§ Vintage Our Gang Comedy Short Party Fever plus Daffy Duck and Porky Pig in the Looney Tunes Classic The Daffy Doc
Side B:
§ Vintage Our Gang Comedy Short Dog Daze and Classic MGM Cartoon Jitterbug Follies
Go West/The Big Store – Another Marx Brothers twin bill makes
this a hilarious comedy “two-fer.” In the first, the Marxmen Go
West (1940) to the land of outlaws and Indians where the fun never
stops and where they outwit a land grabber.
Highlights include
Favorite Quote:
Go West
S. Quentin Quale: I'd have thrashed him to within an inch of his life, but I didn't have a tape measure.
DVD enhanced content includes:
Side
A:
- Vintage
Shorts, Pete Smith Specialty Quicker
’N A Wink and Fitzpatrick
Traveltalk Cavalcade Of
- Vintage Cartoon, The Milky Way
§
Leo
Is On The Air Radio Promo
Side
B:
§ Vintage MGM Short Flicker Memories and Vintage MGM Cartoon Officer Pooch
§ Audio Musical Outtake: Where There’s Music
A Night in Casablanca (1946) – This parody of the
Bogart/Bergman 1943 classic features the Nazis vs. the “nutsies” as the Marx
Brothers foil Axis criminals when they find stolen jewels and paintings Nazis
have hidden in a hotel. Playing Ronald
Kornblow, Groucho is the manager of the Hotel Casablanca swirling with
intrigue, while
Favorite quote:
Beatrice Rheiner: I shall be in the Supper Club.
Ronald Kornblow: The Supper Club?
Beatrice Rheiner: Yes. Will you join me?
Ronald Kornblow: Why? Are you coming apart?
Enhanced content includes:
§ Bugs Bunny in the Looney Tunes cartoon classic Acrobatty Bunny
§
Vintage Joe McDoakes Short So You Think You’re A Nervous Wreck
All the films will be presented in their standard version formats, preserving the aspect ration of their original theatrical exhibition.
