‘A Day At The Races’ Blu-Ray Review – A Fun & Clever Outing From The Marx Brothers

The Marx Brothers skewer medicine and bring home a racetrack winner in the hilarious A Day at the Races. In his favorite role, Groucho is Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush – MD, PhD, RFD, MC, PDQ, BYOB and none of the above – dispensing horse pills and quips with equal glee. Chico, Harpo and favorite foil Margaret Dumont join the fun of this thoroughly thoroughbred comedy. Enjoy tootsie-frootsie ice cream, Dumont’s medical exam, Harpo’s pretty-girl pantomime sketch, wallpaper wackiness and wall-to-wall hilarity the Marx way.

For thoughts on A Day at the Races, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic: 

[youtube https://youtu.be/N8ZbDLCZ6pg?si=JUho9uMSZcCJ9Oex&t=1137]

Video Quality

A Day at the Races makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Warner Archive with a brand new 1080p master from a 4K scan of second-generation safety preservation elements. The Original Camera Negative was an unfortunate casualty of the George Eastman House fire in the ‘70s, but thankfully this source is of impeccable quality. The label did a fantastic job with the previous Marx Brothers release A Night At The Opera, and they have knocked it out of the park with round two of the comedic ensemble. This comedy classic has been treated with the utmost respect. 

The stunning black-and-white photography shimmers in high definition with natural grain intact. Black levels are impeccable with no trace of black crush or compression artifacts. The contrast is deftly defined, and there is virtually no print damage to be found. The new transfer shows off a stellar amount of depth and enhanced detail within each setting. There is a tremendous amount of detail present with nice textures on the clothing and in elements of the production design. Warner Archive should be very proud of this release. 

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a formidable DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that captures this movie perfectly well. It does reveal the smallest amount of age-related wear and tear with some faint humming that likely dates back to the source elements. Otherwise, the source is in good shape with the Franz Waxman score sounding agreeable. Nothing ever overshadows the dialogue or other important information. Dialogue and background noises are represented in harmony with all competing elements. Warner Archive has delivered as consistent of an audio track as the source elements will allow. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film.

Special Features

• Audio Commentary: Author/Film Historian Glenn Mitchell provides an informative commentary track in which he discusses where the Marx Brothers were at this point in their career, the careers of the performers, the loose references to past films, and more. 

• On Your Marx, Get Set, Go!: A 28-minute vintage featurette in which entertainment figures and historians discuss the legacy of the comedic group, relay personal memories, track their careers, talk about some of the secondary performers, and more. This is a well-done and fun piece. 

• A Night At The Movies: A ten-minute short film is provided in which a couple attempts to have a nice evening at the movies to mixed effect. 

• Cartoons

• • Gallopin’ Gals: A nearly eight-minute Hanna/Barbera short in which some very talkative horses prepare for a race. 

• • Mama’s New Hat: A nearly eight-minute A Captain and the Kids short in which some kids swap a muddy hat with the hat of a horse who is none too pleased. 

• • Old Smokey: A nearly eight-minute A Captain and the Kids short in which a fire horse is replaced by a fire truck but is soon called in to save the day. 

• Audio Treasures

• • Dr. Hackenbush: A three-minute unused song that Groucho was able to perform later on the radio and on record. 

• • A Message From The Man In The Moon: A two-and-a-half-minute piece on an unused recording from Allan Jones. 

• • Leo Is On The Air Radio Promo: A nearly 14-minute radio program from MGM that highlights the film. 

• Theatrical Trailer: The three-minute trailer for the film is provided here.

Final Thoughts

A Day at the Races is an entertaining continuation for the comedy group after settling into their stint at MGM. The trio used their time on the road to polish their comedic bits until they were ready to bring the house down on the screen. There are some tremendous exchanges housed within this effort, although the runtime of the film seems a bit bloated due to the inclusion of the musical numbers. This is not the absolute pinnacle for the group, but it is so much fun regardless. Warner Archive has released a Blu-Ray featuring a stellar A/V presentation and a nice selection of special features. Any fans of The Marx Brothers should consider this an essential addition to their collection. Highly Recommended 

A Day at the Races can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Warner Archive has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.

Dillon Gonzales

Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.