A Day at the Races

A Day at the Races is a 1937 American comedy film, and the seventh film starring the Marx Brothers(Groucho, Harpo and Chico), with Allan Jones, Maureen O'Sullivan and Margaret Dumont. Like their previous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature A Night at the Opera, this film was a major hit.
== Plot ==
The Standish Sanitarium, owned by Judy Standish, has fallen on hard times. Banker J.D. Morgan, who owns a nearby race track, hotel and nightclub, holds the mortgage on the sanitarium and is attempting to foreclose on it in order to convert the building into a casino. Tony, Judy's faithful employee, suggests asking financial help from the wealthy patient Mrs. Emily Upjohn, who is a hypochondriac, living at the sanitarium. After being pronounced healthy by the sanitarium's doctors, Mrs. Upjohn threatens to leave for treatment by Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush. Tony overhears her praise of Hackenbush, who is, unknown to her, a horse doctor. When Tony lies to Mrs. Upjohn, telling her that Hackenbush has been hired to run the Sanitarium, she is elated and informs Judy she will consider helping her financially. Tony contacts Hackenbush in Florida by telegram and when the Doctor arrives he immediately insults the Sanitarium's business manager Mr. Whitmore. Whitmore, being Morgan's stooge, is suspicious of Hackenbush's medical background.
Meanwhile, Judy's beau, singer Gil Stewart, who performs at Morgan's nightclub, has just spent his life savings on a racehorse named Hi-Hat. He hopes the horse, which he purchased from Morgan, will win a race and the money will allow Judy to save the Sanitarium. Hi-Hat is so afraid of Morgan, that he rears in fright whenever he hears his voice. Gil now has no money to pay for Hi-Hat's feed, and he, Tony and Stuffy, Hi-Hat's jockey, have to resort to trickery to fend off the Sheriff who has come to collect money for the feed bill. Tony raises some money by scamming Hackenbush in the "Tutsi Fruitsy Ice Cream" scene, giving him a tip on a horse, but all in code, so he has to buy book after book to decipher it.
Whitmore attempts to contact the Florida Medical Board for information on Dr. Hackenbush. Hackenbush intercepts the call, and by impersonating the man in charge of medical records, feigning a hurricane with an electric fan, pretending to forget what the call was about and repeatedly calling Whitmore to the dictagraph, he enrages Whitmore until he gives up. Eventually Stuffy and Tony learn about Dr. Hackenbush's history but he insists they keep quiet. They duo inform Gill, but are also facing issues with the Sherriff taking Hi Hat from them constantly until the bill is paid. That night, at the gala Water Carnival, Gil performs along with Vivien Fay and her ballet, and Tony and Stuffy play the piano and harp respectively. Whitmore attempts to get Hackenbush fired by having Mrs. Upjohn catch him in his suite with Flo, a blonde temptress. Stuffy overhears the plot and informs Tony, so the two attempt to thwart Hackenbush's rendezvous with the floozy by posing as house detectives and then as paperhangers. When Whitmore and Mrs. Upjohn arrive, Flo is nowhere to be seen, having been hastily stuffed under the sofa cushions. Mrs Upjohn is furious at Mr. Whitmore and Flo leaves much to trios delight.
The following day, just as Hackenbush has convinced Mrs. Upjohn to sign an agreement to help Judy, Whitmore brings in the eminent Dr. Leopold X. Steinberg from Vienna, whom he hopes will reveal Hackenbush as a fraud. After Mrs. Upjohn agrees to an examination by Steinberg, Hackenbush wants to flee for fear of being exposed; Gil, Tony and Stuffy remind him that Judy still needs his help and persuade him to stay.
After making a shambles of Mrs. Upjohn's examination, Hackenbush, Tony, Stuffy and Gil hide out in Hi-Hat's stable, where Judy soon joins them. She is upset by the negative light of the situation; Gil tries to lift her spirits. Near the stable, Stuffy starts sympathizing with a community of poor black people who believe him to be Archangel Gabriel. As the number progresses, Morgan, Whitmore and the Sheriff arrive and Hackenbush, Tony and Stuffy try to disguise themselves by painting their faces with grease in blackface. The attempt fails, everybody runs off and Whitmore finally exposes Hackenbush as a horse doctor with a letter he received from the Florida Medical Board. Hi-Hat hears Morgan's voice and bolts, easily jumping over several obstacles in the way. Judy suggests to Gil that Hi-Hat is a jumper and Gil enters him into the upcoming steeplechase race.
Morgan, who witnessed Hi-Hat's jumping prowess the night before, tries to prevent him from being entered in the race but fails. Knowing that Hi-Hat is afraid of Morgan, everyone works to make Hi-Hat aware of his presence before reaching the fence. On the last lap, Hi-Hat and Morgan's horse wipe out; when they reach the finish line, it appears that Morgan's horse has won. Stuffy realizes that the mud-covered horses were switched after the accident, and Morgan's jockey was riding Hi-Hat in the finish, thus making Hi-Hat the winner. The black people, who have all bet on Hi-Hat, arrive and start walking with Gil, Judy, Hackenbush, Tony and Stuffy through the racetrack, all singing the final number.