A Day at the Races

Lawrence Weingarten (uncredited)

George Oppenheimer

Screenplay:

George S. Kaufman

Carey Wilson

Al Boasberg (uncredited)

Leon Gordon (uncredited)

***A Day at the Races*** is the seventh film starring the Marx Brothers. Also appearing are 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 and nightclub is attempting to gain control of the sanitarium in order to convert the building into a casino. Judy's faithful employee Tony, suggests asking financial help from the wealthy hypochondriacal patient Mrs. Emily Upjohn. Mrs Upjohn has just been given a clean bill of health by the doctors at the Sanitarium and she threatens to leave for treatment by Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush. Tony overhears Mrs. Upjohn's praise of Hackenbush, who is, unknown to her, a horse doctor. When Tony tells Mrs. Upjohn that Dr. Hackenbush has been hired to run the sanitarium, she is elated and informs Judy with Dr. Hackenbush in charge she will consider helping her financially. Tony promptly wires Dr. Hackenbush in Florida to come and take care of Mrs. Upjohn. Dr. Hackenbush eventually arrives and instantly begins insulting the sanitarium's crooked business manager Mr. Whitmore. Whitmore, who is Morgan's stooge, is immediately suspicious of Hackenbush's medical background.

Meanwhile, Judy's beau, singer Gil Stewart, who performs in Morgan's nightclub, has just spent his life's savings on a racehorse named Hi-Hat. His hope is that the horse, which he purchased from Morgan, will win a big 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. Unfortunately, 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 the racetrack to collect money for the feed bill. Tony raises some money by scamming Hackenbush in the "Tutsi Fruitsy Ice Cream" scene, in which Tony gives Hackenbush a tip on a horse, but all in code, so that Hackenbush has to buy book after book from Tony to decipher the code.

At the Sanitarium, Whitmore still suspects Hackenbush is a fraud and attempts to contact the Florida Medical Board for information on the doctor's background. Hackenbush intercepts the call and by assuming a phony southern accent, feigning a hurricane with an electric fan and repeatedly calling Whitmore to the dictagraph, enrages Whitmore to the point that he gives up. At a night gala at which Gil performs along with Vivien Fay and her ballet (“On Blue Venetian Waters”), Hackenbush invites a blonde floozie named Flo Marlowe and Mrs. Upjohn to his room at the sanitarium without the latter knowing of the other woman. Being persecuted, Tony and Stuffy blend with the musicians and perform their signature Chico/Harpo musical performances, including a scene in which Stuffy tears a piano apart in anger. Whitmore attempts to get Hackenbush fired by having Mrs. Upjohn catch him in a compromising situation with Flo. Hackenbush is rescued by Stuffy and Tony who pose as house detectives and then as paperhangers. They hide the vamp from Mrs. Upjohn by stuffing her under the sofa cushions. The following day, just as Mrs. Upjohn is about to sign an agreement to help Judy, Whitmore brings in the eminent Dr. Leopold X. Steinberg from Vienna, whom he hopes will expose Hackenbush as a quack. After Mrs. Upjohn agrees to an examination by Steinberg, Hackenbush wants to flee for fear of being exposed as a fraud; 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. The Brothers and eventually Gil try to comfort Judy (“Tomorrow Is Another Day”), who is upset by the negative light of the situation at the sanitarium. Near the stable, Stuffy starts sympathizing with a community of poor folk who believe him to be Archangel Gabriel (“Gabriel (Who Dat Man)”). As the musical number progresses (“All God's Chillun Got Rhythm”, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen”), the police arrives and the Brothers intent to disguise themselves by painting their faces with grease in blackface. The attempt fails as everybody runs off and Whitmore finally exposes Hackenbush as a horse doctor with a letter he received from the Florida Medical Board. Morgan is about to have them arrested when Hi-Hat hears Morgan's voice and bolts, jumping several obstacles in the way. Gil realizes that Hi-Hat is a jumper, and enters him into the upcoming steeplechase race. Morgan, who witnessed Hi-Hat's jumping ability, tries to prevent him from being entered in the race. After some difficulty getting past Morgan and the Sheriff, the race begins. 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 folk arrive at the race and start walking with Gil, Judy and the Brothers through the racetrack, singing the final number (“A Message from the Man in the Moon”).

## Cast

* Groucho Marx as Dr Hugo Z. Hackenbush
* Chico Marx as Tony
* Harpo Marx as Stuffy
* Allan Jones as Gil Stewart
* Maureen O'Sullivan as Judy Standish
* Margaret Dumont as Emily Upjohn
* Leonard Ceeley as Whitmore
* Douglass Dumbrille as J.D. Morgan
* Esther Muir as "Flo"
* Sig Ruman as Dr Leopold X. Steinberg (credited as Sig Rumann)
* Robert Middlemass as Sheriff
* Vivien Fay as specialty dancer
* Ivie Anderson as specialty singer (in number "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm")
* The Crinoline Choir as musical ensemble

## 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"

"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.

## Trivia

* 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 bitter 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 named Quackenbush. In *My Life with Groucho: A Son's Eye View*, Arthur Marx relates that in his latter years Groucho increasingly referred to himself by the name Hackenbush.
* During production, Irving Thalberg, who had brought the Marx Brothers to MGM, died suddenly in September, 1936 of pneumonia at the age of 37. Thalberg's death left the Marxes without a champion at MGM, and the studio never gave the same level of care and attention to the team they had received under Thalberg. As a result, the Marx Brothers' three later MGM films are generally considered to be vastly inferior to their first two.
* 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.
* The film used Santa Anita Park as a filming location for some of the racetrack scenes.
* 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; 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 recently rediscovered audio recording for the film soundtrack of the song, performed by Allan Jones.
* The dance sequence for "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" was nominated for the short-lived Academy Award for Best Dance Direction, only given from 1935 to 1937.
* The film also features a lindy hop dance sequence 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.