Cosy Theatre, Woodville

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 55, 7 March 1939, Page 10

Cosy Theatre, Woodville

THE MARX BROTHERS IN “A DAY AT THE RACES” The uproarious antics of tho absurd Marx Brothers—Groucho, Harpo and Chico—together with the admirable supporting work of Maureen O’Sullivan, Allan Jones, Margaret Dumont, Esther Muir and others, and the excellent direction of Sam Wood, combine to make ‘‘A Day at the Races,” latest Marx laugh extravaganza, which screens to-night and to-morrow at tho Cosy Theatre, Woodville, one of tho deliciously amusing photoplays of this year or any other year. It would be difficult to imagine any picture being funnier than the last Marxian epic, “A Night at the Opera,” but this current vehicle with its hilarious plot shifting betAveen a sanatorium and a race track, with Groucho in the role of a horse doctor, Chico as a jockey and Harpo as a race track tout, undoubtedly tops even the former picture for side-spliting situations, rib-tickling dialogue and howling characterisations. When you add to this the excellent singing of Allan Jones in such captivating song numbers as “On Blue Venetian Waters,” “To-morrow is Another Day,” and “A Message from the Man in the Moon,” and a spectacularly beautiful water carnival sequence—* you have a picture which blends hearty humour with romance and music to make entertainment plus. Comedy predominates, however, as it cannot help but do with the Marxes in the stellar roles, and such scenes as the trio literally pasting Esther Muir to the wall behind wall paper, or giving what must be the most preposterous medical examination ever conceived of to Margaret Dumont, still have this reviewer laughing. “A Day at tho Races” may aptly be termed a laugh masterpiece.