A Day at the Races

The Brothers' second film for MGM should be retitled 'A Week at the Races' at least: it's overlong, overweight, overplotted. Even the comedy scenes are often played to excess, with too much raucous slapstick (like Harpo's destruction of Chico's piano). The plot formula established in Opera is repeated, but the script and characterisations are shallow: who'd have thought to find the Brothers fighting to save a sanatorium when there's a nice racetrack alongside? Still, worth seeing for its good stretches; you can always stock up with refreshments when anyone starts singing.