At the Circus
| At the Circus | |
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| Directed by | Edward Buzzell |
| Produced by | Mervyn LeRoy |
| Written by |
Irving Brecher Buster Keaton (uncredited) Laurence Stallings (uncredited) |
| Starring |
Groucho Marx Chico Marx Harpo Marx Florence Rice Kenny Baker Margaret Dumont Eve Arden |
| Music by | Harold Arlen |
| Cinematography | Leonard M. Smith |
| Edited by | William H. Terhune |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
At the Circus (also called The Marx Brothers at the Circus) is a 1939 Marx Brothers comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in which they save a circus from bankruptcy. The movie is notable for Groucho Marx's classic rendition of "Lydia the Tattooed Lady". The supporting cast includes Florence Rice, Kenny Baker, Margaret Dumont, and Eve Arden.
Goliath, the circus strongman (Nat Pendleton, one of the Darwin football players in Horse Feathers) and the midget, Little Professor Atom (Jerry Maren) are accomplices of the bad guy John Carter (James Burke) who is trying to take over the Wilson Wonder Circus. Jeff Wilson's girlfriend, Julie Randall (Florence Rice), performs a horse act in the circus. In the animal car on the circus train, Goliath and Atom knock out Jeff Wilson (Kenny Baker) and steal $10,000, which Jeff owes Carter. Jeff's friend and circus employee, Tony (Chico) summons Groucho, as attorney J. Cheever Loophole, to handle the situation. Loophole caves in when he sees the muscular Goliath, and gets nowhere with Little Professor Atom. In order to help Wilson, he first tries to get the hidden money from Carter's moll, Peerless Pauline (Eve Arden), but fails. Tony and Punchy search Goliath's stateroom on the circus train for the money, but are unsuccessful. Loophole later calls upon Jeff's wealthy aunt, Mrs. Dukesbury (Margaret Dumont), and tricks her into paying $10,000 for the Wilson Wonder Circus to entertain the Newport 400, instead of a performance by French conductor Jardinet (Fritz Feld), and his symphony orchestra. The audience is delighted with the circus; when Jardinet arrives, Loophole, who also delayed the Frenchman by implicating him in a dope ring, disposes of the conductor and his orchestra by having them play on a floating bandstand down at the water's edge. Tony and Punchy cut the mooring rope while the orchestra plays the Prelude to Act Three of Wagner's Lohengrin, Meanwhile, Carter and his henchmen try to burn down the circus, but are thwarted by Loophole, Tony, and Punchy, along with the only witness to the robbery - Gibralter the gorilla (Charles Gemora), who also retrieves Wilson's ten thousand dollars.
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