A Day at the Races (1937) on Netflix
Passed19371h 51mComedyMusicalSport
Judy Standish's sanitarium has debts, and the banker holding its mortgage wants the building as a casino. Tony installs Dr. Hugo Hackenbush, in truth a horse doctor, as its director.
- Netflix4.3/5
- IMDb7.5/1015,507 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes95%
Trailer
Plot summary
Judy Standish runs a sanitarium that is running out of money, and the banker J.D. Morgan, who owns the mortgage on the property, intends to foreclose and convert it into a casino. Tony, who works at the sanitarium, believes the rich patient Mrs. Emily Upjohn will give money if she is treated by Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbush, and he telegrams the man in Florida to come and be the director. Hackenbush is in fact a horse doctor, and the business manager, Whitmore, distrusts his credentials. Judy's boyfriend Gil, a singer, buys the racehorse Hi-Hat from Morgan and bets that a win at the track will settle what the sanitarium owes.
Cast
Show all 20 cast
- The Crinoline Choiras Vocal Ensemble
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about A Day at the Races (1937)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- During production, MGM producer Irving Thalberg, who had brought the Marx Brothers to the studio in 1934, died suddenly of pneumonia in September 1936 at the age of 37, leaving the team without a champion at MGM.
- The film went through eighteen different scripts before its final version, and a major portion of the screenplay was written by Al Boasberg, who chose to go uncredited after a disagreement with MGM.
- Groucho Marx's character was originally named Quackenbush and was changed to Hackenbush only over threats of lawsuits by several real doctors actually named Quackenbush.
- British rock band Queen named their 1976 album after the film, following their 1975 album named after A Night at the Opera, and Groucho Marx sent the band a handwritten note congratulating them on their taste.
- Allan Jones sang "A Message From The Man In The Moon", which was shot but cut at the last minute because the film was too long; a rediscovered recording of the song appears on the DVD release.
