Synopsis
At the Circus (1939) is a Marx Brothers musical comedy you can watch online on iFILM. Small-time circus owner Jeff Wilson owes his partner ten thousand dollars. Before he can hand it over, the partner's hired thugs swipe the cash so they can seize the whole show for themselves.
Rescue comes from the least dependable people imaginable. Shady lawyer J. Cheever Loophole — Groucho, of course — fires off puns and dodges the formidable Mrs. Dukesbury, played by his perennial foil Margaret Dumont. Chico runs his usual angles, silent Harpo wrecks everything in sight without a word, and a strongman, a bareback rider and a human cannonball drift in and out of the chaos. The hunt for the thief soon collapses into one absurd set piece after another.
Edward Buzzell directed for MGM, and this is the picture where Groucho first sings "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady" — a number that stuck with him for the rest of his career. It isn't the sharpest film the brothers made, but fans of their anarchic streak will have plenty to grin at. Stream At the Circus (1939) online on iFILM.
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