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Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

best movie i've ever seen.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

A fairly weak effort from the Marx brothers. Plot is random, and skits seem formulaic. The music was irritating. There are a few good moments, but not enough to make it worth watching.

'At the Circus' is without a doubt one of the Brother's lesser films if we are comparing it to the heights of their career. It's a odd picture which I don't think really understood the talents of the Marx Brothers and how to best utilize them to their full effect. The Brothers are always entertaining and always have their moments but 'At the Circus' does not put them in the best positions to deliver their humor. It mainly has to do with the thin plot but also MGM's insistence on molding the Brothers to their formula.One does not go into the Marx Brothers films to enjoy a gripping narrative. In all honesty it can be argued if the Marx Brothers films were ever really about anything. The Marx Brothers are always about a formula and rhythm. The formula was chaos. The Brothers are at their best when they upset the established order and ridicule snobby figures who think they have great dignity. Stefan Kanfer makes an excellent point in his biography of Groucho that 'At the Circus' is crippled by the fact that the circus is a lowbrow dirty place. The Brothers don't really loudly stand out. The picture has some nice moments in the circus. Harpo has fun pantomiming a strongman act and Chico and Groucho have a great bit about finding an incriminating cigar but the humor in the first part of the film isn't bold and it isn't loud. It's just a lot of standard fare. It just seems really sort of odd to place the Marx Brothers at a place like the circus. They are at their best when they cause chaos with the upper classes. I say this but the movie eventually has the good sense to bring Margaret Dumont back into the picture. When Groucho goes to Margaret Dumont's mansion it is as good as ever. And I can't blast the circus setting entirely. The Marx Brothers actually had the audacity to blast her out of a cannon at the end of it.The mixed bag is that this is an MGM production. MGM was the gold standard of Hollywood at this time and it does have moments where it helps 'At the Circus'. The set pieces are all huge and the scope is far bigger than the arguably superior Paramount pictures. Groucho and the boys would never have been able to play with a huge Circus and have a floating bandstand in an earlier film. The trade off is the love story that Irving Thalberg insisted had to be included in every Marx film. The problem is Thalberg is in his grave by this point. I think even he would admit that Kenny Baker and Florence Rice's duet of 'Two Blind Loves' was nightmarishly sugary. The Marx Brothers are always entertaining even in a lesser effort. 'At the Circus' is really middle of the road. They made worse movies. Personally I prefer seeing Groucho torment Margaret Dumont or Sig Ruman at the height of his skill with a more subversive edge. See 'Night at the Opera' instead which is what 'At the Circus' aspired to be.

After 30 years, I just rewatched this latter-day Marx Brothers movie. After being loaned to RKO for Room Service, the Marxes return to M-G-M without their beloved mentor there, Irving Thalberg, having died during their last hit picture there, A Day at the Races. That movie was very enjoyable, if a little long. This one is much shorter, if not as funny. Still, there's more than enough highlights here: a couple of Chico and Groucho scenes like the "need-a-badge-to-get-on-train" and "new-cigar-needed-but-from-suspect-not-Chico", Groucho's number of "Lydia the Tattooed Lady", Harpo's number with some cool black singers mixed with his as-always touching harp solos, Chico's piano playing, and, of course, Groucho's wisecracks with Margaret Dumont, the unofficial fourth Marx brother now that Zeppo left by this time. Oh, and funny enough reunion with Nat Pendleton from Horse Feathers. Also, Fritz Feld has an amusing bit as a symphony conductor. The romantic leads of Kenny Baker, who I know from old broadcasts of radio's "The Jack Benny Program", and Florence Rice don't intrude too much so I didn't mind them or their singing. Oh, and Eve Arden was also a hoot opposite the one and only Groucho. So on that note, At the Circus is worth a look for any Marx fans out there, still.

1939's "At the Circus" isn't perfect, but it is the Marx Brothers, and you can't go wrong.Here, the boys are trying to help a circus owner Jeff Wilson (Kenny Baker) raise $10,000 (which was stolen) to pay off a debt to the circus' strong man Goliath, or lose the circus altogether. Disinherited by his aunt (Margaret Dumont), he won't marry his girlfriend (Florence Rice) until the debt is paid.Antonio (Chico), who works at the circus with Punchy (Harpo), calls in attorney J. Cheever Loophole (Groucho, who else) to help Jeff. When Loophole arrives, Antonio greets him warmly but refuses to allow him on the circus train since he doesn't have a badge. He finally gives Loophole his own badge, and then won't let him enter the train because it's last year's.Some of the antics in this film are hilarious and wonderful. And how can you go wrong with Groucho singing "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" and shooting Margaret Dumont out of a canon? Come on, it doesn't get an better than that.The midget scene is one of their funniest as the boys work to gain proof that the midget stole the money for Goliath (Nat Pendleton). They want to compare his cigars to the one found at the scene. Priceless.The finale of the film is mind-bogglingly funny.The problem with this film is the boring, bland love story between Rice and Baker. Both sing very nicely (Rice is dubbed) but this is dull stuff compared to the Marx Brothers. The other problem is one that is inherent in a few of their films. When they're not on screen, the energy stalls and the film slows up. I can still remember seeing The Big Store in a theater packed with people, and when the Marx Brothers were off camera, you could just feel the boredom.So "At the Circus" is not "Night at the Opera," and with war on the horizon and Irving Thalberg dead, maybe their time was coming to the end, but their scenes are still gems. And the climax of the film makes the entire movie worth it.Don't be daunted by people saying it's not their best -- see it anyway, and tell me the last time you laughed that hard.