'A Night at the Opera'

I do not back down from my summation that the Marx Brothers are very unfunny.

"A Night at the Opera" does not change that at all. It's not funny and the brothers are utterly obnoxious.

Although I did do some reading about the film and director Irving Thalberg changed the role of the brothers.

In previous films, the brothers were entirely too chaotic, it seems, and it drove audiences away. Particularly the females. They were too off-putting.

So, Thalberg changes things around. The brothers find sympathetic characters (the two singers, in need of a break), team up with them to "defeat" the "bad" guys. Apparently, some of the brothers were against the change, but the film made a whole assload of money and that shut them up.

Also, I read that the film's preview was a disaster as nobody thought it was funny. A sentiment I can understand. So the producers went back, re-edited some things and cut (cut!) nine minutes film. Then it became a classic. James Cameron could learn a lesson here.