Una notte sui tetti

I disagree with the put downs of this film by some viewers, for a very simple reason: I enjoyed watching it and found it funny. Sure, the plot is a little weak, but who watches Marx Brothers films for the plot? Actually, the plot is stronger than in many of their movies.

Groucho's role is certainly weak, but this may be Harpo's finest film, which showcases his beautiful comic style. Chico does fine, too. And they both deliver some wonderful musical performances.

The scene near the end on the rooftop amid the Times Square advertising signs is delightful. There seems to be an obvious element of "product placement," though I don't know whether the filmmakers got paid for this, but that all adds to the peculiar humor of the scene.

It's been a very long time since I first saw the classic Marx Brothers films, at least as an adult who could appreciate them. Back then they were funny. But I can't say they crack me up these days, as the gags have gotten old.

So it was wonderful to find this Marx Brothers film I hadn't seen, and to laugh at them again. This is a funny film. Period.

It is a bit sad knowing this was their last film, also knowing the great young comedy writers who were about to get started in live television, including Mel Brooks and Woody Allen. If only their talent could have been turned to writing more scripts for the Marx Brothers. Instead, they wrote for Sid Caesar's television shows, which in some ways were the heirs to the Marx Brothers humor.

I think I will watch Love Happy again, soon. I want to watch Harpo's performance more closely. It seems to me he was the last of the silent film comedians, in the tradition of Chaplin and Buster Keaton, whose humor was all in their body language. And this was his last great work.

"Final" Marx Bros. Film is mostly a vehicle for Harpo with musical numbers and romantic subplot featuring Vera-Ellen and Paul Valentine. Groucho narrates the whole thing as a detective. The film cuts away to him several times before he joins the main story late in the picture. He's funny as expected, although most of his stuff feels tacked-on. Chico has a smaller part but still gets a couple of funny bits including a piano scene. The brothers share no scenes together as a trio but Harpo gets short bits with each separately. Marilyn Monroe appears with Groucho in one memorable scene. It's an entertaining movie. Don't go into it with the expectation that it's going to be a proper Marx Bros. Movie like their 30s classics. Just take it on its own terms and you might enjoy it. Vera-Ellen has a great dance number, Ilona Massey has amazing cleavage, and the supporting cast includes several fun characters. By the way, I watched this on blu-ray and while the picture quality is amazing, HD does the brothers no favors in hiding their age.

I've been a die-hard Marxist for several years now. After I watched their first seven films to the point where my tapes were in tatters, I sought out their later films, the lesser productions Room Service thru Night in Casablanca. After that, I still wanted more, so I finally gave in and watched the one film that I KNEW would be painful: Love Happy. Virtually every review has smeared this film and ripped into it with full claws, so I braced myself and bought the DVD.

Now let me tell you something: this movie is great. Of course it's not in the ballpark of the Paramounts, but it fits nicely with their later films, and is a real delight. So why the negative rap? Well, this movie was originally intended as a solo vehicle for Harpo Marx. Chico joined on when he needed money to get out of debt. Groucho was never supposed to be in this film, but the sponsors said that they wouldn't release it unless he was, so that they could bill it as a "Marx Brothers" picture. So footage of Groucho narrating parts of the story were shoehorned into the finished product. The result? Chico and Harpo are just as enchanting as ever, and Groucho--despite being displayed prominently on the movie posters--is relegated to a commentator. Since most Marx fans are Groucho fans first, Chico/Harpo fans second, this setup comes as a slap in the face, and the film gets trashed.

As such, if you watch the Marxes mainly to see Groucho's witty quips, this movie will bore you stiff. However, if you--like me--love the others just as much as Groucho (for me, Chico will ALWAYS be the funniest Marx Brother!) you'll be surprised at how good Love Happy really is. I'd go into the plot, but with a Marx movie, who really cares about the plot? It's our boys we're after. Chico plays an uproarious piano/violin duet, lusts after Ilona Massey, has some "tootsy-frootsy ice cream" and does some flawed mind-reading; Harpo tumbles through a washing machine, turns his fingers into candles, pulls a dog out of his coat and lusts after Ilona Massey. And Groucho narrates, searches, quips, ponders the situation, and...lusts after Ilona Massey. Oh!--and did I mention this film started the career of a young Marilyn Monroe?

In short, to a Chico/Harpo fan, this movie is as good as (and often better than) At the Circus or A Night in Casablanca. To a Groucho fan...well, that's why we have remote-controls.

"Love Happy" is remembered, primarily, as the last "Official" Marx Brothers film (they would all appear in brief vignettes in "The Story of Mankind", seven years later, but not as a team), but if the film were a baseball statistic, it would have an asterik (*), because it truly isn't a showcase of the brothers, together, but a comedy starring Harpo, with Chico in a supporting role, and Groucho doing narration, and making brief appearances, occasionally (rather like the "General Electric Theater" TV episode the brothers would do, in 1959, where Harpo and Chico played crooks with hearts of gold, and Groucho would make a surprise appearance at the finale, as their lawyer).

As a comedy, "Love Happy" is so-so, with Harpo providing some genuine laughs, particularly during an interrogation scene with villains Raymond Burr, Ilona Massey, Eric Blore, and Bruce Gordon, and in the rooftop finale, with Harpo offering the same kind of outrageous physical humor that he had demonstrated in the classic MGM comedies. But the rest of the plot, while mildly entertaining, is simply a musical variation of "Room Service", as an impoverished group of performers (headed by Paul Valentine and future star Vera-Ellen) struggle to put on a Broadway musical.

The back story of the film is possibly more entertaining than the movie, itself; Harpo had wanted to make a solo film throughout the forties, and had tinkered on the script for several years, while soliciting financial backing for the project. Chico, meanwhile, was running up huge gambling debts, as was often the case (while a brilliant card player, he was a notoriously bad gambler), and just as the Marxes had made "A Night in Casablanca", in 1946, to pay off his debts at that time, Harpo brought him into "Love Happy" to do the same. Unfortunately, the end of the decade was a depressed time for film making (with television making inroads into the ticket-buying public), and backers would only fund the project if all three brothers would appear in the movie.

Groucho, by now a genuine TV star, thanks to the "You Bet Your Life" quiz show, hated the script of "Love Happy", and had little desire to co-star in the film. He was, however, loyal to his brothers, and finally reached a compromise; he would only appear briefly, would not have to wear his trademark greasepaint eyebrows and mustache, and would have final approval of his dialog and the performers working with him. He could honestly say he helped 'discover' Marilyn Monroe, at an open audition (watching two other starlets walk across a stage, followed by Marilyn, when asked for his pick for a small role, he raised his eyebrows and quipped, "You're kidding, right?")

Be warned: While "Love Happy" is not terrible, it certainly is no "Night at the Opera", or "Duck Soup"!

i'm a big marx bros fan and love most of their films, especially the early paramounts and a day at the races and most of the others so thats pretty much all of them i guess. Room service is the weakest of their output as far as i can tell..

If I was mainly a Groucho fan, which most of the reviewers of Marx Brothers films seem to be, I'd be giving this movie between 1 & 3 stars. His part is minimal, not very funny and is mainly famous for the scene with Marilyn Monroe in one of her first speaking roles (which lasts a few seconds)...

I've just read a review for this film calling it unfunny. Maybe they were watching a different movie? I am completely fed up with reading the nonsense that's been written about this film by people who probably haven't even watched it...

I'm a Harpo fan.........I really think he's a true screen genius, the greatest one of his kind. When he's on screen for me its pure magic.

This film has a special place in my heart.. The screenplay is based on a Harpo story and he is the main star (originally the film was to be a solo vehicle for him). Chico's and Groucho's appearance was an afterthought..Chico performs well and the scenes when he's with Harpo are great and are the equal to any other marx movie. Harpo doesn't disappoint with so many great hilarious scenes that were mainly devised and performed by himself (he did most of his own stunts)...quite amazing considering he was in his early 60's at the time....

The story revolves around a theatre production called 'love happy' and a missing diamond necklace in a sardine tin. The other cast members perform well and the songs are not too cheesy. Chico does a great piano duet with a violinist and harpo plays the harp as beautifully as ever..

If I was hoping to see and hear Groucho in his element, i'd be very disappointed with Love Happy. But, on every other level its a classic. So please, give it a chance - its worth it............