Friday, 2 October 2026 at 9 pm
Directed by: Sam Wood
b/w, 109 min, USA, 1937
The sanatorium owned by Judy Standish is in serious financial trouble. Banker J. D. Morgan, who owns the nearby racecourse, hotel and nightclub, holds the mortgage on the sanatorium and intends to close it down and convert it into a casino. Judy's loyal employee, Tony, suggests they ask for money from their wealthy patient, Emily Upjohn, who is a hypochondriac and threatens that if the doctors at the sanatorium declare her healthy, she will leave and seek treatment from Dr. Hugo Z. Hackenbuck. What no one knows is that Hackenbuck is actually a veterinarian, a specialist in treating horses. Tony gets the idea to invite Hackenbuck to be the sanatorium's new director, so that Mrs. Upjohn will help them financially…
A Day at the Races is the second and final film the Marx Brothers made under the producing guidance of Irving Thalberg, as he, whom they regarded as a visionary producer, suddenly died of pneumonia during filming at the age of 38. Thus the brothers were left without a very influential man who had strongly supported them, and the remaining three films they would make for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer would be by far less successful and of lower quality. A Day at the Races itself was an even greater success than A Night at the Opera, the first film the Marx Brothers made with Thalberg for MGM: the trademark of all their films – Groucho's verbal antics and Harpo's physical gags – is here at one of its peaks. A Day at the Races is the only Marx Brothers film to be nominated for an Oscar, the short-lived one for Best Dance Direction.
Commentary by: Damir Radić
Tickets for the screening on 2 October 2026 at 9 pm can be purchased online HERE, as well as at the Surogatkino KIC box office one hour before the start.