This was a very wacky film with lots of silliness (such as Harpo trying to pass himself off as Maurice Chavalier) but the film suffers, somewhat, from a feeling of claustrophobia as most of the action takes place on an ocean liner. In many ways, this makes the movie very reminiscent of their later film, ROOM SERVICE (1938). In both cases, the brothers were trying repeatedly throughout the film not to get caught (either for stowing away in this film or for not being able to pay their hotel bill in the other). Because of this, there is no way this could be considered their best film, but it is still very watchable and silly. Now, if you are NOT a fan of stupid and non-stop comedy, don't watch this film. But, if you are in an odd mood and want a cheap laugh, give it a try.
Marx Brothers Torrents
Perhaps not my favourite, but just hilarious fun from start to finish. I do think it is better than Animal Crackers, which was great too, but the sound is an improvement here I feel. The script is great, with some deliciously acerbic one-liners from Groucho, and the story while perhaps straightforward is well structured with some very memorable sequences especially Groucho dancing with Thelma Todd and Zeppo getting tough with a gangster. Speaking of Zeppo, he is very underseen and underused in my view, and I just loved it that he had a chance to shine here and that he did. The film looks good as well, it goes at a snappy pace and the direction is spot on. And the acting with all four of the Marx brothers is most enjoyable. All in all, hugely enjoyable and for me one of the Marx brothers' best. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Animal Crackers was the second of two Broadway shows that starred the Marx Brothers and was done at the Paramount Astoria Studios. After they went to Hollywood, with the exception of Room Service, all their material was original for the screen. The Brothers were doing Animal Crackers on Broadway in 1928-1929 and it had a respectable run of 191 performances. In fact while they were doing Animal Crackers on stage, for a part of 1929 they were shooting The Cocoanuts at the Astoria Studios. Unlike The Cocoanuts, nearly the entire Broadway cast was used in the film, with the exception of the juveniles, Lillian Roth and Hal Thompson. Also unlike The Cocoanuts nearly the entire Bert Kalmar-Harry Ruby score was discarded with the notable exception of Groucho's immortal theme Hooray for Captain Spalding. Kalmar and Ruby did write the ballad that Roth and Thompson sing, Why Am I So Romantic for the screen version.Margaret Dumont as Mrs. Rittenhouse of the Long Island horsey set is throwing a party and the guest of honor is Groucho with his secretary Zeppo as Captain Spalding. Crashing the party is Chico and Harpo.But not only is Captain Spalding on display, Dumont is giving an unveiling of a famous painting for which two people have brought copies for different purposes. Of course the original does get stolen and there's no use me going on any further because the plot just dissolves with the various monkeyshines engaged in by the Marx Brothers.My favorite bits are Groucho when he does a devastating lampoon on Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude. It turned out to be too good a satire because when the play made it to the screen two years later, no one took it seriously.Secondly is Chico and Harpo, mercilessly threatening to expose hoity toity art critic Louis Sorin who they knew back in the day as Abie the Fishman. Actually that's kind of sad in a way because Sorin may be a snob now, but he did in fact educate himself out of peddling fish and rose in an honorable to a legitimate living. But you don't think about that while Chico and Harpo are doing their thing.Although like The Cocoanuts it's a photographed stage play, Animal Crackers works a whole lot better. The play itself was primarily on one set on the stage and it transitions better to the screen than The Cocoanuts did.The brothers are at their most anarchistic and zany here, try not to miss it.
Information about the film's premise is sparse. Its title was "apparently a spoof of the then-popular drama Humoresque, one of the biggest film hits of 1920." In addition, "the brothers were working separately rather than as a team" and did not incorporate their trademark comic personalities that they would later become famous for. Harpo played the hero, a detective named Watson who "made his entrance in a high hat, sliding down a coal chute into the basement." Groucho played an "old movie" villain, who "sported a long moustache and was clad in black." Chico was probably his "chuckling [Italian] henchman." Zeppo portrayed a playboy who was the owner of a nightclub in which most of the action, including "a cabaret, [which allowed] the inclusion of a dance number," took place. The final shot "showed Groucho, in ball and chain, trudging slowly off into the gloaming." Harpo, in a rare moment of romantic glory, evidently gets the girl in the end.
10. GO WEST (1940)Flimflam man S. Quentin Quayle (Groucho) heads west on a train and tries to bilk money from two prospector brothers, Joe (Chico) and Rusty (Harpo), he meets at the station. Instead, the siblings swindle him out of everything, including his pants. The rest of the plodding story concerns a pair of villains who try to get a lucrative railroad contract. The crazy ending, however, is worth the wait as Quayle, Rusty and Joe chop up passenger cars to fuel a locomotive.
A political satire that skewers foreign relations, war, national treasures, and national treasuries, Leo McCarey's "Duck Soup" begins with Groucho Marx's Rufus T. Firefly being named head of the nation of Freedonia. From there, jokes, musical numbers, and mostly solid plotting fly in torrents. The narrative is a sturdy foundation for sturdy comedy.
While their cartoonish behavior is something most people are already familiar with, the comedy by the Marx brothers feels the most genuine. Acting stupid throughout the runtime of your film is a comedic gimmick that can quickly grow old. Yet, the Marx brothers act like fools during all of Duck Soup and somehow maintain to be charming, witty, and imaginative. 2ff7e9595c
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