Marx Brothers – Animal Crackers

“We took some pictures of the native girls; but, they weren’t developed. But, we’re going back again in a coupla weeks.”

What did I do on my summer vacation short blog break? I did some projects around the house and caught some Marx Brothers movies. I did miss blogging and talking to everyone. I thought I would start off a little different…with a movie. 

Harpo (Adolph Marx), Groucho (Julius Henry), Chico (Leonard Joseph Marx), and Zeppo Marx (Herbert Manfred Marx). No one was remotely like them and they haven’t been matched. My favorite movie by them is Duck Soup and Horse Feathers but this one is up there. They also had another brother…Milton “Gummo” Marx and helped them outside of being on stage. Harpo later changed his real name from Adolph to Arthur for obvious reasons.

The Brothers made 14 movies in all and 3 hit Broadway Plays (I’ll Say She Is, Cocanuts, and Animal Crackers). The first five remain my favorite. They were totally without rules and they were incredibly irrelevant. Anarchy would be the word…the plot goes out the door but that is alright. After the fifth movie they signed with MGM and their movies had solid plots and were more ordered…but those were without Zeppo. He decided to retire from the screen and became a very successful businessman. I still like the total anarchy of their earlier movies best but I do like the others also. 

If you have never seen a Marx Brothers movie, just try one, I would suggest either Duck Soup, Horse Feathers, or Animal Crackers. If you want more of a plot try A Night At The Opera…one of the two Marx Brothers movies that Queen named one of their albums after…the other being A Day At The Races. 

Animal Crackers had a huge revival in the early 70s on college campuses. No one had the rights to show this movie but it was cleared in America in 1974*. Groucho, who was alive then, could not believe they were popular all over again. Lines wrapped around street corners for blocks waiting to see this movie.  It was their second movie and it was made in 1930. It wasn’t hard for them to make because they had performed this play on Broadway that was written for them. 

All of them have certain traits that are on display. Groucho is the king of the put-downs or the comebacks…you can’t beat him. Harpo was great at pantomime…he should have been in silent movies. Chico was a great piano player and I loved his conversations with Groucho…which is in every Marx Brothers movie. Zeppo…poor Zeppo was the straight-man brother. Most of them say in real life he was the funniest Marx Brother.

The reason Harpo never talked on stage was because of a negative review he received in vaudeville. He also said there was no way he could out-talk Groucho and Chico. Everyone thought Harpo was mute but of course, he could talk fine. His father once won a bet with an audience member when the man bet him that Harpo could not talk. 

Another cast member I will mention is Margaret Dumont…she plays Mrs. Rittenhouse…she played the straight person and love interest in many of their movies. There was a great chemistry between her and Groucho. Dumont didn’t have a great sense of humor…she would ask Groucho…was that supposed to be funny? She didn’t understand their humor at all and just played it completely straight.

Animal Crackers was written by George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, Bert Kalmar, and Harry Ruby. Kaufman was a brilliant writer.

I can only imagine Broadway audiences being introduced to one of their plays. Reviewers say they tore up the stage and people were literally laughing so hard they cried and fell down in the aisle. Animal Crackers would be the last play they made…after this, they moved out to Hollywood to make movies only. Their first two movies look kind of clumsy because “talkies” were just starting to get big and the cameras were huge and hard to move around. They basically filmed the exact play…not live of course but they used many of the play’s cast. 

The characters in “Animal Crackers” celebrate the return of world traveler Captain Spaulding (Groucho) while also dealing with the theft of a rare work of art at the home of the wealthy Mrs. Rittenhouse (Dumont), where the party takes place. But once the captain arrives, along with Spaulding’s stenographer Jamison (Zeppo), Signore Ravelli (Chico), and the Professor (Harpo), nothing sane or expected takes place afterward. But really, what do you expect?

If you want a movie to get you out of a funk (like I did) this will do it! If you like movies that you can quote later…this one is for you! Below are some quotes I liked from this movie… but the quotes don’t work on paper as well unless Groucho is delivering them. I’ll start off with the famous one.

“One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know.”

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, which doesn’t say much for you.”

“Why, you’ve got beauty, charm, money! You *have* got money, haven’t you? Because if you haven’t, we can quit right now.”

“I’m sick of these conventional marriages. One woman and one man was good enough for your grandmother, but who wants to marry your grandmother? Nobody, not even your grandfather. Think! Think of the honeymoon! Strictly private. I wouldn’t let another woman in on this. Well, maybe one or two. But, no men! I may not go myself.”

  • Capt. Spaulding: [to Mrs. Rittenhouse and Mrs. Whitehead] What do you say, girls? What do you say? Are we all going to get married?
  • Mrs. Whitehead: All of us?
  • Capt. Spaulding: All of us!
  • Mrs. Whitehead: But, that’s bigamy!
  • Capt. Spaulding: Yes, and it’s big of me too.

*In 1957, Paramount forgot to renew the soundtrack rights which reverted back to the authors of the play. (The studio did renew the picture rights, though.) As a result, the film could not legally be seen in the USA until 1974, when Universal, which had since purchased Paramount’s film library, was persuaded by fan requests to re-release it.

Unknown's avatar

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

45 thoughts on “Marx Brothers – Animal Crackers”

    1. Oh these quotes are only out of this movie. I like so many… like “A man’s only as old as the woman he feels.”
      I’m a huge fan of them….

      Very funny!

      Like

      Reply

      2. John I have but it’s been so long…I have the vinyl of that somewhere that I want to find again. I come across some collectibles from the early seventies with Groucho. Like clocks and other things.

        Like

    1. I hope you liked it. I learned about so many people from the book…Woollcott, Levant, and a bunch of famous people that I didn’t know much about. He had an incredible life.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. Damn, I loved Animal Crackers as a kid. Than had that love again when I would have a bowl with my daughters when they were small. lol
    Max I have to say that line about the elephant in the pants you would think that Dave Lee Roth stole some of Marx’s lines, twisted em up and used em in old VH interviews lol

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. LOL…
      Oh yea I did hear some of them twisted by him. The Beatles did the same thing in A Hard Days Night… they were copied by everyone.

      Like

      Reply

  7. Welcome back! Harpo was (is?) my favorite spirit animal. I dressed and (silently!) moved as him, replete with horn in the overcoat, one Halloween at work. I didn’t hook my boss’ leg on mine (he was a municipal economic director), but both he and the mayor stared in glee as I ran down the winding stairs and honked g’bye. 😊 LOVE the Marx Bros.❤️ Thanks for the clips!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you! It’s great to be back.
      It’s so cool finding other people who like them also. Awesome story! Everyone can relate to Harpo…My favorite is Harpo also…not only a very funny comedian but he also seemed like a great person.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. I’ve used some of those lines in real life…sometimes they get it…sometimes they just dont. “I’ve got nothing but confidence in you and very little of that” love that stuff.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  12. Duck Soup is still my fave, but I remember the line that goes like, “Not all the jokes are good. You can’t expect all the jokes to be good.” I’m paraphrasing, but I remember laughing at that one! So many good one-liners and gags.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I would say my ranking would be…
      Duck Soup
      Horse Feathers (a VERY close second)
      Animal Crackers
      The Cocoanuts
      Monkey Business
      A Night at the Opera
      A Day At The Races
      The rest had moments but were not great.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  17. love ’em to bits. I wish they would play to younger people so they can if nothing else view them as period pieces and see the start of anarchic and rebellious comedy (see my reply mentioning The Young Ones show) under Traffic’s Hole In My Shoe.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. They do have Marx Brothers festivals sometimes…we have a theater near us that plays older movies…I missed a showing of this one last time but I’m not going to miss it again…a lot of college students go…it’s near Vanderbilt.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

Leave a comment