Tag: Chico Marx

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.

Groucho Marx…August 19, 1977

43 years ago Groucho Marx died on August 19, 1977 and the news of his death was swallowed up by Elvis dying 3 days before. Groucho was 87 years old and still was popular among college kids partly due to a resurgence of the Marx Brothers movies. He was constantly photographed with Rock Stars (Alice Cooper, Queen) and movie stars in the mid-seventies. 

The Marx Brothers remain my favorite comedy team hands down. All of them were talented and Harpo and Groucho in particular never fail to make me laugh.

I’ll leave you with some Groucho Quotes.

He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don’t let that fool you. He really is an idiot.

Some people claim that marriage interferes with romance. There’s no doubt about it. Anytime you have a romance, your wife is bound to interfere.

I have nothing but respect for you — and not much of that.

Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him.

Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.

I intend to live forever, or die trying.

A man’s only as old as the woman he feels.

Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?

I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.

I never forget a face, but in your case I’ll be glad to make an exception.

I sent the club a wire stating, PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. I DON’T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT ME AS A MEMBER.


The Marx Brothers – Horse Feathers

Next to Duck Soup…Horse Feathers (1932) is my favorite Marx Brother movie. Their five movies for Paramount are great. When they moved to MGM their movies had more of a plot but were diluted and tame in comparison with the Paramount films.

They were the kings of being irrelevant or irrelephant as Groucho would say.

There are some 1930’s references in the movie and many double entendres. With the Marx Brothers, you either get them or not. They are chaos and anarchy all rolled into one. They were anti-establishment before the term was popular. In the 1970s their popularity soared again when college students would wait in lines around theaters to see their films that were 40 years old at the time.

Harpo has some of his best visual gags in this movie. Chico or Chicko gets lost sometimes when talking about the brothers but he plays a big part in the act. Zeppo was regulated as the straight man and Groucho…is Groucho.

In Horse Feathers, Groucho plays college president, Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff. Groucho runs the school and chaos reigns. He finds out the college cannot support the football program. The professors are kissing up to Groucho (Wagstaff) because he is a President. Here is an exchange.

Wagstaff: This college is a failure. The trouble is, we’re neglecting football for education.

The Professors: [in unison] Exactly, the professor is right.

Wagstaff: Oh, I’m right, am I? Well, I’m not right. I’m wrong. I just said that to test ya. Now I know where I’m at. I’m dealing with a couple of snakes. What I meant to say was that there’s too much football and not enough education

.The Professors: That’s what I think.

Wagstaff: Oh, you do, do you? Well, you’re wrong again. If there was a snake, you’d apologize. Where would this college be without football? Have we got a stadium?

The Professors: Yes.

Wagstaff: Have we got a college?

The Professors: Yes.

Wagstaff: Well, we can’t support both. Tomorrow we start tearing down the college.

This is the plot from Wiki…which for a Marx Brothers movie is not as important.

The film revolves around college football and a game between the fictional Darwin and Huxley Colleges.[a] Many of the jokes about the amateur status of collegiate football players and how eligibility rules are stretched by collegiate athletic departments remain remarkably current.[5]Groucho plays Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley College, and Zeppo is his son Frank, a student at the school who convinces his father to recruit professional football players to help Huxley’s terrible football team. There are also many references to Prohibition. Baravelli (Chico) is an “iceman”, who delivers ice and bootleg liquor from a local speakeasy. Pinky (Harpo) is also an “iceman”, and a part-time dogcatcher. Through a series of misunderstandings, Baravelli and Pinky are accidentally recruited to play for Huxley instead of the actual professional players. This requires them to enroll as students, which creates chaos throughout the school.

The Cast

  • Groucho Marx – Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff
  • Harpo Marx – Pinky
  • Chico Marx – Baravelli
  • Zeppo Marx – Frank Wagstaff
  • Thelma Todd – Connie Bailey
  • David Landau – Jennings
  • Robert Greig – Biology professor Hornsvogel
  • Reginald Barlow – Retiring President
  • E. H. Calvert – Professor in Wagstaff’s office
  • Nat Pendleton – Darwin football player MacHardie
  • James Pierce – Darwin football player Mullen
  • Theresa Harris – Laura, Connie’s maid
  • Walter Brennan – Football commentator (uncredited)

Duck Soup

This was the fifth and last movie The Marx Brothers made for Paramount. In the other Paramount movies, Groucho is usually put in a position of power. Hotel manager, Explorer, the Dean of a college but in this one he actually runs a country.

While Groucho who plays Rufus T. Firefly is president of Freedonia, Harpo and Chico play Pinky and Chicolini who are spies for a rival country named Sylvania. Freedonia is near bankruptcy and Sylvania trying to take it over. Rufus declares war and manages to get Pinky and Chicolini on Freedonia’s side.

In later MGM movies, The Marx Brothers were sympathetic figures. In this film, they were the definition of anarchy. The Brother’s irreverence is raised many notches in this movie than any other they did.

The film did not do great at the box office in 1933…but has since become a classic. Personally, I like the Paramount movies the best. Their most successful movie was “A Night At The Opera” which was their first at MGM and it was produced by Irving Thalberg. Yes, it had more of a plot and the Brothers were great but were a bit tamer.

Margaret Dumont is brilliant as always as Groucho’s straight “man.”

If you want a great comedy watch this movie…you may even find out the answer to the burning question of “what is it that has four pair of pants, lives in Philadelphia, and it never rains but it pours?”…. well maybe you won’t…but watch it anyway.

Trying to explain the plot is almost like trying to describe in detail about a bomb exploding. In the Paramount movies, the plot was secondary to the Brothers running rampant.

Things were not great in the world while they were filming this movie. Below Harpo talks about working on the movie.

Harpo from “Harpo Speaks” about working on Duck Soup.

Acting in Duck Soup, our last picture for Paramount, was the hardest job I ever did. It was the only time I can remember that I worried about turning in a bad performance. The trouble was not with the working hours, the script, the director, or the falls I had to take (I never used a stunt man or a double). The trouble was Adolf Hitler. His speeches were being rebroadcast in America. Somebody had a radio on the set, and twice we suspended shooting to listen to him scream. Hindenburg had died. Hitler was now absolute dictator of Germany. He threatened to scrap the Versailles Treaty and create a German navy and air force. He threatened to grab off Austria and part of Czechoslovakia. He threatened to go beyond the boycott and revoke the citizenship of all Jews.
I never knew until then what the emotion of pure anger was like, how it felt to be sore enough to want to hit somebody in cold blood. A lot of people I knew were shocked that I was so shocked. Nothing would really come of the dictator’s threats, they said. He was all bluff and hot air. His act was nothing more than a bad imitation of that other comic, Mussolini.