Groucho Marx

Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho’s House

Steve Stoliar wrote this book about being a student at UCLA and working at Groucho Marx’s house starting in 1974. This book is not about the peak years of The Marx Brothers or Groucho…just the opposite. It’s the decline of Groucho Marx’s health and his eventual death.

Steve was in UCLA heading up a petition to get “Animal Crackers” released again to theaters for which he was successful. The Marx Brothers popularity was on the rise again. Groucho traveled to the campus to help out. Groucho’s PA Erin Fleming eventually hired Steve as a secretary and archivist. Steve worked in Groucho’s house for a little over 3 years. He was a huge fan not only of Groucho but of old Hollywood.

The number of famous people who passed through Groucho’s house was incredible. Old Hollywood stars and also new ones at the time. Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Bud Cort (Harold and Maude), Alice Cooper, Dick Cavett, Woody Allen, Mae West, Queen (they are not in the book though), and many writers from the early days of motion pictures.

The sad part of this story is Erin Flemming (no relation to Harpo’s wife Susan Flemming). She was mentally unstable and both helped Groucho and hurt him. She would scream, berate, and push Groucho to make appearances he had no business doing in his condition. She convinced Groucho that his kids were terrible and she actually tried to get him to adopt her as his daughter. She would fire people for any reason and be very unpredictable.

After Groucho passed on it took years before the court case between Erin and Groucho’s son Arthur Marx to settle. Erin ended up losing and she was in and out of mental hospitals and wandering the LA streets for the rest of her life.

Steve slowly builds a friendship with Groucho and many of the celebrities who pass through the house. Steve didn’t seem to embellish anything in the book. There are only a couple of celebrities he said anything bad about. One was Barbara Streisand…which I totally can see after hearing other stories about her.

As a matter of fact, there’s really only one time that I can recall being officially snubbed at Groucho’s house. It was when Elliott Gould arranged for his ex-wife, Barbra Streisand, to come with him one Sunday afternoon along with their young son, Jason. Streisand never made eye contact with me the whole time she was there nor acknowledged my presence in the room even when I was speaking. It was as though I didn’t exist. Others spoke to me and Streisand made comments to the people around me, but to her I was, apparently, invisible.

Groucho had a number of mini-strokes and year by year he worsened. He would have good days and bad ones but he never lost his wit. Steve was/is a true fan. He relished working there with his hero. Imagine being nineteen years old and working for a celebrity you really admire. That would have been like me working for John Lennon (or Groucho)…which would have been incredible.

Groucho’s health was fine until around 1972 when he had his first stroke. That is when he started to really age. In the early seventies, he would appear on talk shows with his quick wit and singing songs. After the stroke, you could tell a difference.

Steve was there until the very end and ended up as a television writer and a cartoon voiceover actor.

This is a very interesting book. I will say again that Steve is about as fair as you can get retelling stories. Groucho’s daughters would go on to say that he was very truthful. Some say he was too easy on Erin and some said he was too hard on her… I would say it’s only for Groucho fans but you get a lot of Marx Brothers stories and some information about old Hollywood.

Steve and Groucho

Rob Zombie wants to make a movie out of this book. That kind of takes me by surprise…not that a movie could be made…but that Rob Zombie wants to do it.

https://1428elm.com/2018/06/16/waiting-for-groucho-marxs-raised-eyebrows-from-rob-zombie/

As it just so happens, in an interview Zombie mentioned that his favorite book was Raised Eyebrows written by Groucho’s former assistant, Steve Stoliar. It details the last years of the comedian’s life through Stoliar’s eyes.

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.

Comedian Quotes

I’ve been watching some older comedy movies…I thought I’d pick out some quotes by these early great comedians.

W.C. Fields

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it.

If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.

Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.

I like children. If they’re properly cooked.

I never hold a grudge. As soon as I get even with the son-of-a bitch, I forget it.

I was in love with a beautiful blond once. She drove me to drink. That’s the one thing I’m indebted to her for.

A man is only as old as the woman he feels.

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

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

I married your mother because I wanted children, imagine my disappointment when you came along

Please accept my resignation. I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member

Stan Laurel

You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be led.

If any of you cry at my funeral I’ll never speak to you again.

I had a dream that I was awake and I woke up to find myself asleep.

Humor is the truth; wit is an exaggeration of the truth.

Buster Keaton

A comedian does funny things. A good comedian does things funny.

Charlie Chaplin and I would have a friendly contest: Who could do the feature film with the least subtitles?

If one more person tells me this is just like old times, I swear I’ll jump out the window.

Harpo Marx

The passing of an ordinary man is sad. The passing of a great man is tragic, and doubly tragic when the greatness passes before the man does.

If things get too much for you and you feel the whole world’s against you, go stand on your head. If you can think of anything crazier to do, do it.

Charlie Chaplin

It isn’t the ups and downs that make life difficult; it’s the jerks.

You’ll never find rainbows, If you’re looking down…

A day without laughter is a day wasted.

Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.

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)

Groucho Marx Quotes

Groucho had the best one-liners than just about anyone else.

“Please accept my resignation. I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member”

“I was married by a judge… I should have asked for a jury”

“A man’s only as old as the woman he feels”

“As soon as I get through with you, you’ll have a clear case for divorce and so will my wife

“I married your mother because I wanted children, imagine my disappointment when you came along”

“Behind every successful man is a woman, behind her is his wife”

“Women should be obscene not heard”

“Marriage is the chief cause of divorce”

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

“Those are my principles If you don’t like them I have more”

“You’ve got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I’ll bet he was glad to get rid of it ”

“Who are you going to believe, me or your lyin’ eyes?”

“Paying alimony is like feeding hay to a dead horse”

“Remember men, you are fighting for this lady’s honor; which is probably more than she ever did”

“Last night I shot an elephant in my Pajamas and how he got in my pajamas I’ll never know”

“I worked myself up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty”

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.