The other day, I was shocked to find out that most people don’t have a working knowledge as to the names of the Marx Brothers. Imagine!  Seeing as the next few posts here at GB, HR. will revolve around all things Marxian, I thought it might be a fine idea to put up some sort of guide to the Brothers Marx. From left to right:

• Chico Marx as the piano-playing, heavily Italian-accented punster, so-named because he was the one who – in real life – always got the chicks;
• Groucho Marx, the grouchy wisecracker, in his trademark greasepaint mustache and eyebrows;
• Harpo Marx, the mischievous silent partner – except for the occasional horn, whistle, or prerequisite/eponymous Harp solo – dressed in an oversized coat-of-many-tricks,
• Zeppo Marx (the optional brother) as the pretty boy, named Zeppo because of a childhood affinity to Zeppelin airships;
• Margaret Dumont (pictured below, sharing a sody-pop with Groucho) as the hoity-toity Gilded Age holdover and foil to the Marxs’ antics – indeed, Groucho sometimes called her “the fifth Marx Brother.”

Nacido con no otro objetivo que descolocar, desconcertar y desesperar a cualquier persona que se encuentre a su alrededor, Groucho (Julius Henry Marx), a veces director de un hotel, otras veterinario o primer ministro de Libertonia siempre consigue con su ingenio e ironía caernos simpático e incluso desear cruzárnoslo en algún momento de nuestras vidas; aún siendo conscientes de que la gente que le rodea está próxima a sufrir un tick nervioso en el ojo izquierdo.

En sus escenas si algo no existe es el silencio del que es un aunténtico experto su compañero y hermano en la vida real Harpo (Adolph Marx hasta 1911, año en que cambió su nombre por el de Arthur) que aunque le falte el sentido del habla no le hace falta emitir sonidos para expresarse.Tanto sus enfados y sentimientos  como sus ocurrencias quedan claras gracias al harpa que acostubra a tocar (de ahí su nombre artístico), o gracias a la bocina que le suele acompañar. Pero si esto fallara a su lado siempre esta su también hermano Chico, que hace las veces de su voz y voto.

Otras veces Chico (Leonard Marx) se asemeja más a su hermano menor Groucho al poseer una habilidad nata para marear la perdíz. Siempre acompañado por Harpo hacen de compañeros de fechorías en distintas situaciones, aunque su especialidad es el timo. Disfruta y hace alarde de su don para confundir a la gente con el propósito (que por cierto siempre consigue)  de timarles.

Se dice que Chico es el responsable del sobrenombre de su hermano Zeppo (Herbert Marx) ya que comenzó a llamarle Zeb por el nombre de un cómico de su época, pero existen diferentes teorías acerca del procedimiento de este mote. Zeppo aparece tan sólo en las cinco primeras películas de estos, después cambió la actuación por la mecánica.  Es mucho más discreto y elegante que sus hermanos y en pocas ocasiones es cómico. El ser el más agraciado físicamente de los cinco hace que siempre tenga buena compañía femenina. Zeppo estuvo especialmente unido a su hermano Gummo ya que ninguno de los dos se decantó por el mundo del cine.

Gummo (Milton Marx) participó con sus hermanos en el tiempo del vodevil (género de humor dramático que crea situaciones cómicas) en los comienzos de los hermanos Marx como humoristas. Así Gummo no participó en ninguna de las películas de los hermanos al ser sustituido por Zeppo. Sirvió como soldado en la I Guerra Mundial y después formó junto a su hermanos Zeppo una agencia teatral. Finalmente vendieron esta agencia y Gummo se convirtió en el representante de Groucho.

I have been a huge Marx Brothers fan since I was in grade school and they are even better with age. Of course every young kid loves the speechless Harpo with his “talking horns” and his visual antics, and watching these over time, I realize what a genius Groucho Marx really is. They were absolutely great in bringing their heavily vaudeville influenced routines to the silver screen.

You can actually make a pretty plausible argument that this is the Marx Brothers  best movie, and also make a serious case that this could be the funniest movie ever made. I believe it was number 2 on AFIs funniest list, just behind Some Like It Hot. Personally, I give the nod to the Marx brothers over Some Like It Hot.

This movie really does play like a vaudeville comedy routine with a very short running time of 68 minutes. Every joke, gag and pause pulled off with impeccable timing. This is a very tight movie with no downtime, it is laughs from start to finish. Duck Soup does not feature the usual musical interludes with Harpo playing the harp and Chico playing the piano, which some find refreshing, and some don’t. 

Groucho, Harpo and Chico are without a doubt greta comedic talents, and in my eyes the very best at what they did. A special hats off to Marx Brothers movie regular, Margaret Dumont, who plays the straight role for Groucho to double talk to the entire movie. How she goes through these films with a straight face is beyond me.

If you have never seen this film, do yourself a favor and watch it sometime. It is good clean fun, and still funny as it ever was. May be the funniest ever made!

Je suis comme Godard un marxiste pur et dur. Trop ignorés à mon goût en France, alors qu’ils ont acquis le statut de dieu de la comédie chez nos voisins et outre-Atlantique, les quatre, puis trois Marx furent ce que le burlesque, le loufoque et le foutraque connurent de mieux au cinéma. Monkey Business est le troisième des cinq films réunissant les quatre frères avant le départ de Zeppo.

Nos quatre amis voyagent à l’œil, en clandestin, sur un bateau de croisière devant rallier New-York. Leur situation les oblige donc à filouter pour échapper aux officiers de bord. Cela donne bien évidemment lieu à des scènes particulièrement tordantes, que les inconditionnels des frangins ne peuvent se lasser: Groucho qui découvre l’amour dans un placard, Harpo se liant d’amitié avec un grenouille et imitant à la perfection les marionnettes, les quatres frères s’essayant tour à tour à se faire passer pour Maurice Chevalier (“if a nightingale could sing like you…”) ou encore l’ultime combat entre Zeppo et un gangster pour les yeux d’une belle commenté de manière hilarante par Groucho. On a également le droit dans cet opus à une partie de piano de la part Chico et sa fameuse technique dite du “doigt-revolver”.

Qu’on s’entende bien. Aucun film des Marx Brothers n’est un chef-d’oeuvre sur le strict plan cinématographique (même si l’on retrouve régulièrement Duck Soup ou A Night at the Opera dans les classements cinéphiles). Cependant, l’énergie qui s’en dégage, et notamment dans Monnaie de singe, en font des incontournables du cinéma comique auxquels on revient plus ou moins régulièrement, mais avec un plaisir toujours intact.

Image via Wikipedia

Check out these patent-holding celebrity inventors:

1. Abraham Lincoln invented a convoluted device that involved putting a set of bellows on the bottom of a boat.
2. Christie Brinkley received a patent for an educational toy she designed in 1991 that seems to mostly be useful for helping kids learn the alphabet.
3. Eddie Van Halen invented a support that could flip out of the back of his axe’s body to raise and stabilize the fretboard so he could tap out searing songs like “Eruption.”
4. Gary Burghoff invented a device he calls “Chum Magic,” a floating apparatus that fishermen can fill with chum to lure fish to their boats.
5. Hedy Lamarr received a patent for a “secret communication system” that could use carrier waves of different frequencies to remotely control devices like zeppelins and torpedoes.
6. Jamie Lee Curtis designed and patented a disposable diaper that included a waterproof pocket that held baby wipes.
7. Lawrence Welk received a design patent for a new type of ashtray that looked like an accordion.
8. Marlon Brando received a patent for a “drumhead tensioning device and method,” one of several patents he held for drum devices.
9. Michael Jackson patented this “method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion” in 1993.
10. Penn Jillette received a patent for a “hydro-therapeutic stimulator”–a spa with jets strategically located to make the experience enjoyable for female bathers. [Hmmm]
11. Prince got the thumbs-up for a design patent for a “portable keyboard instrument.”…a keytar.
12. Steven McQueen filed a design patent for an improved bucket seat.
13. Zeppo Marx received a patent for a cardiac pulse rate monitor that was designed to let people with heart problems know if their pulse was shifting into a danger zone.

Get more details about the patents at the website below.

Source

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Those madcap Marx Brothers are at it all over again with 1933’s Duck Soup, a balls-to-the-wall comedy that deliciously revels in its anarchy. Written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, this would be the last Marx Brothers film to feature Zeppo Marx and would be the last of the five Marx Brothers movies released by Paramount Pictures. Interestingly, Duck Soup wasn’t a great performer at the box office and opened to mixed reviews.

Duck Soup is terrific because it pulsates with this great sense of cynicism towards patriotism. As the follow-up to Horse Feathers, this movie is couched in an awful lot of behind-the-scenes turmoil. Paramount was being reorganized and there were fears that the Marx Brothers would not be paid for their work. This led to the quartet suggesting that they form their own production company. They began to plan some independent productions when their uncle, Frenchie, passed away. The contract dispute was solved in the meantime and production for Duck Soup got underway at Paramount.

The comedy centers on Freedonia, a small penniless country led by Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx). Firefly has been put in charge by Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont), who agrees to finance the country if Firefly remains as the leader. The neighbouring Sylvania has other plans, however, and wants to take over Freedonia. Led by ambassador Trentino (Louis Calhern) with designs on starting a revolution, a plan is put in motion to spy on Freedonia and get behind-the-scenes to overthrow the government.

Trentino’s plan is put in motion using two spies: Chicolini (Chico Marx) and Pinky (Harpo Marx). They infiltrate the government by getting jobs from Firefly, but their ineptitude leads to very little information and war is soon on the horizon due to Firefly’s insolence towards Trentino. Firefly’s insolence is, at least in part, suggested by his personal assistant Bob Roland (Zeppo Marx). This leads to a hilarious finale in which the two nations go to war and general mayhem takes over.

Duck Soup is the particular motion picture Woody Allen’s Mickey Sachs is watching in Hannah and Her Sisters. He is feeling low on life and doesn’t find much purpose for living, but as he watches the Marx Brothers’ zany antics in Duck Soup, he discovers a zest for life and humour and feels that things will work out okay. It is safe to say that such an effect from Duck Soup is not surprising or unrealistic, as the Marx Brothers’ inspired lunacy is enough for countless belly laughs.

Punctuated by Groucho’s one-liners and Harpo’s physical comedy, Duck Soup has more than its fair share of gags worthy of legend in the hall of comic moments. The mirror gag, in which Harpo dresses as Groucho and attempts to shadow Groucho’s every move, is a classic sequence. There is also the hilarious production number towards the end of the film in which the characters sing about the upcoming war and the line “This means war!” is proudly introduced.

As a searing indictment of war (who can forget Groucho’s line: “You’re a brave man. Go and break through the lines. And remember, while you’re out there risking your life and limb through shot and shell, we’ll be in be in here thinking what a sucker you are”) and a madcap comedy classic, Duck Soup can’t be missed. It is absolutely essential in the canon of film comedy.

9.7/10

Trailer:

Play it by Ear’s Thrilling Days of Yesteryear company presents The Lux Radio Theater’s adaptation of The Maltese Falcon at The Works in Pacific Grove. Featuring: Steve Kane as Sam Spade, with Rob Eaton, Geoff Mutch, Victoria Blaszczak, and David Manchel. Saturday, May 30 at 7:00pm and Sunday, May 31 at 6:00pm, $5 admission.

Play it by Ear’s A Signal to Noise presents StarStruck: a Benefit for “Gentleman Gene” Colan at The Henry Miller Library. Saturday, August 15 at 7:30pm, $12.00 admission.

Since moving the blog to Worpress, I’ve been amazed at how much I’ve been blogging. Sure, most of the blogs are re-treads and updated posts from the old “Blah Blah Blah’g” but still…

I’ll have more to talk about soon, but for right now I would like to point out another WordPress site, and for me this one’s pretty important. One of the most successful Thrilling Days shows I produced was Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel, the lost Marx Brothers radio show from 1932/33, so for about two years I was (and I guess still am) something of a “Marxophile,” connected via Flywheel. I recently learned that the Yorkville home where Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo, and Gummo grew up, 179 East 93rd Street, the Mecca for many a Marx Brothers fan, is under threat by developers who plan to tear it down for yet another condo.

I could go on and on about this, and someday I will, but to summarize New York City is continually under siege by developers who see dollars over history. It’s only a matter of years before the buildings representing what was New York are gone forever. Now that same shadow looms over Marx Brothers Place, and we need your help to save it. I don’t sign that many online petitions: this one was worth my signature. So do me a huge favor, especially if you’re a Marx Brothers fan, or if you appreciate American history: click the link below and add your name. You’ll make Groucho, wherever he is, a lot less grouchier.

http://savemarxbrothersplace.wordpress.com/please-sign-our-petitions-to-save-marx-brothers-place/

Title: Duck Soup
Year: 1933
Director: Leo McCarey
Writers: Bert Kalmar & Harry Ruby (story), Arthur Sheekman & Nat Perrin (dialog)
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico & Zeppo), Margaret Dumont
Music: John Leipold
Distinctions: currently #193 on IMDb’s Top 250
Synopsis: Groucho is a dictator, and Chico and Harpo are enemy spies
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), December 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10
Objective Rating: 4/10 (gets points for concept, dialog, pacing and subjective rating)

Funny, but not great-comedies-of-all-time funny. It doesn’t help that most of the good gags have been stolen and improved hundreds of times. Harpo is fantastic, but otherwise the performances were disappointing.

Gestern wäre der jüngste der Marx Bothers 108 Jahre alt geworden. 25.02 1901 als Herbert Marx in New York geboren.

Wollte ich mal nur so sagen.

Bonifatius

So are you one of those people who’s downright sick of hearing about the (in)famous Superbowl? This is the time of year where those peculiar people called “Non Sports Fans” sit around their house, wearily looking for something, ANYTHING to do that doesn’t involve touch downs or pre game shows. Many of us watch anyway, if only to anticipate those witty, often groundbreaking commercial breaks. Still, you don’t have to watch the Superbowl to do that (thanks, Internet!).

Even if you catch this Blog entry a little late, you’re probably STILL hearing about the oh-so-big game Monday morning! For those who do not appreciate such things, what to do, what to do?

Well I know what I’ll be doing! While others will be watching the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals in 2009, I’ll be cheering on Huxley and Darwin, circa 1932.

What the heck am I talking about? I’m talking about that classic comedy, that witty and anarchic take on the game of football and collegiate life, the Marx Brothers film, Horse Feathers.

By 1932, the brothers had already reeked their havoc on hotel lobbies, high society parties and one steamship. It is clear to me that by 1931’s Monkey Business (that’s the one with the steamship), the writers were starting to approach the creation of the Marx Brothers’ films on the basis of, “Gee, I wonder what would happen if they were on a boat!”  In the same way, I can easily imagine the next set of writers speculating, “Now I wonder, what would happen if the Marx Brothers went to college?!” Thus Horse Feathers was born.

Horse Feathers isn’t the most well known of the Marx Brothers’ films, though it is among the five Paramount projects generally considered to be the brothers’ best. There’s the familiar set up; Groucho Marx is conning high society again, this time taking on the role of Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new Head of Huxley College. True to form, even in disguse he can’t quite help himself: “Well I thought my razor was dull until I heard his speech! And that reminds me of a story that’s so dirty I’m ashamed to think of it myself!”

Professor Wagstaff finds he’s running a college that hasn’t won a football game since 1888 (Wow…don’t you feel young?!). His son, a student at Huxley (played by Zeppo “Thankless Role” Marx), suggests he hire two professional football players for the upcoming big game.

Once again, Wagstaff can’t quite take his role of professor (or conman) seriously. Instead of hiring the two ringers and keeping up his deception as a competent college dean, he ends up hiring the slightly crooked Baravelli the Ice Man (played by the Italian Marx Brother, Chico Marx) and the altogether unhinged Pinky the Dog Catcher (surrounded by hungry dogs and angry policeman is of course, Harpo Marx).

Neither is likely to help win the big game. Huxley needs two big, brawny, not to mention skilled football players to succeed. The Marx Brothers are, in contrast, rather short and scrawny and useless in a fight (not to mention any organized event)! That is…if this was any other 1930’s football movie.

Let’s back up a bit. Turner Classic Movies has been kind enough to share with us a whole day of 1930s football films this weekend, in celebration of the Superbowl. It’s interesting, nowadays the football films we’re used to involve the underdog team that manages to come out on top in the end. But it seems 1930s football movies had summaries that read “Gangster turns straight after joining college football team” or “Gamblers kidnap Quarterback to stall the big game!”

How times have changed! But in any case, the heroes of such films seem to be your typical football player. Again, tough, burly, not too bright but knows his game. This description certainly fits the two ringers mentioned earlier in Horse Feathers, named Mullen and McCarty. But then again, this isn’t their movie! This is Marx Brothers’ territory.

Towards the middle of Horse Feathers, Wagstaff sends Baravelli and the Dog Catcher on a mission to kidnap Mullen and McCarty, who are now playing for the other college team. We quickly discover our Marx boys are out of their league. Physically, they’re no match for the two broad shoulders ringers. And they’re so cluelessly confident in their own toughness that they end up getting kidnapped themselves (Not to mention stripped of their clothes! Don’t worry 1930’s audience, they’re wearing their Long Johns!). As Baravelli finally comprehends, “We come to kidnap them and they kidnap up! That’s-a fix-a fine we’re in!”

One can’t help but feel bad for Baravelli and the Dog Catcher at this point. They’re every little boy who’s picked last in the school yard. Bossy sports people triumph yet again. The only weapon the brothers’ really have is their unbreakable wit, not to mention their unbelievable gall. Most people would get embarrassed by being forcibly separated from their clothing! But Harpo turns it into a game, cheerfully tearing off his clothes before the ringers have a chance to do it first and cheekily adopting a mock modest pose. Chico’s expression isn’t quite one of embarrassment, but rather more of concern and shock. He really did think  they had the upper hand until the very last second! His next thought seems to be protecting Harpo from taking on the football bullies again. He’s less worried about his own embarrassment and more concerned about his friend’s well being. The bullies may laugh, thinking they’ve won the day. But they haven’t, because the Marxes didn’t give into embarrassment or shame. They threw it all back in the bullies’ faces with humor and camaraderie.

That same clueless confidence that got Baravelli and the Dog Catcher kidnapped in the first place is also how they ultimately saw their way to freedom. No that’s not a grammar error, they literally use saws to cut through the floor of their prison, nevermind it’s the very floor they’re sitting on!

This isn’t typical mindless slapstick humor. It’s not watching them inevitably crash to the first floor that’s funny. It’s the fact that they don’t seem to care.  Plus the fact that they managed to crash into a lady’s Bridge game (quite literally), prompting a deadpan Baravelli to casually comment, “Well partner, I guess we made a grand slam.” While other comedians get laughs by being in pain, the Marx Brothers get laughs by being above it all…that and witty puns.

The finale of the movie is, of course, the football game, if you could call it that. The Marx Brothers (as usual) prove anarchy is mightier than any touch down, scrimmage or huddle. Among the highlights are:

Ref: Why weren’t you in that last scrimmage?

Wagstaff: I’m sitting this one out…

Ref: What are you doing with that cigar in your mouth?

Wagstaff: Why, you know another way to smoke it?

Baravelli: Signal! Hey diddle diddle, the cat in the fiddle, this time I think we go up the middle!

Not to mention the classic moment where the pompous Ref informs the Dog Catcher he can only tackle the man who has the ball. Naturally, the Ref has the ball. And naturally, the Dog Catcher pins him down! Once again, it’s not the violence that’s particularly comical. It’s Harpo’s motivation, or lack their of. There’s nothing to gain by tackling the Ref and he knows it. But he feels like tackling someone, especially someone who’s just told him what he can’t do. That’s the essence of the Marx Brothers’ humor. Anarchy, because they feel like it. Especially when the haughty establishment pushes you around (But don’t try that at home, kids. This is the movies!).

Of course, (AND SPOILER HERE) it’s not entirely without motivation; Huxley does end up winning the game thanks to our unlikely heroes. I won’t go into too much more; I still want you to watch this film, hehe. Just a suggestion for anyone who finds themselves bored this weekend or any other time. Both sports fans and non sports fans alike. I recommend the Marx Brothers, and Horse Feathers.

So unless you’ve been living under, as they say, a rock, you’ll know our country’s facing serious troubles right now. Unemployment is the worst it’s been in years, with career fair lines stretching around the corner, eerily reminiscent of the bread lines of the 1930’s Great Depression. No, we’re not quite that bad off yet (::knock wood and thank God::). Still, Americans have every right and reason to be nervous, and feel betrayed by their government, not to mention the wealthier class.

According to the newspapers, Americans are diligently sending out their resumes and cover letters, only to find that millions of other Americans are too. Competition is stiff, to say the least. The present we live in is full of uncertainty and resentment. And the present is really all we have. Americans everywhere are asking, what will we do?

Fortunately the present has a friend, called the past, to learn from. Eighty years ago (not so long ago in the grand scheme really), we faced the same fear and uncertainty when the stock market crashed in 1929. People turned to a lot of things to escape the Great Depression, but by far the most remembered is the entertainment.

Is it really a coincidence that the time of the Great Depression was also the Golden Age of Hollywood? Not really, when you consider the intricacies of human nature. Why do we enjoy movies? More importantly, when do we enjoy them? When things are good? Well occasionally yes. But on the other hand, when things are good, we have family and friends to hang out with. We have jobs to go to and ways to keep busy. Movies are then just the background soundtrack of our lives. In reality, I think we mainly seek entertainment when things are at their worst.

When lonely, we turn to fictional characters to keep us company. When feeling the pains of injustice, we watch socially conscious movies to motivate us. When depressed, we look to comedy to make us laugh. As the documentary Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? put it, “The lean, mean 30’s when America laughed…to keep from crying!”

And is it also a coincidence that 1929 also saw the beginning of the film careers of The Marx Brothers? The zany comedy quartet took on the pompous, greedy establishment of the 1930s, not only with their biting yet witty remarks, but with their ability to laugh gleefully in the face of their troubles.

Author Glenn Mitchell once explained that the brothers’ films reflected the different ways audiences responded to the Great Depression as the years went by, going from intellectual cynicism to cheerful rebellion. In the beginning, audiences sought to voice their resentment towards the establishment (which the Marx Brothers were very adept at doing!). But as things began to improve and people just wanted to be cheered up “it made better economic sense for comedians to be lovable, rather than the hard boiled cynics they’d been…” No matter what the state of affairs, The Marx Brothers were truly the perfect comedians for the turbulent 30’s.

While many critics view the brothers’ change in attitude on film as a problem, I personally see it as a strength. Groucho Marx often said that he and his brothers wished to reach a broad audience with their work. And with their films they managed to inspire everyone affected by the Depression, from the disillusioned artists to the disenfranchised laborers. Eighty years later, the Marx Brothers’ humor and remarks on society are still fresh…and we need them more than ever.

In 1970, the musical Minnie’s Boys was created, based on the brothers’ early careers and the inspiration of their ambitious but loving mother Minnie. Back when the brothers were Julie (short for Julius), Leo, Adolph and Herbie, instead of Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo. 

I call Minnie’s Boys a “Lost Treasure” because unfortunately the show failed to find an audience at the time for a variety of reasons. Today it’s very difficult to find an inexpensive CD of the soundtrack. Still, don’t think that means it’s not worth seeing. Having had the pleasure to see one of a three-night production of the show at The York Theatre a few months ago, I can assure you this was not the case. The actors portraying the brothers and their mother were both witty and heartfelt. You laughed with them, felt their pain and cheered them on from beginning to end.

Not only did it feel as though I were witnessing a new Marx Brothers movie, but for the first time I got to experience them in what was probably their best venue, the stage. For the Brothers truly are meant to be seen with a loud, cheerful and very satisfied audience. : D

Of course, it also had the drawback of the stage, in that I could not take the show home with me on DVD. Still, perhaps the gods of classic comedy were trying to teach me a lesson we all could use in these modern times–enjoy the moment. Even without DVDs, I’ll never forget the experience. If you have a chance to see a production near you, I highly recommend. ;) 

Just a few updated notes here, Groucho (at this point still named Julie) was played as a sort of long-suffering, frustrated, brooding intellectual. Nursing unlikely dreams of becoming a doctor, Julie is forever embarrassed by his lot in life as a Vaudeville performer, subject to the boos and hisses of fickle audiences and the tyranny of theatrical big wigs.

At one point, Julie and his brothers are forced to make a hasty and humorous retreat from a burly bully, taking a quick detour through a stage show already in progress. Trying to crouch out of sight, Julie, quite unintentionally, creates the famous “Groucho walk” in the process!  The incident is later mistaken for a comedy routine and a theater manager urges the boys to add some funny to their act. Mr. Theater Manager particularly urges Julie to include that hilarious “walk you do.” Young Julie is decidedly not amused!

Still, by the end, Julie finally embraces his comedic destiny. In creating his soon-to-be famous screen character, Julie cheerfully brainstorms, “Ok, I’ll walk with a crouch!”, sarcastically adding, “Ya know…the ‘walk I do.’ ” ; )

Over the course of the play, we come to understand the source of at least some of Julie’s tension. Older brother Leo is a charming yet all too frequently absent figure in their lives, too busy placing bets and chasing the chicks (hence his soon-to-be moniker, Chico). An attractive female presenter is all the motivation Leo needs to abruptly abandon his brothers on stage, two seconds before their first number!

It’s not really that Leo’s bad, just clearly very coddled by his doting mother Minnie, who finds every reason to excuse or ignore his irresponsible behavior. His uncanny ability to turn up prospects and faithfully bolster the brothers’ career also serves to distract from his annoying habit of losing the family’s money (and at times their clothes) in gambling sprees. Still you genuinely feel the family’s continual frustration and disappointment, familiar to any parent or sibling dealing with the pains of addiction.

Leo’s undeniable loyalty to the group is proven yet again in the end as he arranges their comeback performance; but sadly his gambling issue is never really resolved (as it never really was in real life). What comes to mind here is a comment made by one Marx Brothers fan on the website FindaGrave.com. Sort of a virtual cemetery to pay your respects to the dearly departed, including public figures. This fan’s tribute to Leonard “Chico” Marx reads: “I am so sorry your life was marred by gambling and you may have been able to live better than you did. I hope you are at peace and away from the bookies!” I think most Marx Brothers fans would concur. : )

Minnie’s Boys makes it clear the brothers Marx never had success handed to them. They struggled for years to stay afloat in Vaudeville, their career marked with letdowns, setbacks and disappointments. Coming from humble beginnings, they didn’t have much to lean on when things got tough. All they really had was their family, their individual unique talents and, as I said, the ability to keep going and laugh at their troubles.

I was fortunate enough to find a relatively inexpensive record album of the original Minnie’s Boys soundtrack (thanks Amazon!). I’d like to share a couple of the more memorable songs. The first number comes at a point where the boys have missed out on a great opportunity and are left stuck in a boarding house with no income, less food and even less hope.

Here the boys glumly reflect on the qualities that make each of them special and unique, and should make them successful.  But they are just kidding themselves. They were foolish to think brains, talent, looks, humor and chutzpah matter anything in this world. As they cynically observe, despite all the gifts they possess, they “blew the one thing you need to get by.” Namely, that elusive thing known as luck.

Anyone who has ever job hunted can identify with their pain. How many job seekers sent out solid, eye catching, even ideal resumes, only to have them discarded for simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time? And in an economic recession, the challenges become even more formidable. Here now, the young Marx Brothers voice the frustration of job hunters everywhere who send out their resumes time and again to rejection, and wonder…

Where Was I When They Passed Out the Luck?

Adolf/Harpo: Just think…a few more months and we might have played at The Palace.

Leo/Chico: Yeah, and Mom had to louse it up…Of all the dirty rotten luck!

Julie/Groucho: Is there any other kind?….Where was I when they passed out brains? Right at the head of the line! Where was I when they passed out talent? Right up front in line! But when it came to the line where they handed out the luck, where was your smart, clever friend? Back showing off his talent and brains to the bums lining up at the end!

Herbie/Zeppo: Where was I when they passed out looks? Needless to say I was there. Who’ll deny in the charm department, Herbie got more than his share? But when the time rolled around and they handed out the luck, where was your good looking clown? Out trying out my profile and charm on a girl in a neighboring town!

Adolph/Harpo: We all got a great sense of humor…

All: Ah ha ha…

Adolph/Harpo: …the day they were passing the pot. We all got a great sense of humor.

All: Ah ha ha….And we need all we got!

Leo/Chico: Where was I when they passed out guts? Mister, I opened the store! I’m the guy who invented chutzpah, show me a guy who’s got more! But when they yelled, ‘Get yer luck cause it’s running out fast! Step up and get your supply!’ Me with my guts and chutzpah…

Julie/Groucho: And me with my brains and talent…

Herbie/Zeppo: And me with my charm and profile…

Adolph/Harpo: And ha ha ha…

All: …Blew the one thing you need to get by! Where was I? Where was I? Where was I?

Music by Larry Grossman. Lyrics by Hal Hackady. Original album: Music Publisher: Sunbeam Music, Inc./BMI/A Metromedia Company. Copyright 1970 Project 3 The Total Sound Inc. 1270 Avenue of the Americas/New York 10020.

What I love most about the Marx Brothers’ films is that the brothers aren’t impervious to trouble.  Despite their bravado and fierce independence, things don’t always go well for them. Nor are they entirely unsympathetic when an innocent is suffering. In their films there is always a bully somewhere to pick on the weak. And many fans insist the brothers’ greatest strength, whether on stage, film or real life, is their ability to remain tough and cheerful despite the cares of the world. When you think about it, it takes more guts to be optimistic when things look bleak, than it does to be a downer.

In Minnie’s Boys once again, the family must decide to take a risk in order to get their careers back on track. Nothing is certain. They may fall flat on their faces. On the other hand, they might get back up only to become the best classic comedians of all time! Here, their mother Minnie insists life is worth living, and success is worth obtaining, even if you must suffer a bit on your way there. In the same way, job hunters might suffer rejection again and again, but taking a chance on just one more application could mean the difference between success and failure. Perhaps this job will go through! And if it doesn’t, hey you’ve still got your solid resume! There will always be troubles in life, recession or no. What matters is how you chose to deal with them. You can let them defeat you…or you can laugh them gleefully in the face. : D

One final number from that Lost Treasure Minnie’s Boys, as Mama encourages her boys to just…

Be Happy

Minnie: It’s your life, not my life. You have to live it, not me. All I want, all I ever wanted, is for all my boys to be…happy. Life’s a beautiful mess, but live and nevertheless, be happy. Life is full of regrets, but let’s forget ‘em and let’s be happy. Life’s a joke but you know, the laugh’s on all of us so be happy, happy. You can like it or not, but a lifetime’s all that you got to live.

Time keeps ticking away and soon we all gotta pay the piper. People starve on the route because they wait till the fruit is sweeter, riper. Life’s the bat of an eye. You’re born, you life and you die, so be happy. Look, you never could tell, why you’re here might as well be happy. If life is a mistake, it’s one we all gotta make, be happy, happy. Life is over before you get your foot in the door, my sons.

So go and blow your balloon and never worry how soon you’ll break it! Life’s the shell or the nut, it all depends upon what you make it. One thing everyone knows, you get a thorn with the rose so take it, take it. Life is little to spare, find your happiness where you can. Find your happiness where you can…

Adolph/Harpo: Life’s a pie in the face, but getting hit’s no disgrace, be happy.

Herbie/Zeppo: Life’s a song and a dance, come on and give it a chance, be happy.

Leo/Chico: Life’s a toss of the dice, you want a gambler’s advice? Be happy, happy.

Herbie/Zeppo: Life is all that we got, but that’s a hell of a lot, my friends.

All: Let’s go and blow our balloon and never worry how soon we’ll break it! Life’s the shell or the nut, it all depends upon what you make it. One thing everyone knows, you get the thorn with the rose. But take it, take it. Life is little to spare, find your happiness where you can. Find your happiness where you can.

Music by Larry Grossman. Lyrics by Hal Hackady. Original album: Music Publisher: Sunbeam Music, Inc./BMI/A Metromedia Company. Copyright 1970 Project 3 The Total Sound Inc. 1270 Avenue of the Americas/New York 10020.

While we’re waiting for things to cool down in the present, let’s take a cue from 1930s Americans, who sought and found their refuge in the sometimes sad, sometimes funny, always entertaining silver screen.

Mitchell, Glen. Commentary from A Day at the Races DVD. MGM 1937. Warner Home Video 2004.

An exercise in zany humour and wit, Horse Feathers is the fourth Marx Brothers film. With Groucho, Harpo, Zeppo, and Chico, this comedy classic ought to be required viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in cinema or farce. Jam-packed with one-liners, sight gags, surreal humour, musical numbers, and slapstick, Horse Feathers exemplifies the vaudeville roots of the Marx Brothers to perfection. In fact, many of the gags were taken from the Marx Brothers’ stage comedy Fun in Hi Skule.

The film’s screwball plot is secondary to the non-stop barrage of uproarious gags. Groucho is Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley College. Zeppo plays his son, Frank Wagstaff. Frank convinces his father to recruit professional football players to help the luckless Huxley College football team win some games. The elder Wagstaff goes to a local speakeasy to recruit the professional players, only to inadvertently recruit Baravelli (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo) instead.

As new football players, Baravelli and Pinky must becomes students at Huxley. Enrolled in classes, comic chaos ensues as the new president and his two new students engage in what can only be described as non-stop tomfoolery. There’s a love interest of sorts, too, as Thelma Todd plays Connie Bailey, the college widow dating Frank. Connie becomes involved with each character in some fashion. There is also a plot about kidnapping football players from a rival school and, as expected, it goes horribly and side-splittingly off beam.

Ruminating about the plot is almost a pointless affair, as Horse Feathers picks it up and puts it down so many times that it becomes a prop in this grand comedy. In essence, the audience is treated to the lawlessness of the Marx Brothers. Pandemonium reigns as Groucho spouts one witty riposte after another. His moustache, painted on and evermore iconic, gives him a paternal approach to Zeppo’s Frank. Yet he lacks every fatherly inclination, instead giving way to continuous disarray and incessant enjoyment.

Zeppo perhaps plays the “straight man” of the picture, but he does so in a way that is undoubtedly tacky. Much has been made about Zeppo’s refinement in contrast to the bedlam of his brothers and Horse Feathers provides copious examples of this. In many ways, Zeppo mirrored film clichés. In Horse Feathers, he mirrors and amplifies the stereotype of the “college man.” He is dating the college widow, for instance, and he plays her the straight verse of “Everyone Says I Love You.”

Chico Marx utilizes his usual stereotypical Italian character to perfection with his portrayal of Baravelli. An incredible piano player, he uses his talents well in Horse Feathers and comes up with an amazingly sweet yet extremely amusing verse of “Everyone Says I Love You.” He sings: “Everyone says I love you, the great big mosquito when-a he sting you, the fly when he gets stuck on the flypaper too, says I love you.” Another terrific scene involves Baravelli “guarding” the speakeasy and, with Groucho, piling one pun on top of the other until the whole house of cards collapses.

Finally, Harpo provides the slapstick and absurdist comedy that so often threatens to run off the rails. His Pinky is fantastic, appearing on the scene as a dog catcher. His character, as per usual, is mute and uses many a sight gag. Perhaps one of the more famous gags from Horse Feathers is when Pinky, upon being told that he can’t “burn the candle at both ends,” produces – you guessed it – a candle burning at both ends.

Horse Feathers is really about watching the Marx Brothers do what they do best. It is a riot from start to finish, top-loaded with witticisms, physical comedy, and one of the most famous football sequences ever put to film. Sadly, the only existing prints are missing several minutes and have damaged portions, the most notable damage occurring during the scene in which the Marx Brothers visit Connie Bailey’s apartment. Nevertheless, Horse Feathers is a true comedy classic brimming with delightful chaos and ecstatic passion.

9.7/10

Trailer:

Zeppo Marx as Horatio Jamison in the 1930 Marx Brothers Film Animal Crackers. As usual, Zeppo plays straight man to his brother Groucho.

Growing up in the pre-cable TV era, our choices of programming were quite limited and local television stations had to rely on old movies and reruns due to the high cost of producing original broadcasting. Even though our selection was limited it was a blessing in disguise. Other than TCM buffs (like myself) and the annual Christmas showings of It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol (the one starring Alistair Sim is the best, by the way), how often are the kids of today seeing the old black and white classics?

Some of my fondest memories growing up were thanks to these old Hollywood productions. I grew up watching Our Gang/Little Rascals on Saturday mornings which would play after the new cartoons of the time. On weekend evenings, my father and I would laugh hysterically at Laurel and Hardy and especially The Three Stooges. These shows would be repeated endlessly, and you’d learn them word for word, and slap by poke. They would take you back to a time that seemed so much simpler, so much more trusting and maybe naive. Whether it was real or not was beside the point.

Early Sunday afternoons, one of the stations broadcasting from Buffalo would play movies starring The Marx Brothers. At that age, Harpo Marx was by far the funniest because of his physical comedy. Whether mugging for the camera or revealing the inventory of his cloak, it was an easy segue from the physical comedy of Laurel and Hardy/The Three Stooges to Harpo. Yet I wasn’t completely sold on the Marx Brothers since so much of their humour went over my head. Nevertheless, I knew what I was watching was special and that there would be a time when I’d be better able to understand it and appreciate it.

I rediscovered the Marx Brothers during my university days and before you can say “Why a Duck?” I became a devoted fan. I recall watching A Night at the Opera and laughing throughout the entire film. The mix of anarchy with Harpo’s physical comedy plus the wordplay between Groucho and Chico along with the incredible singing and music of Il Trovatore won me over with ease. Shortly thereafter, I watched Animal Crackers (which I consider their best film) and was once again blown away by the multi-layered entertainment that was packaged so tight and neatly. Shortly thereafter, I bought every movie of theirs that was for sale and since then have watched them over and over again.

My favourite Marx brother for a long time was their lead, Groucho for obvious reasons. Since then, it has shifted to Chico due to his punning, scheming, and attempts at carousing. Chico would play the bridge between Harpo and Groucho.

The Marx Brothers sing a tune in Duck Soup

But what about Zeppo? He seems to be the Rodney Dangerfield of The Marx Brothers since he gets “no respect”. Only appearing in the Brothers’ first four films, Zeppo was relegated to playing the straight man as opposed to the anarchic humour of the other three brothers. Was this because he was untalented? According to the brothers themselves, as well as family members and friends, Zeppo was not only the funniest of the brothers, but was also able to seamlessly ape each of the brothers’ characters (and sometimes stand in for them). Some suggest that Zeppo wasn’t allowed to display his humourous side since he’d either overshadow the other three, or more likely because he would make Groucho’s act redundant. Being the kid brother (a whole 11 years younger than Groucho and 13 and 14 years younger than Harpo and Chico, respectively) Zeppo had to give way as the older three had already well established characters that were easily to translate to the screen.

Did this make Zeppo superfluous to the Marx Brothers? Not at all. Not only did Zeppo have the best singing voice, but more importantly Zeppo provided the bridge between the chaos of his three brothers with the high society that they would crash and upend. Chico, Harpo, and Groucho were obvious outsiders with Groucho representing a faux bourgeois character and harpo and Chico little more than con men. Zeppo was the presentable face yet still an outsider. Nevertheless, his character would realize the sheer lunacy that his brothers would unleash upon their upper society targets yet not lose his composure. In fact, he would be in on the joke the entire time, more often than not setting his brothers up for the knock down gag.

Nor was Zeppo’s straight man act necessarily a traditional one. It had its own symbolism and method as James Agee explained:

[Zeppo] added a fourth dimension as the cliché of the [romantic] juvenile, the bland wooden espouser of sentiments that seem to exist only in the world of the sound stage. [... He is] too schleppy, too nasal, and too wooden to be taken seriously.

Zeppo acted as the link between the Brothers and the real world, having one foot in each at the same time. Of all the Brothers, Zeppo was the one we could identify with most since he was an everyman in attitude and appearance, unlike the zany trio. It’s this link that makes Zeppo all the more significant and necessary and is why the later films under Irving Thalberg at MGM, and at RKO, and United Artists lacked that certain something. Zeppo’s successors as straight man/love interest seemed like cardboard cutouts who lacked that connection to the remaining Marx Brothers. It’s little wonder why most critics consider their work with Zeppo at Paramount to be their best.

The Marx Brothers in a publicity shot

Zeppo in His Own Words

In 1979, BBC Television conducted a series of interviews with stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Zeppo Marx was one of those stars and his interview turned out to be his last since he died only a few months later that same year. Here are some excerpts from this interview in which Zeppo is brutally honest about the past yet funny without being malicious. On growing up poor:

As far as I can remember we had a two-bedroom apartment and there were five boys and my uncle and aunt and my grandfather and mother and father, of course. Now all of those people were in a two-bedroom apartment. Five of us slept in one bed. We didn’t sleep well, but we were there. Those were very difficult times because we had no income; my father was a very bad tailor but he found some people who were so stupid that they would buy his clothes, and so he’d make a few dollars that way for food. Chico would get a job occasionally and Groucho of course would be singing in the choir some place and he’d get paid for it. And that was the way we got along. It was very difficult, we always owed the rent.

On their mother Minnie and her drive to have them succeed at an early age:

My mother was always trying to get the boys — Gummo, Groucho and Chico and Harpo — jobs, playing vaudeville. Cheap vaudeville really, four or five shows a day and maybe three days work and then get laid off for a week or two or something. She was always downtown where the theatrical district was, where the agents and the managers were hanging out, so she would always try to get us bookings. If some act was cancelled some place, she’d try to shove us in there. That was the early part in Chicago, not in New York because there was nothing like that going on in New York. We moved to Chicago because that was the center of the cheapie vaudeville circuits. That’s where my brother Gummo joined the army.

On the Brothers’ skirt-chasing and Groucho’s akwardness with the ladies:

Groucho couldn’t run as fast as Chico and the rest of us (LAUGHS) with that peculiar walk of his. It was a little more difficult for Groucho but he had his share of course. I never considered Groucho a very great lover. Chico was alright and Harpo and Gummo were fine.

He [Groucho] would get a girl and she would be very stupid and he’d sit and talk to her, oh, about Shakespeare or Gilbert and Sullivan. He’d discuss this with this girl who had never heard of these things and he would try to impress ‘em that way where the rest of us would just get right to it. (LAUGHS) We didn’t waste time with Shakespeare or Gilbert and Sullivan.

On Chico’s unreliability:

Well because he wouldn’t be very punctual at rehearsals or at shows. When the overture started he’d come running in and get right on the stage, no make-up or nothing. And then he was teh one who was the most lax of all of us in reference to the act, the show, the movie or whatever we were doing. And as a matter of fact we were all sort of straight away when there was a few minutes off. One would be over there and one would be over there and then Paramount — I remember in one picture, I think it was COCOANUTS, the director was going crazy because Chico would be in the dressing room with a girl or something and Groucho would be over somewhere and all of us were scattered.

The director says ‘alright boys we’re ready to shoot’ and no one is around. They’d have to have two or three fellows chasing us so they devised a nice plan, they built four cells on the set with locks on them and they put cots in them in case we wanted to rest or something and the minute the scene was over, whoever’s scene that it was would have to go in that cell so they knew where we were. And it worked out pretty good, but Chico got out of his cell quite often. (LAUGHS) But it worked fairly well.

On Groucho’s natural penchant for humour:

One story I love about Groucho is this: When we were in plays we would go to different towns with the plays and we didn’t have daily matinees, like in vaudeville, only Wednesday and Saturday, that was it. Now the rest of hte time we’d all play golf. We’d get in a certain town and we’d have the manager make arrangements for us to play at the best country club — 18 holes of golf. That’s how we got interested in golf.

Years later Groucho heard about a club that he wanted to go to and so he and his wife, Eden, went out there with their clubs, and went to the desk and he said, ‘I’m Groucho Marx, this is Mrs. Marx and we’d like to play 18 holes of golf.’ And he said, ‘Well, I’m sorry Mr. Marx, you’re of the Jewish faith, aren’t you, and this club is very very strict about certain religions and people and I can’t let you play 18 holes of golf, because you’re Jewish aren’t you?’ Groucho said, ‘Well, can I play nine holes, my wife is a Gentile.’ (LAUGHS) That is one of the wonderful stories about him. That’s the typical Groucho. The other time they wanted to go swimming, and the same thing again about the restrictions and he said, ‘well can we go in up to our knees, she’s (LAUGHS) Gentile.’ He used that pretty good.

Another example:

The Friars club in this country is a theatrical club, and almost all performers belong to it, but Groucho. They used to play cards there and have things like that, and Groucho never spent much time there when he was a member — he didn’t have much use for it. So he wrote them a letter, to resign, saying ‘Dear Friars, please accept this letter of resignation as I don’t have any use for the club and I don’t get enough use out of it, and furthermore, any club that will have me as a member, I don’t want to belong to.’ (LAUGHS) Now that is still up on the bulletin board at the Friars, and this was years ago. It’s still printed in quite a lot of papers.

And a quick description of each of the Brothers:

Chico was, he was wild. He was the one to play cards. He’d chase women, he did everything he wanted to do; he’d gamble everything. If he had $100 he’d gamble the hundred. It was, I guess, a sickness with him, but that was Chico. I don’t think there was a day in his life that he didn’t gamble at something, a ball game, a football game, or race horses… anything you could gamble on, he would gamble. If he couldn’t find anything, he’d invent something. He was in a poker game once and it was a crooked game and Harpo saw two fellows cheating him, so Harpo went to the phone and called him. He said, ‘Chico, you’re being cheated.’ Chico said, ‘I don’t care, that’s the only game I could get. It’s the only game in town.’

Harpo was a love. He was very kind and wonderful. He married once and it was one of the greatest marriages that I’ve ever seen, he and Susan. They adopted four kids and they were always spending time with these kids, each of the two. If one wanted to do something the other didn’t want to, they wouldn’t do it, they had such a rapport and such love for each other. I don’t think they had an argument and it was just a perfect marriage, and that’s the way Harpo was. It was wonderful.

Groucho had three wives. I told you about those. Groucho was Groucho. He would insult important politicians and Chiefs of Police who came up in stage to do that ‘You Bet your Life’ thing, He would put people down like that. I would say he was cold. He was very good to me, later on when everything was over with show business, but he was cold. Generous up to a point where he would be generous to charity, things like that. I’d say fairly generous, yes. He’d buy good clothes, but he had such bad taste he’d look bad in them no matter what he paid for them. He wasn’t what we call a Beau Brummel.

Gummo was a love. The hero. He was with the boys ahead of me, and as I say, he went into the Army and I had to take his place.

He was in the dress business when he came out of the Army. He didn’t like show business but I think he felt, same as I did, that he was inadequate, that he wasn’t doing his share and he went into the dress business. He had a lot o friends in that business and he thought it would be a good business for him so he started the dress business and it didn’t take him long before he was bankrupt. He didn’t know a thing about the business. . It was typical because my father went into all kinds of business and was out three or four days after he started.

Then he wanted to come to the coast where I had a very big agency business. So I said ‘alright, you come to the coast and you join me, but first of all open an office in New York so you have a start there and then you’ll come out here.’ So he opened an office in New York and he did very well. He got Glenn Ford as a client, and he got quite a few other clients, so I said, ‘well come on out’ and he got himself a little house and I put him in my business and he did very well.

On missing his brothers:

I miss Gummo very much because he lived down here [Palm Springs] and we were together every day. We had lunch together every day and I miss him very much. Of course you miss your family and when you get older you have some people that you’re bound to miss. So (CHUCKLES) you have to do the best you can. But it’s hard to think about the kind of feeling that you had with these brothers and your friends.

Uscirai di casa, con la pioggia a dirotto, maledicendoti per aver dimenticato chiave e ombrello, e ti sentirai un idiota. Guiderai per un’ora nel traffico, e ti sentirai un idiota. Impiegherai un’altra ora per trovare un parcheggio, lontano dall’ufficio, e ti sentirai un idiota. Arriverai in ufficio zuppo, tra lo sguardo di compatimento dei colleghi, e ti sentirai un idiota. Corteggerai inutilmente la neoassunta, invaghitasi del tuo collega di stanza, e ti sentirai un idiota. Subirai le umiliazioni e gli sfottò del tuo capo, e ti sentirai un idiota. Al ritorno, sempre dopo un’ora di traffico e sotto la pioggia battente, rientrerai in casa, forzando la finestra  perchè hai dimenticato la chiave, e troverai tua moglie a letto con il tuo migliore amico. E ti sentirai un idiota.  Ma non devi preoccuparti : TU SEI VERAMENTE UN IDIOTA.

(Copyright by Groucho Marx, con libero adattamento del leopardo delle nevi)

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