At the Circus. 1939 MGM/Turner Entertainment.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo), Kenny Baker, Florence Rice, James Burke, Margaret Dumont, Nat Pendleton, Eve Arden
Director: Edward Buzzell
Available as part of the Marx Brothers Collection from Amazon.
Circus owner Jeff Wilson (Baker) is in danger of losing his business to a crooked creditor named Carter (Burke) and his two accomplices Goliath the Strongman (Pendleton) and Little Professor Atom (Jerry Maren). Wilson's assistant Antonio (Chico) takes it upon himself to enlist the help of an attorney called J. Cheever Loophole (Groucho), as well as another circus performer, Punchy (Harpo). Carter and his men aren't the only ones looking to take over the circus; aerialist Peerless Pauline (Arden) has also aligned herself with them. Wilson is mugged in the animal car and robbed of $10,000 with only one witness: a gorilla. It's up to Loophole, Antonio and Punchy to save the circus as only the Marx Brothers can...and that does involve Groucho running rings around a slightly bewildered Margaret Dumont (who plays Wilson's wealthy aunt, Mrs. Dukesbury). Will the gorilla come into play?
One of the film's musical numbers is "Lydia the Tattooed Lady", which became one of Groucho's signature songs, and it also references Captain Spaulding from Animal Crackers. Buster Keaton also worked on the film, contributing various sight gags, which did not mesh well with the Marx Brothers' style of comedy. During an argument, Keaton told Groucho that he's only doing what he's being paid to do, and that "you guys don't need help".
Recommended, of course, but it isn't the greatest Marx Brothers movie out there.
Showing posts with label marx brothers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marx brothers. Show all posts
Friday, November 27, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A Night in Casablanca
A Night in Casablanca.
1946 United Artists & Castle Hill Productions; released to DVD via Turner Entertainment & Warner Home Video.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico), Sig Ruman, Charles Drake, Lois Collier
Director: Archie Mayo
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or as part of the Marx Brothers Collection.
The brothers Marx return to the big screen following a five-year absence in an independently produced film that was originally intended to be a parody of Casablanca, but was retooled into a spoof of wartime melodramas.
The Hotel Casablanca keeps seeing its managers being murdered, and the escaped Nazi war criminal Heinrich Stubel, disguised as Count Pfefferman (Ruman) is responsible. Stubel is after stolen art treasures that he hid in a secret room somewhere in the hotel, and the only way he can do this without arousing suspicion is to take over the building himself. Stubel has a mute valet named Rusty (Harpo), who accidentally destroys Stubel's hairpiece, which means the former Nazi can't go out in public because of a conspicuous scar.
The hotel's new manager is Ronald Kornblow (Groucho), who doesn't realize that he's been hired only because no one else will take the job, but that doesn't stop him from taking over in a truly inept fashion. Corbacchio (Chico), owner of the Yellow Camel company, appoints himself as Kornblow's bodyguard after overhearing a murder plot, and he receives aid from Rusty.
Can Kornblow and his friends outwit Stubel?
Not bad, but obviously not the best film the Marx Brothers ever made. It's also notable for a series of exchanges between Groucho and Warner Bros., as the studio allegedly threatened to sue the brothers for using the name "Casablanca" in the title. Groucho fired back by threatening to sue the studio for using the word "Brothers". This is simply an urban legend; the studio just inquired about the story of the film to ensure there was no copyright infringement. Groucho capitalized on the rumors to attract more publicity for the movie, which included a series of hilarious letters to Warner Bros.
Recommended if you've never seen it before, or if there's nothing else on that day.
1946 United Artists & Castle Hill Productions; released to DVD via Turner Entertainment & Warner Home Video.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico), Sig Ruman, Charles Drake, Lois Collier
Director: Archie Mayo
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or as part of the Marx Brothers Collection.
The brothers Marx return to the big screen following a five-year absence in an independently produced film that was originally intended to be a parody of Casablanca, but was retooled into a spoof of wartime melodramas.
The Hotel Casablanca keeps seeing its managers being murdered, and the escaped Nazi war criminal Heinrich Stubel, disguised as Count Pfefferman (Ruman) is responsible. Stubel is after stolen art treasures that he hid in a secret room somewhere in the hotel, and the only way he can do this without arousing suspicion is to take over the building himself. Stubel has a mute valet named Rusty (Harpo), who accidentally destroys Stubel's hairpiece, which means the former Nazi can't go out in public because of a conspicuous scar.
The hotel's new manager is Ronald Kornblow (Groucho), who doesn't realize that he's been hired only because no one else will take the job, but that doesn't stop him from taking over in a truly inept fashion. Corbacchio (Chico), owner of the Yellow Camel company, appoints himself as Kornblow's bodyguard after overhearing a murder plot, and he receives aid from Rusty.
Can Kornblow and his friends outwit Stubel?
Not bad, but obviously not the best film the Marx Brothers ever made. It's also notable for a series of exchanges between Groucho and Warner Bros., as the studio allegedly threatened to sue the brothers for using the name "Casablanca" in the title. Groucho fired back by threatening to sue the studio for using the word "Brothers". This is simply an urban legend; the studio just inquired about the story of the film to ensure there was no copyright infringement. Groucho capitalized on the rumors to attract more publicity for the movie, which included a series of hilarious letters to Warner Bros.
Recommended if you've never seen it before, or if there's nothing else on that day.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Horse Feathers
Horse Feathers. 1932 Paramount Pictures; now owned by Universal Pictures.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo), Thelma Todd, Reginald Barlow
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Available as part of the Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection from Amazon.
A hilarious movie centering mainly around college football, and the upcoming game between Darwin and Huxley Colleges. The jokes about the amateur status of collegiate football players, and how the eligibility rules are always stretched (if not outright broken) by colleges are surprisingly timeless.
Groucho is Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley College. His son Frank (Zeppo) is a student there, and he talks his dad into recruiting professional football players to improve the Huxley team's chances of winning. Somehow, Wagstaff ends up accidentally recruiting two "icemen" from a nearby speakeasy, Baravelli (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo). They also have to enroll at Huxley as students, with the usual comic results, complete with Wagstaff clowning around alongside them.
Baravelli and Pinky are sent to kidnap two of Darwin's star players to keep them from playing in the big game, but it backfires on them, and they get tied up with their clothes stolen. They saw their way through the floor, inspiring a million future Looney Tunes, and rush to the contest, where the brothers even use a horse-drawn chariot into the end zone.
There are some lost scenes from the movie, due to censorship or damage, including one notable scene where the brothers calmly play poker while the college burns down around them. However, a still picture survived for those curious:
Highly recommended.
Also, never forget the password, "swordfish".
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo), Thelma Todd, Reginald Barlow
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Available as part of the Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection from Amazon.
A hilarious movie centering mainly around college football, and the upcoming game between Darwin and Huxley Colleges. The jokes about the amateur status of collegiate football players, and how the eligibility rules are always stretched (if not outright broken) by colleges are surprisingly timeless.
Groucho is Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley College. His son Frank (Zeppo) is a student there, and he talks his dad into recruiting professional football players to improve the Huxley team's chances of winning. Somehow, Wagstaff ends up accidentally recruiting two "icemen" from a nearby speakeasy, Baravelli (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo). They also have to enroll at Huxley as students, with the usual comic results, complete with Wagstaff clowning around alongside them.
Baravelli and Pinky are sent to kidnap two of Darwin's star players to keep them from playing in the big game, but it backfires on them, and they get tied up with their clothes stolen. They saw their way through the floor, inspiring a million future Looney Tunes, and rush to the contest, where the brothers even use a horse-drawn chariot into the end zone.
There are some lost scenes from the movie, due to censorship or damage, including one notable scene where the brothers calmly play poker while the college burns down around them. However, a still picture survived for those curious:
Highly recommended.
Also, never forget the password, "swordfish".
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
A Day at the Races
A Day at the Races. 1937 MGM/Turner Entertainment.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico), Allan Jones, Maureen O'Sullivan, Margaret Dumont
Director: Sam Wood
Available at Amazon: Single DVD, or part of the Marx Brothers Collection, with six other movies and a plethora of extras.
The follow-up to A Night at the Opera.
Groucho plays Hugo Z. Hackenbush, a veterinarian who claims to be a regular physician when summoned by a wealthy hyphochondriac named Emily Upjohn (Dumont) to take over the nearly bankrupt Standish Sanitarium. Tony (Chico) also works there, without pay, since he has a soft spot for the facility's owner, Judy Standish (O'Sullivan). Meanwhile, Stuffy (Harpo) is a jockey who rides at the local racetrack, when he isn't being bullied by J.D. Morgan (Douglas Dumbrille), who is eager to take over the sanitarium and its lands if Judy cannot pay her bills.
The fate of the sanitarium depends on the winner of a race involving Hi-Hat, owned by Gil Stuart (Jones).
Pretty funny movie that originated some of the running (recycled!) gags that would appear in the next few films the brothers made for MGM. Recommended.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico), Allan Jones, Maureen O'Sullivan, Margaret Dumont
Director: Sam Wood
Available at Amazon: Single DVD, or part of the Marx Brothers Collection, with six other movies and a plethora of extras.
The follow-up to A Night at the Opera.
Groucho plays Hugo Z. Hackenbush, a veterinarian who claims to be a regular physician when summoned by a wealthy hyphochondriac named Emily Upjohn (Dumont) to take over the nearly bankrupt Standish Sanitarium. Tony (Chico) also works there, without pay, since he has a soft spot for the facility's owner, Judy Standish (O'Sullivan). Meanwhile, Stuffy (Harpo) is a jockey who rides at the local racetrack, when he isn't being bullied by J.D. Morgan (Douglas Dumbrille), who is eager to take over the sanitarium and its lands if Judy cannot pay her bills.
The fate of the sanitarium depends on the winner of a race involving Hi-Hat, owned by Gil Stuart (Jones).
Pretty funny movie that originated some of the running (recycled!) gags that would appear in the next few films the brothers made for MGM. Recommended.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
A Night at the Opera
A Night at the Opera. 1935 MGM/Turner Entertainment.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico), Allan Jones, Walter Woolf King, Margaret Dumont, Kitty Carlisle, Sig Rumann
Director: Sam Wood
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or as part of the Marx Brothers Collection with six other films and a ton of extras.
The brothers Marx, minus Zeppo who had retired from performing, moved from Paramount Pictures to MGM and this was their first project at their new home. It's also their best film as a trio.
Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho) is hired by a widowed socialite hopeful Mrs. Claypool (Dumont) to help her break into high society, but he instead spends his time either insulting or wooing her. At a final performance in Italy, Driftwood meets Fiorello (Chico), the best friend and manager of Riccardo (Jones), a singer looking for his first break, while falling in love with another singer named Rosa (Carlisle). Riccardo's dream is thwarted by the opera's star, Lassparri (King), a prima donna who wants Rosa for himself. Driftwood signs Riccardo to a contract, mistakenly thinking he's signing Lassparri, who is really under contract in New York by Herman Gottlieb (Ruman). Along the way, Lassparri's former dresser Tomasso (Harpo) joins the entourage. The usual chaos follows starting on the boat to America, and as usual, Driftwood and his new friends have to work for that happy ending the only way they know how: completely sabotaging Lassparri's first appearance in New York.
The film's most memorable scene takes place on boat, where Driftwood finds his stateroom, which isn't much bigger than a good-sized closet. His enormous trunk barely fits in, and it's also carrying three stowaways: Riccardo, Fiorello and Tomasso, ruining his planned rendezvous with Mrs. Claypool. The stowaways are hungry, so Otis has to order dinner, where Fiorello and Tomasso keep increasing the number of the hard boiled eggs they want (and Driftwood has ordered everything else). In due time, fifteen people end up in the cabin. An uncredited Buster Keaton designed the scene:
Yes, it's mighty crowded in there. Highly recommended movie.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico), Allan Jones, Walter Woolf King, Margaret Dumont, Kitty Carlisle, Sig Rumann
Director: Sam Wood
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or as part of the Marx Brothers Collection with six other films and a ton of extras.
The brothers Marx, minus Zeppo who had retired from performing, moved from Paramount Pictures to MGM and this was their first project at their new home. It's also their best film as a trio.
Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho) is hired by a widowed socialite hopeful Mrs. Claypool (Dumont) to help her break into high society, but he instead spends his time either insulting or wooing her. At a final performance in Italy, Driftwood meets Fiorello (Chico), the best friend and manager of Riccardo (Jones), a singer looking for his first break, while falling in love with another singer named Rosa (Carlisle). Riccardo's dream is thwarted by the opera's star, Lassparri (King), a prima donna who wants Rosa for himself. Driftwood signs Riccardo to a contract, mistakenly thinking he's signing Lassparri, who is really under contract in New York by Herman Gottlieb (Ruman). Along the way, Lassparri's former dresser Tomasso (Harpo) joins the entourage. The usual chaos follows starting on the boat to America, and as usual, Driftwood and his new friends have to work for that happy ending the only way they know how: completely sabotaging Lassparri's first appearance in New York.
The film's most memorable scene takes place on boat, where Driftwood finds his stateroom, which isn't much bigger than a good-sized closet. His enormous trunk barely fits in, and it's also carrying three stowaways: Riccardo, Fiorello and Tomasso, ruining his planned rendezvous with Mrs. Claypool. The stowaways are hungry, so Otis has to order dinner, where Fiorello and Tomasso keep increasing the number of the hard boiled eggs they want (and Driftwood has ordered everything else). In due time, fifteen people end up in the cabin. An uncredited Buster Keaton designed the scene:
Yes, it's mighty crowded in there. Highly recommended movie.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monkey Business
Monkey Business. 1931 Paramount Pictures, now owned and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo), Thelma Todd, Rockliffe Fellowes, Harry Woods, Ruth Hall
Cameo Appearance: Sam Marx
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Part of the Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection.
"Do you suppose I could buy back my introduction to you?"
Stowing away on a ship bound for America, the boys are unwittingly recruited as henchmen for a pair of feuding gangsters while trying to avoid the ship's crew. Groucho and Zeppo assist one gangster, Chico and Harpo "help" the other one. After the boat arrives in America, and the brothers sneak off the ship, one of the gangsters kidnaps the daughter of the other one, and it's up to the brothers Marx (particularly Zeppo, engaging in a fairly brutal fight scene towards the end of the movie) to save the girl.
While trying to sneak through a passenger checkpoint, on the advice of Zeppo, the boys try to get past security by impersonating the French entertainer Maurice Chevalier. Three of the brothers sing "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me" ("If a nightingale could sing like you..."), while Harpo relies on a recording of the song played on a record player concealed in his coat. Hilarious scene.
This is my personal favorite Marx Brothers movie. Highly recommended.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo), Thelma Todd, Rockliffe Fellowes, Harry Woods, Ruth Hall
Cameo Appearance: Sam Marx
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Part of the Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection.
"Do you suppose I could buy back my introduction to you?"
Stowing away on a ship bound for America, the boys are unwittingly recruited as henchmen for a pair of feuding gangsters while trying to avoid the ship's crew. Groucho and Zeppo assist one gangster, Chico and Harpo "help" the other one. After the boat arrives in America, and the brothers sneak off the ship, one of the gangsters kidnaps the daughter of the other one, and it's up to the brothers Marx (particularly Zeppo, engaging in a fairly brutal fight scene towards the end of the movie) to save the girl.
While trying to sneak through a passenger checkpoint, on the advice of Zeppo, the boys try to get past security by impersonating the French entertainer Maurice Chevalier. Three of the brothers sing "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me" ("If a nightingale could sing like you..."), while Harpo relies on a recording of the song played on a record player concealed in his coat. Hilarious scene.
This is my personal favorite Marx Brothers movie. Highly recommended.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Duck Soup
Let's end 2008 with one of my favorites:
Duck Soup. 1933 Paramount Pictures (now owned and released to DVD by Universal Pictures).
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo), Margaret Dumont, Raquel Torres, Louis Calhern, Edmund Breese
Director: Leo McCarey
Part of the Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection, available at Amazon.
One of the funniest movies ever made, this was also Zeppo Marx's final film before his retirement from performing. I'm sure this is strictly a coincidence. Zeppo definitely added something to the early films, and sometimes I wonder how he would've added to later films the brothers made.
Anywho...
The wealthy widow Mrs. Gloria Teasdale (Dumont) insists that Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) be appointed leader of a small, bankrupt territory named Freedonia before she will provide some much needed financial assistance. The neighboring country Sylvania is attempting to take over Freedonia, and its ambassador Trentino (Calhern) tries to instigate a revolution when he isn't trying to woo Mrs. Teasdale. He also sends in two spies, Chicolini (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo) to dig up dirt on Firefly. They fail to find any damaging information, but they quickly infiltrate Freedonia's government after Firefly sees Chicolini selling peanuts on the street. Bob Roland (Zeppo), Firefly's personal assistant, suspects that Trentino is up to something, and recommends that Firefly "get rid of that man at once" by saying something to make Trentino mad enough to strike him. It backfires, and Firefly slaps Trentino after a series of personal insults.
Mrs. Teasdale has Freedonia's war plans, so Trentino orders Chicolini and Pinky to steal them. Firefly catches Chicolini and puts him on trial, which quickly turns into a farce. War is officially declared during the trial, and everyone breaks into song and dance. Chicolini and Pinky join Firefly and Roland in a typical wacky battle against Sylvania. Trentino gets trapped in a makeshift stocks, and surrenders after being pelted with large quantities of fruit. Despite that, Firefly refuses to stop throwing until they run out of produce. Mrs. Teasdale begins singing the Freedonia national anthem, and the boys start throwing fruit at her instead!
Highly, highly recommended.
Duck Soup. 1933 Paramount Pictures (now owned and released to DVD by Universal Pictures).
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo), Margaret Dumont, Raquel Torres, Louis Calhern, Edmund Breese
Director: Leo McCarey
Part of the Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection, available at Amazon.
One of the funniest movies ever made, this was also Zeppo Marx's final film before his retirement from performing. I'm sure this is strictly a coincidence. Zeppo definitely added something to the early films, and sometimes I wonder how he would've added to later films the brothers made.
Anywho...
The wealthy widow Mrs. Gloria Teasdale (Dumont) insists that Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) be appointed leader of a small, bankrupt territory named Freedonia before she will provide some much needed financial assistance. The neighboring country Sylvania is attempting to take over Freedonia, and its ambassador Trentino (Calhern) tries to instigate a revolution when he isn't trying to woo Mrs. Teasdale. He also sends in two spies, Chicolini (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo) to dig up dirt on Firefly. They fail to find any damaging information, but they quickly infiltrate Freedonia's government after Firefly sees Chicolini selling peanuts on the street. Bob Roland (Zeppo), Firefly's personal assistant, suspects that Trentino is up to something, and recommends that Firefly "get rid of that man at once" by saying something to make Trentino mad enough to strike him. It backfires, and Firefly slaps Trentino after a series of personal insults.
Mrs. Teasdale has Freedonia's war plans, so Trentino orders Chicolini and Pinky to steal them. Firefly catches Chicolini and puts him on trial, which quickly turns into a farce. War is officially declared during the trial, and everyone breaks into song and dance. Chicolini and Pinky join Firefly and Roland in a typical wacky battle against Sylvania. Trentino gets trapped in a makeshift stocks, and surrenders after being pelted with large quantities of fruit. Despite that, Firefly refuses to stop throwing until they run out of produce. Mrs. Teasdale begins singing the Freedonia national anthem, and the boys start throwing fruit at her instead!
Highly, highly recommended.
Friday, December 26, 2008
The Big Store
The Big Store. 1941 MGM/Turner Entertainment.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo), Tony Martin, Virginia Grey, Margaret Dumont, Douglas Dumbrille
Director: Charles Reisner
Buy The Big Store along with Go West from Amazon.
This was advertised as the final film made by the brothers Marx, but they would make two more before the decade was out.
Phelps' Department Store is up for sale, and a crooked store manager named Grover (Dumbrille) is anxious to own the whole show. It also wouldn't hurt for him to cover up that he's also cooking the books. Singer Tommy Rogers (Martin) wants to sell the store to someone else with the approval of the store's co-owner, Martha Phelps (Dumont). To get Rogers out of the way, Grover has arranged several "accidents".
Martha goes out and hires a useless detective named Wolf J. Flywheel (Groucho), who despite his complete ineptitude, manages to protect Rogers from harm, with some help from his partner Wacky (Harpo) and Tommy's music teacher friend Ravelli (Chico). Ravelli also accidentally captures Grover kidnapping Tommy's girlfriend Joan (Grey) on film, leading to the hilarious chase scene through the store.
Not the best Marx Brothers picture, but still worth your time. Recommended.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo), Tony Martin, Virginia Grey, Margaret Dumont, Douglas Dumbrille
Director: Charles Reisner
Buy The Big Store along with Go West from Amazon.
This was advertised as the final film made by the brothers Marx, but they would make two more before the decade was out.
Phelps' Department Store is up for sale, and a crooked store manager named Grover (Dumbrille) is anxious to own the whole show. It also wouldn't hurt for him to cover up that he's also cooking the books. Singer Tommy Rogers (Martin) wants to sell the store to someone else with the approval of the store's co-owner, Martha Phelps (Dumont). To get Rogers out of the way, Grover has arranged several "accidents".
Martha goes out and hires a useless detective named Wolf J. Flywheel (Groucho), who despite his complete ineptitude, manages to protect Rogers from harm, with some help from his partner Wacky (Harpo) and Tommy's music teacher friend Ravelli (Chico). Ravelli also accidentally captures Grover kidnapping Tommy's girlfriend Joan (Grey) on film, leading to the hilarious chase scene through the store.
Not the best Marx Brothers picture, but still worth your time. Recommended.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Animal Crackers
Animal Crackers. 1930 Paramount Pictures (now owned by, and released to DVD by Universal Pictures).
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo), Margaret Dumont, Lillian Roth
Director: Victor Heerman
Buy Animal Crackers as part of the Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection at Amazon.
A musical comedy film starring the brothers Marx. Groucho is the African explorer Captain Geoffrey T. Spaulding, and he is the guest of honor at a party at the estate of society matron Mrs. Rittenhouse (Dumont). While the party is happening, a valuable painting is stolen.
This movie also has two of Groucho's signature songs "Hello, I Must Be Going" and "Hooray for Captain Spaulding"; the latter song was used as the theme for You Bet Your Life.
Also, the American Film Institute listed a line of dialogue from the movie, "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know", as number 53 in their list of the 100 Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time.
Highly, highly recommended.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo), Margaret Dumont, Lillian Roth
Director: Victor Heerman
Buy Animal Crackers as part of the Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection at Amazon.
A musical comedy film starring the brothers Marx. Groucho is the African explorer Captain Geoffrey T. Spaulding, and he is the guest of honor at a party at the estate of society matron Mrs. Rittenhouse (Dumont). While the party is happening, a valuable painting is stolen.
This movie also has two of Groucho's signature songs "Hello, I Must Be Going" and "Hooray for Captain Spaulding"; the latter song was used as the theme for You Bet Your Life.
Also, the American Film Institute listed a line of dialogue from the movie, "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know", as number 53 in their list of the 100 Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time.
Highly, highly recommended.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Go West
Go West. 1940 MGM/Turner Entertainment.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo), John Carroll, Diana Lewis
Uncredited Writer: Buster Keaton
Director: Edward Buzzell
Buy Go West with The Big Store at Amazon.
This is the movie that made me fall in love with the brothers Marx a few years ago, and it's not even their best one.
Groucho plays S. Quentin Quale, a confidence man looking to make his way out west, only to get duped by the brothers Joseph and Rusty Panello (Chico and Harpo) in a hilarious scene at a train station where the con man loses every penny. The Panello brothers are also looking to "go west", where they hear that you can literally pick up the nuggets of gold off the streets.
The main plot of the film involves a place called Dead Man's Gulch, whose main value is not gold, but a decent territory for an expanding railroad to build through, and how the fate of the land will affect the feud between two families, the Wilsons and the Turners. Not only that, but Dan Wilson and Eva Turner are deeply in love, making things even more complicated, and Dan hopes that the sale of Dead Man's Gulch will end the feud for good.
Go West ends with a hysterical chase scene involving a train. I have read elsewhere that the last fifteen minutes of the movie were sold separately in the early days of the home video market. The scene is actually worth the price of the film itself.
Very highly recommended. Back soon!
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo), John Carroll, Diana Lewis
Uncredited Writer: Buster Keaton
Director: Edward Buzzell
Buy Go West with The Big Store at Amazon.
This is the movie that made me fall in love with the brothers Marx a few years ago, and it's not even their best one.
Groucho plays S. Quentin Quale, a confidence man looking to make his way out west, only to get duped by the brothers Joseph and Rusty Panello (Chico and Harpo) in a hilarious scene at a train station where the con man loses every penny. The Panello brothers are also looking to "go west", where they hear that you can literally pick up the nuggets of gold off the streets.
The main plot of the film involves a place called Dead Man's Gulch, whose main value is not gold, but a decent territory for an expanding railroad to build through, and how the fate of the land will affect the feud between two families, the Wilsons and the Turners. Not only that, but Dan Wilson and Eva Turner are deeply in love, making things even more complicated, and Dan hopes that the sale of Dead Man's Gulch will end the feud for good.
Go West ends with a hysterical chase scene involving a train. I have read elsewhere that the last fifteen minutes of the movie were sold separately in the early days of the home video market. The scene is actually worth the price of the film itself.
Very highly recommended. Back soon!
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