1933
My dad and I were playing Scene It once and the tie breaker was movies with an animal name in the title. Of course, this went on for about forty five minutes. The Marx Brothers really helped me out that day...
Not funny at all. Really just antifunny actually. The jokes are as old as the hills. I guess this just shows how genius the Marx Brothers really were though because of how much they have been copied. This, however, doesn't make for an interesting watch and I was thoroughly bored for most of it. The musical number at the end warranted a chuckle though because of all the musicals we have been seeing lately. I guess if you really want to study the history of comedy in cinema this is a must watch but otherwise avoid at all costs (like I do with Monty Python).
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
I am going to spare you from hearing the explanation for the movie's title. The joke is so bad!!
#60 in AFI's top 100 movie list.
Mussolini banned this film because he thought it was attacking him. The Marx Brothers were ecstatic.
I'm a little bit torn with the Marx Brothers. On the one hand I love the idea of them and recently bought both Groucho and Harpo's autobiographies. The witticisms are genuinely very good although perhaps dated in some ways. But that's probably the problem. Much of it hasn't dated so well. Chico and Harpo may have worked well on a vaudeville stage but in the films it often feels like they're being given scenes and things to do out of politeness, but really we're all here just to see Groucho.
ReplyDeleteThe film doesn't always hang together well, being more a collection of gags than a coherent movie, but in my opinion they're good enough to still make it work. I understand that they were later nudged towards making more rounded films so look forward to seeing this.
Groucho's autobiography is an excellent read, by the way, even if it'll teach you very little about him or his life. Haven't read Harpo's yet.
I might check that out. Poor Harpo, I bet people always read his brother's book first.
DeleteI was at a charity book fair. I'd been thinking recently it would be good to read a bit about them so picked up Harpo's book ("Harpo Speaks"*)when I found it. Twenty minutes later, across the other side of the hall, I came across Groucho's book so picked that up also but couldn't be bothered to put Harpo's book back as they were all so cheap.
ReplyDelete* - Harpo's son later wrote a book about his father called "Son of Harpo Speaks"