The 4 Marx Brothers At Paramount. 1929 - 1933 (U.)
Cocoanuts (1929)/ Animal Crackers (1930)/Monkey Business (1931)/ Horse Feathers (1932)/ Duck Soup (1933.)
Five films, four brothers, three discs. These are their first films; (most of) their best films; the films with the crap titles that would never be used for Queen albums; the titles that are so random you can never remember which film is which, or which has which good bit in it. Working your way through this set is to trace the sequence of them marching up to the top of the hill, culminating in the classic Duck Soup, without the marching back down again. In just five years they went from straightforward adaptations of their Broadway hit shows to a form of free flowing mayhem that is among cinema's greatest and purest comedic expressions.
After that they ditched Paramount and moved to Warner Brother, where it was decided that all this comedy and fun was a bit too much, and what was needed was a return to them being the comic relief in tales of young love. Oh, and while we're at lets get that piano and harp back so we can pad some nice musical interludes into musical interludes. Them's the Bros – always taking the fun out of everything. It's like Batman Vs Superman all over again.
So here's to savouring them at their glorious peak, reveling in their insanity and being awkwardly aware that the Marx Bros are surely creepiest bunch of people ever to become major movie stars. The leering Groucho with his painted on moustache and eyebrows; the man-boy Chico with-a-da-silly-Italian-accent dressed up as Pinocchio; the mysterious, inexplicable presence of Zeppo and, of course, the silent Harpo who with his wig, long coat and deep pockets, has the most unsavoury outfit of any screen personality this side of Jimmy Savile.
But don't let their image fool you: behind those creepy outfits they were bunch of sexual predators who spent most of their screen time chasing, groping and molesting (grown) women. Almost everything seems rooted in thwarted sexual energy, a libido that finds its release in disruption and dissent. The enduring fame of the Marx Brothers is largely down to them being discovered and embraced by 60s/70s youth, and you can see what the Free Love Generation saw in them.
A mime/ clown is an inherently problematic figure, someone to be wary of. The performers Harpo reminds you of are not Chaplin or Keaton, but The Krankies, Rod Hull, the Chuckle Brothers. Which is to to say that there is nothing remotely endearing about him, and that is true for all of them. There is barely a moment which is designed to make you like them; which is, of course, incredibly endearing. Their indifference gives their irreverence validity.
What makes them funny and keeps them relevant is the frenetic pace and irreverence. The Marx Brothers may have been lewd and insulting, but they thrill in the way that a really good children's comedy film does. Groucho is always thought of as one of the great 20th wit, but most of his best lines are puns or non-sequiteurs. The meaning and wit of at least half of his lines have been lost to the passing of time, but they still amuse, because of the delivery, and the spirit of liberty that is invoked by his persona.
We should mention Chico here, who seems to have got an awful long way on the very slight, possibly oxymoronic, device of having a stupid Italian accent. Because he doesn't have as distinctive a look, or act, as Groucho and Harpo, he sometimes gets overlooked but he may be my favourite of them. (One of the few negatives about this boxset is that it doesn't have the Ain't No Sanity Clause line, which is in their first Warner Bros film, A Night At The Opera.) It is inspiring to see him run rings round everybody without seeming to move – the idiot that fools everybody else. He seems to exemplify the Marx's credo – if it ain't nailed down, I'm having it. And nothing is nailed down in these pictures; allegiance change in a second, nothing is real, everything is negotiable, up for grabs.
Disc 1 The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers.
Disc 2 Monkey Business and Horse Feathers
Disc 3 Duck Soup.
Extras.
All the films come with commentaries from film historians and academics, (Harpo's son helps out on the one for Monkey Business) plus there is a feature length documentary, clips from their appearance on the Today show, and a video essay by David Cairns. Because the same people are involved there tends to be quite a bit of overlap, and points repeated, but if you can get through it all there is a lot of insight
The 4 Marx Brothers At Paramount. 1929 - 1933 (U.)
Cocoanuts (1929)/ Animal Crackers (1930)/Monkey Business (1931)/ Horse Feathers (1932)/ Duck Soup (1933.)
Five films, four brothers, three discs. These are their first films; (most of) their best films; the films with the crap titles that would never be used for Queen albums; the titles that are so random you can never remember which film is which, or which has which good bit in it. Working your way through this set is to trace the sequence of them marching up to the top of the hill, culminating in the classic Duck Soup, without the marching back down again. In just five years they went from straightforward adaptations of their Broadway hit shows to a form of free flowing mayhem that is among cinema's greatest and purest comedic expressions.
After that they ditched Paramount and moved to Warner Brother, where it was decided that all this comedy and fun was a bit too much, and what was needed was a return to them being the comic relief in tales of young love. Oh, and while we're at lets get that piano and harp back so we can pad some nice musical interludes into musical interludes. Them's the Bros – always taking the fun out of everything. It's like Batman Vs Superman all over again.
So here's to savouring them at their glorious peak, reveling in their insanity and being awkwardly aware that the Marx Bros are surely creepiest bunch of people ever to become major movie stars. The leering Groucho with his painted on moustache and eyebrows; the man-boy Chico with-a-da-silly-Italian-accent dressed up as Pinocchio; the mysterious, inexplicable presence of Zeppo and, of course, the silent Harpo who with his wig, long coat and deep pockets, has the most unsavoury outfit of any screen personality this side of Jimmy Savile.
But don't let their image fool you: behind those creepy outfits they were bunch of sexual predators who spent most of their screen time chasing, groping and molesting (grown) women. Almost everything seems rooted in thwarted sexual energy, a libido that finds its release in disruption and dissent. The enduring fame of the Marx Brothers is largely down to them being discovered and embraced by 60s/70s youth, and you can see what the Free Love Generation saw in them.
A mime/ clown is an inherently problematic figure, someone to be wary of. The performers Harpo reminds you of are not Chaplin or Keaton, but The Krankies, Rod Hull, the Chuckle Brothers. Which is to to say that there is nothing remotely endearing about him, and that is true for all of them. There is barely a moment which is designed to make you like them; which is, of course, incredibly endearing. Their indifference gives their irreverence validity.
What makes them funny and keeps them relevant is the frenetic pace and irreverence. The Marx Brothers may have been lewd and insulting, but they thrill in the way that a really good children's comedy film does. Groucho is always thought of as one of the great 20th wit, but most of his best lines are puns or non-sequiteurs. The meaning and wit of at least half of his lines have been lost to the passing of time, but they still amuse, because of the delivery, and the spirit of liberty that is invoked by his persona.
We should mention Chico here, who seems to have got an awful long way on the very slight, possibly oxymoronic, device of having a stupid Italian accent. Because he doesn't have as distinctive a look, or act, as Groucho and Harpo, he sometimes gets overlooked but he may be my favourite of them. (One of the few negatives about this boxset is that it doesn't have the Ain't No Sanity Clause line, which is in their first Warner Bros film, A Night At The Opera.) It is inspiring to see him run rings round everybody without seeming to move – the idiot that fools everybody else. He seems to exemplify the Marx's credo – if it ain't nailed down, I'm having it. And nothing is nailed down in these pictures; allegiance change in a second, nothing is real, everything is negotiable, up for grabs.
Disc 1 The Cocoanuts and Animal Crackers.
Disc 2 Monkey Business and Horse Feathers
Disc 3 Duck Soup.
Extras.
All the films come with commentaries from film historians and academics, (Harpo's son helps out on the one for Monkey Business) plus there is a feature length documentary, clips from their appearance on the Today show, and a video essay by David Cairns. Because the same people are involved there tends to be quite a bit of overlap, and points repeated, but if you can get through it all there is a lot of insight
