Cast:
Groucho Marx (Mr. Hammer), Harpo Marx (Harpo), Chico Marx (Chico), Zeppo Marx (Jamison), Mary Eaton (Polly Potter), Oscar Shaw (Bob Adams), Margaret Dumont (Mrs. Potter), Kay Francis (Penelope), Cyril Ring (Harvey Yates), with Basil Ruysdael (Detective Hennessy), the Gamby-Hale Girls, and the Allan K. Foster Girls. Directed by Robert Florey (#531 - Murders in the Rue Morgue) and Joseph Santley.
Review:
Admittedly, my knowledge of the Marx Brothers is limited in all-around know-how when compared to other classic comedians of film in the 1920s and 1930s like Charlie Chaplin. And yet, the story of how a group of brothers succeeded in vaudeville, Broadway, and film for decades is inherently compelling. They were the sons of Jewish immigrants (their father was a tailor, and their mother handled the affairs of her older brother to enter show business before handling the Marx affairs). Obviously, each of the children had nicknames that stuck with them for their act: Leonard "Chico" Marx, Adolph "Harpo" Marx, Julius "Groucho" Marx, Milton "Gummo" Marx, and Herbert "Zeppo" Marx. Their act had started in the early 20th century with vaudeville before it would start to include comedy in 1912. Gummo and Zeppo left the act in favor of business interests (and World War I). The four Marx brothers made their debut in Broadway with I'll Say She Is, a 1924 musical comedy revue. There were thirteen feature films with the Marx Brothers as the key focus, with two distinct phases (five with four Marx Brothers and the rest with just three). This was their first feature film, but only by accident: they had done a film in 1921 called Humor Risk that was shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey but was never formally released (research from better sources reveal that the film was either not finished or not released). Years went by with attempts by studios to offer up a Marx movie such as with First National Pictures in 1926 and United Artists in 1928. The movie is an adaptation of the 1925 play of the same name, which had been written by George S. Kaufman with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin; Morrie Ryskind served as writer for the movie (obviously not the parts where the Marx brothers came up with things themselves). Florey was born in France but raised in Switzerland before he moved to America at the age of 20 (after writing articles on film and doing film-work in Switzerland), which resulted in a career filled with mostly B-productions (this was his sixth feature after a couple of shorts) along with a handful of television credits before he retired in 1964. Santley on the other hand was an actor, writer, singer and dancer from a young age in the early 20th century before he did his first feature with this movie, his most famous work in a career that ended in the 1950s.
Paramount Pictures would release five films with the Marx Brothers that ended with Duck Soup (1933), and they did not listen to the apparent desire of the Marxes to buy the negative and discard the movie when it was shown in previews, which resulted in success for all. It should only make sense that turning it into a sound feature would be perfect for the growing age of sound movies, which would have two directors responsible to balance out the dialogue in Florey and Santley for the musical elements (such as "When My Dreams Come True", sung by Oscar Shaw and Mary Eaton). The other thing that is important to know about early sound (besides needing static shots with glass booths) is that they actually had to find a way to make sure paper wouldn't ruin the sound quality. Believe it or not, they actually dampened the paper by making it wet. So, with all that in mind, one will probably find this movie to be a moderately engaging experience in differing returns with music and comedy. Obviously, there would be refinements made with the next few Marx vehicles, who kept the sense of anarchy going with sharp lines that wouldn't be just the best thing standing in the way of okay supporting people. Groucho is the easy one to follow with his sharpness in wit, one that maneuvers the 96-minute run-time with efficient hustle, while Harpo utilizes props (like a horn) to wordless effectiveness to go alongside the verbal charmer in Chico, particularly with the "viaduct" scene or with the auction scene (where telling one to keep putting a bid goes wrong). This was the first of seven pairings of the brothers with Dumont, who would basically serve as the straight man (woman in this case) that endured long after the other narrowly straight one (Zeppo, who left in 1933) wasn't there. She handles the humor thrown her way (mainly by Groucho) with refined timing. Zeppo was one described as "handsome, obtuse, slightly wooden" by his brother Groucho, and perhaps one might be forgiven for sometimes forgetting there were four brothers in these movies. But there he is, on the side near Groucho; the plot not involving the Marxes is absorbed by Eaton, Shaw, Francis, and Ring, who are only marginally compelling. As a whole, it is the comedy that drives the movie forward more so than the chorus sequences or the plot involving jewels and would-be romances, but it never teeters too much in general quality (sound is marginable, but this was 1929). It doesn't quite gel into just a "good" movie, but it makes a reasonable start for Marx mayhem that will prove a useful start to further digging in terms of seeing the zany outsider personas of the Marxes, and that makes it a sure winner.
Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.
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