Marx Brothers films
From the best to the least best. (They didn't have a worst (unless you count Love Happy (but we don't, do we?)))
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- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxRufus T. Firefly is named the dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of his wealthy backer Mrs. Teasdale, contending with two inept spies who can't seem to keep straight which side they're on.The zaniness is so non-stop that you can barely catch your breath. A classic!
"Well, that covers a lot of ground. Say, you cover a lot of ground yourself. You better beat it - I hear they're going to tear you down and put up an office building where you're standing. You can leave in a taxi. If you can't get a taxi, you can leave in a huff. If that's too soon, you can leave in a minute and a huff. You know, you haven't stopped talking since I came here? You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle." - DirectorSam WoodEdmund GouldingStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxA sly business manager and the wacky friends of two opera singers in Italy help them achieve success in America while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.When MGM signed Laurel and Hardy, they didn't know what to do with them. Fortunately, Irving Thalberg had a great vision of how to package the Marx Brothers into a big MGM musical. A fantastic film!
"Hey, you big bully. What's the idea of hitting that little bully?" - DirectorSam WoodStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxA veterinarian posing as a doctor teams with a singer and his friends as they struggle to save an upstate New York sanitarium with the help of a misfit racehorse.The follow-up to A Night at the Opera is almost as good.
"If I hold you any closer, I'll be in back of you." - DirectorRobert FloreyJoseph SantleyStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxDuring the Florida land boom, The Marx Brothers run a hotel, auction off some land, thwart a jewel robbery, and generally act like themselves.The staging is very static here, betraying the stage origin of the source material, but the script is so incredibly funny, it doesn't matter.
"Three years ago I came to Florida without a nickel in my pocket. Now I've got a nickel in my pocket." - DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxQuincy Adams Wagstaff, Huxley University's new president, accidentally hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help his school win the big football game against their rival, Darwin University.Another excellent script! A college is a perfect setting for their humor. Thelma Todd works well in the absence of Margaret Dumont.
"You know you've got the brain of a four-year old child, and I bet he was glad to get rid of it." - DirectorVictor HeermanStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxMayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.Hooray for Captain Spaulding! So many great routines in this one.
"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know." - DirectorEdward BuzzellStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxThe Marx Brothers try to help the owner of a circus recover some stolen funds before he finds himself out of a job.This one doesn't have as good a reputation as the earlier films, but there's still a lot to like, including Groucho singing Lydia the Tattooed Lady!
"You know what I say. Whenever you got business trouble the best thing to do is to get a lawyer. Then you got more trouble, but at least you got a lawyer." - DirectorNorman Z. McLeodStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxThe Marx BrothersOn a transatlantic crossing, The Marx Brothers get up to their usual antics and manage to annoy just about everyone on board the ship.I enjoy Thelma Todd in this, but the story gets a bit muddled. It's still hilarious.
"Oh, why can't we break away from all this, just you and I, and lodge with my fleas in the hills? I mean... flee to my lodge in the hills." - DirectorEdward BuzzellStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxThe Marx Brothers come to the rescue in the Wild West when a young man, trying to settle an old family feud so he can marry the girl he loves, runs afoul of crooks.The humor leans far more heavily toward slapstick in this one. It's very funny if you are prepared for that.
"I was going to thrash them within an inch of their lives, but I didn't have a tape measure." - DirectorWilliam A. SeiterStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxA penniless theatrical producer must outwit the hotel efficiency expert trying to evict him from his room, while securing a backer for his new play.This wasn't their own material, so the humor isn't really tailored to their strengths. Despite this, it is funnier to me than most people give it credit for being.
"I still think it's a terrible play, but it makes a wonderful rehearsal." - DirectorCharles ReisnerStarsGroucho MarxChico MarxHarpo MarxA detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department store, from the store's crooked manager.The Big Store continues the trend to add more slapstick to their later films which gives Harpo a lot more to do. It was planned as their last film. Moments of comedy greatness are woven into an otherwise weak film.
“Martha, dear, there are many bonds that will hold us together through eternity. Your government bonds, your savings bonds, your liberty bonds.” - DirectorArchie MayoStarsGroucho MarxHarpo MarxChico MarxThe Marx Brothers are employed at a hotel in postwar Casablanca, where a ring of Nazis is trying to recover a cache of stolen treasure.By Marx Brothers standards, this isn't a great film. If you know that and prepare yourself, there is plenty to laugh at. The last film in which Groucho dons the famous makeup.
"From now on the essence of this hotel will be speed. If a customer askes you for a three-minute egg, give it to him in two minutes. If he askes you for a two-minute egg, give it to him in one minute. If he askes you for a one-minute egg, give him the chicken and let him work it out for himself!"