Sunday 30 April 2017

Third Marx

The previous two were stage plays adapted, and this was straight made for the screen. This is some Monkey Business.

The Marx Brothers are stowaways on a ship, but get discovered and run around for a while. There is a sort of a plot with a mafia dude wanting to get into business with a rich dude, and they get various Brothers to help them. Or rather "help" them. When the rich dude wants to present his daughter (think coming out party), the mafia dude kidnaps her, and the Brothers have to get her back.

The Marx movies aren't the biggest for plots, but this takes 20 minutes to even get to what plot there is. Before then there is a lot of running around the ship and some gags, but it feels longer. Just running around isn't that funny. (Not that I'm a big slapstick person.) The plot remains light and is just an excuse for getting various scenes set up for the Brothers to do their bits. Groucho and Chico have their verbal sparring match, Harpo does physical comedy, then later at the party Chico does his piano piece and Harpo his harp piece. Zeppo gets the serious part (with putting moves on the rich dude's daughter), and he gets to sing, but he is definitely not given much/any comedy to play.

In this movie is Thelma Todd, who was sent to be in a Marx Brothers movie because she wasn't following the studio line properly. And I don't know any trivia about the other players.

While I do appreciate what the Brothers can do, I would like them to be incorporated more into the actual storyline... and for there to be an actual storyline.

[END]

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