Directed by Sam Wood
1935/USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Repeat viewing
#90 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
Otis B. Driftwood: I saw Mrs. Claypool first. Of course, her mother really saw her first but there’s no point in bringing the Civil War into this.
Let’s see, is there a plot? Well, Mrs. Claypool (Margaret Dumont) has hired Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho Marx) to get her into high society, an unlikely proposition if ever there was one. His brilliant idea is for her to invest in the New York Opera. In the meantime, Fiorello (Chico Marx) and Tomasino (Harpo Marx) are promoting a tenor (Allan Jones) who is in love with a soprano played by Kitty Carlisle. They all end up on a ship at some point and hilarity ensues.
This is the one with the “sanity clause” contract bit and the stateroom scene. There are a lot of laughs but perhaps too much singing. As usual, my favorite part of any Marx Brothers movie is when Chico plays the piano. Here he does a rendition of “All I Do Is Dream of You” to a group of enthralled children.
Re-release trailer
That stateroom scene is just fantastic. It leaves me in tears from laughing everytime. For this I can manage a bit of singing.
Pretty amazing, no?
The trailer is fun, as always. I recently watched an old Marx Bros. documentary: “Marx Brothers In A Nutshell” (1982). Great footage of family members and interviews comedians influenced by the brothers.
That documentary looks really good!
This is the most insane of the Marx Brothers’ films. They are past the simplicity and somewhat amateur (but well loved “The Coconuts”) and are hitting their stride here. Was there ever a better straight man than Margaret Dumont……I read somewhere that she took it all very seriously and really didn’t understand some of the humor. She was a treasure. The singing…..and there was a lot of it……..was bearable just for stateroom scene alone….but the whole film was funny. May be their best.
I read somewhere that it was Groucho’s favorite. A lot of people say Duck Soup but I like this one better. It is less frenetic but still funny. I also like the scene with the disappearing beds.