Directed by Victor Heerman
Written by Morrie Ryskind from a play by Ryskind, George S. Kaufman, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby
1930/US
Paramount Pictures
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/YouTube
Capt. Spaulding: How happy I could be with either of these two if both of them just went away.
This is possibly my favorite Marx Brothers movie.
Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont) is hosting a lavish house party to introduce African explorer Captain Geoffrey T. Spaulding (Groucho) to her high society friends.
Chico, Harpo and Zeppo show up and mayhem ensues. With Lillian Roth as Zeppo’s love interest.
This is chock full of gags but does not go into frenetic overdrive like some of the later ones do. Everybody looks like they were having a good time and I had one too.
Between Animal Crackers and Duck Soup, it’s hard to pick a favorite.
I love Lillian Roth! You’ll get to Ladies They Talk About and she’s great in that too.
Duck Soup has so many classic bits but it’s too frenetic to be the top favorite for me.