"The Cocoanuts" is the very first film the Marx Brothers did and is essentially a filmed recording of their Broadway triumph. Talkies were still in their infancy, and the technical aspects of this flick prove it! The camera can barely keep up with the boys as they leap around. But don't let the staginess and crummy musical interludes and subplots distract you... this film has some of the great moments in Marx comedy. Chico is especially aggressive with his lines (he just annoys the hell out of Groucho, foiling his plan to rig an auction with his denseness) and Harpo (with his original red wig, which films dark brown) has never been better, destroying the hotel lobby by eating buttons off bellboy's uniforms and swilling ink. Groucho has some of his most potent insults. Zeppo, surprisingly, has even less to do here than in subsequent outings. This film is hilarious and head-and-shoulders above their later MGM films like "Go West" and "At the Circus." Funny, funny, funny!
Review of The Cocoanuts
