It's strange to see the archaic musical numbers punctuating the mayhem of the Marx Brothers, but in 1929 musicals were still all the rage in Hollywood. At the time this film was being made, the Marx Brothers and Margaret Dumont were being shuffled between the big street where they were starring in "Animal Crackers" and Paramount's New York studios that weren't even soundproofed yet.
You know, Irving Thalberg was wrong about the Marx Brothers. When he picked them up at MGM in 1935 he said "The problem with you guys is you never help anybody", but in this film the Marx Brothers - well Harpo and Chico anyways - end up helping a couple that are in love, played by Mary Eaton (Polly) and Oscar Shaw (Bob), who were probably picked for these roles for their musical rather than their acting talents. Polly's mom, played by the imperious and hilarious Margaret Dumont (Mrs. Potter), wants Polly to marry Yates (Cyril Ring), who actually is after Polly's money. That plan isn't working too well so Penelope (Kay Francis) comes up with a way to get money by stealing Mrs. Potter's necklace, and frame someone else.
One of the great questions I was left with was, why would Penelope help Yates? She could have just stolen the necklace and kept it for herself and left him out of it completely. After all, she took all of the risk! Their connection is never explained and neither is her generosity. It's a strange role for Kay, because one thing Kay never was in her films was a doormat.
But back to the Marx brothers. Some people complain about the lack of a plot, but you simply can't lock the Marx brothers into one. You need to let them run free to do their series of one liners of which Groucho is a master, allow Chico to be the character, and allow Harpo to be the menace. Note he doesn't chase women in this film because the camera still cannot move in 1929. And then there is Margaret Dumont. Would Groucho ever be so funny as when he is verbally harassing this society matron (she really was one folks!). She always told people she never got the jokes, but she had to keep up the front. Half the fun is that everything seems to go right past her. She looks like she THINKS she's being insulted, but with her breeding she simply can't quite make sense out of her being made the joke - and THAT is the plausible illusion that makes the act.
I mentioned earlier that the music was archaic, but Paramount manages to come up with a kaleidoscopic aerial shot of a dance number before Busby Berkeley ever does. As for Mary Eaton, 1929 is pretty much the beginning and the end of her film career. Not being able to take the end of her fame as one of the Seven Little Eatons and then a Zeigfeld girl, she died of alcoholism at only age 47. As for the Marx Brothers? This film had two directors and they were wise to pretty much let the brothers wing it. They made four more films for Paramount, the last being the political satire classic "Duck Soup" in 1933. Mary Eaton's time in the limelight was over because her time was past, as for the Marx Brothers, their films were not huge financial successes in their era, mainly because they were ahead of their time by decades.
This first film is a little awkward, but that is mainly because of the sound film era being new. Try to enjoy it in that light and I think you'll like it as much as I do.
You know, Irving Thalberg was wrong about the Marx Brothers. When he picked them up at MGM in 1935 he said "The problem with you guys is you never help anybody", but in this film the Marx Brothers - well Harpo and Chico anyways - end up helping a couple that are in love, played by Mary Eaton (Polly) and Oscar Shaw (Bob), who were probably picked for these roles for their musical rather than their acting talents. Polly's mom, played by the imperious and hilarious Margaret Dumont (Mrs. Potter), wants Polly to marry Yates (Cyril Ring), who actually is after Polly's money. That plan isn't working too well so Penelope (Kay Francis) comes up with a way to get money by stealing Mrs. Potter's necklace, and frame someone else.
One of the great questions I was left with was, why would Penelope help Yates? She could have just stolen the necklace and kept it for herself and left him out of it completely. After all, she took all of the risk! Their connection is never explained and neither is her generosity. It's a strange role for Kay, because one thing Kay never was in her films was a doormat.
But back to the Marx brothers. Some people complain about the lack of a plot, but you simply can't lock the Marx brothers into one. You need to let them run free to do their series of one liners of which Groucho is a master, allow Chico to be the character, and allow Harpo to be the menace. Note he doesn't chase women in this film because the camera still cannot move in 1929. And then there is Margaret Dumont. Would Groucho ever be so funny as when he is verbally harassing this society matron (she really was one folks!). She always told people she never got the jokes, but she had to keep up the front. Half the fun is that everything seems to go right past her. She looks like she THINKS she's being insulted, but with her breeding she simply can't quite make sense out of her being made the joke - and THAT is the plausible illusion that makes the act.
I mentioned earlier that the music was archaic, but Paramount manages to come up with a kaleidoscopic aerial shot of a dance number before Busby Berkeley ever does. As for Mary Eaton, 1929 is pretty much the beginning and the end of her film career. Not being able to take the end of her fame as one of the Seven Little Eatons and then a Zeigfeld girl, she died of alcoholism at only age 47. As for the Marx Brothers? This film had two directors and they were wise to pretty much let the brothers wing it. They made four more films for Paramount, the last being the political satire classic "Duck Soup" in 1933. Mary Eaton's time in the limelight was over because her time was past, as for the Marx Brothers, their films were not huge financial successes in their era, mainly because they were ahead of their time by decades.
This first film is a little awkward, but that is mainly because of the sound film era being new. Try to enjoy it in that light and I think you'll like it as much as I do.