Firefly (Groucho Marx) is named President of a small country named Freedonia, one of his very first acts is to declare war on neighboring Sylvania in order to win over a wealthy society figure (played by Marx Brothers foil Margaret Dumont). As expected, however, detractors of the quartet will find very little here to embrace - though there's no denying that the film is, at the very least, far more accessible than any of the brothers' earlier efforts. The needless inclusion of musical numbers for Chico and Harpo certainly doesn't help matters, nor does the frantic, prank-heavy finale that only e xacerbates the overall feeling of pointlessness at work here.ĭuck Soup is generally considered the Marx Brothers' masterpiece, and routinely pops up on various lists as one of the best comedies ever made.
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The bulk of the movie follows Chico and Harpo's over-the-top antics, with Groucho's fast-talking schtick generally left by the wayside. Horse Feathers, more than either Animal Crackers or Monkey Business, often emphasizes outrageously broad instances of physical comedy over clever one-liners and absurd puns, which, as it turns out, is a far-from-preferable tradeoff. His first act is to assemble a top-notch football team to defeat the school's rivals, though his decision to employ a pair of bumbling idiots (played by Chico and Harpo) soon proves to be disastrous. The zaniness continues with this expectedly overblown comedy that revolves around the wacky hijinks at Huxley College, where Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff (Groucho Marx) has just been installed as the new president. It's clear, though, that the brothers were not looking to convert neophytes with these early films there's a distinct sense that the four men were, in a big way, just preaching to the choir. It goes without saying that Monkey Business will have a much more positive effect among fans of the brothers, as the rampant silliness can occasionally be awfully difficult to take. This time around, the brothers - Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo - engage in tomfoolery aboard a luxury transatlantic cruise, where they encounter irate crew members and dangerous gangsters (among others). Like Animal Crackers, the film generally eschews plot in favor of a non-stop barrage of one-liners, puns, and various other rambunctious shenanigans. Though it's slightly more cinematic than Animal Crackers, Monkey Business ultimately reveals itself to be just as ineffective as its predecessor - though Groucho Marx's antics are, as expected, good for a chuckle or two. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know.") But the almost complete lack of structure ultimately transforms Animal Crackers into an exceedingly hit-and-miss affair that is, unfortunately, more miss than hit. Animal Crackers is undeniably quite effective when Groucho is allowed to just do his thing, as the actor delivers an expectedly charismatic performance that is often quite funny (this is, after all, the film in which he utters the immortal line, "one morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. The storyline - thin as it is - revolves around the return of a famed explorer named Captain Spaulding (Groucho Marx), who finds himself mixed up in the hijinks at a fancy palatial estate. That Animal Crackers - the Marx Brothers' second movie - started out on the New York stage comes as no surprise whatsoever, given the distinctly loose vibe that occasionally resembles a variety show rather than an actual film.
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