# Gorucho Marx **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 10, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorucho-marx/259243 "2004-08-10T19:12:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kindablue2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@kindablue2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kindablue2)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorucho-marx/259243/1 "2004-08-10T19:12:33Z")
There was a story aired on NPR last weekend about a new DVD of _You Bet Your Life_ episodes and outtakes. It turns out that quite a few of Groucho’s raunchy ad-libs were caught on tape and survived. I don’t know if any of the ones discussed here are on the DVD. There is more information on it here: [http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3806536](http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3806536) ---
**Author:** ![kindablue2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@kindablue2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kindablue2)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorucho-marx/259243/2 "2004-08-10T19:14:41Z")
Gorucho was, of course, the Spanish Marx brother. Damn these sausage-like fingers!!! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorucho-marx/259243/3 "2004-08-11T00:27:35Z")
The column can be found [here](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_024.html). In his re-creation Cecil is close… but no cigar. Sorry. Properly, it goes like this: > [@](#): > > GROUCHO: Why do you have so many children? That’s a big responsibility and a big burden." > > MRS. STORY: “Well, because I love my children and I think that’s our purpose here on Earth, and I love my husband.” > > GROUCHO: “I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.” Cecil is is the ballpark with the 1947 or '48 reference, since the show ran on Nov. 17, 1947. Mr. and Mrs. Story had 20 children, not 19. The quote is found on the [You Bet Your Life - The Lost Episodes](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000ALFZ0/qid=1092183233/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-1526919-9701639?v=glance&s=dvd) three-CD box set, which is not the same box set as the one referred to in the link that **kindablue2** gives. That one is [You Bet Your Life - The Best Episodes](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002AHW3G/qid=1092183233/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/002-1526919-9701639?v=glance&s=dvd), a further compilation of episodes, outtakes, and pilots. Everybody knows that the exchange never went out on the air, but it’s not quite true that it was never heard before. DeSoto, Groucho’s sponsor, sent out several twelve-inch Christmas holiday records to their dealers, somewhat like The Beatles would later send out special and today much collectible Christmas records to their fan club members. The December 1950 album had the outtake, which is all that survives. Nothing of the show itself, not even the printable dialog, still exists. It’s a full-time job setting Cecil straight, but somebody has to do it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2004, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorucho-marx/259243/4 "2004-08-11T00:53:59Z")
Now I know what I want for Christmas! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorucho-marx/259243/5 "2004-08-13T23:33:44Z")
Another of Groucho’s ribald ad-libs came during a WWII bond rally in Minnesota. In his “Grouchophile,” he reports telling the audience, “I once dated a girl who lived in both St. Paul and Minneapolis. She was known as the tail of two cities.” Thank you ladies and germs. Try the veal! ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorucho-marx/259243/6 "2008-01-09T18:08:59Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] The column can be found [here](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_024.html).The quote is found on the [You Bet Your Life - The Lost Episodes](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000ALFZ0/qid=1092183233/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-1526919-9701639?v=glance&s=dvd) three-CD box set, which is not the same box set as the one referred to in the link that **kindablue2** gives. That one is [You Bet Your Life - The Best Episodes](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0002AHW3G/qid=1092183233/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/002-1526919-9701639?v=glance&s=dvd), a further compilation of episodes, outtakes, and pilots. [/QUOTE] OK, I know this is an old thread, but I just came across this column again via an article in Wikipedia. That article also had a link to a [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/grouchocigar.asp) column, which states that the exchange **never** took place, and their research is pretty thorough. So now what? Does anyone have the CD set mentioned above? ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorucho-marx/259243/7 "2008-01-10T00:07:29Z")
[QUOTE=Running with Scissors] So now what? Does anyone have the CD set mentioned above? [/QUOTE] It’s a DVD set, not a CD set, and I have it. The outtake in question isn’t the alleged lines, nor anything particularly close to it. Unfortunately, the set is on the other end of the country from me, so I can’t quote what was said. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorucho-marx/259243/8 "2008-01-10T01:09:07Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Everybody knows that the exchange never went out on the air, but it’s not quite true that it was never heard before. DeSoto, Groucho’s sponsor, sent out several twelve-inch Christmas holiday records to their dealers, somewhat like The Beatles would later send out special and today much collectible Christmas records to their fan club members. The December 1950 album had the outtake, which is all that survives. Nothing of the show itself, not even the printable dialog, still exists. [/QUOTE] If I’m understanding your remarks, you contend that there is a 1950-issued record that contains the dialogue between the Story’s and Groucho? How does this square with the snopes article that says it doesn’t exist? Of course, I may be misunderstanding the sequence of events. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorucho-marx/259243/9 "2008-01-10T17:51:47Z")
I was quoting from the booklet that was part of the DVD (not CD: brain fart) set Groucho Marx - You Bet Your Life: The Lost Episodes. (The full quote is on the Snopes link.) Snopes does a better job of research than the writer, Robert S. Bader. This is surprising since Bader is on the innermost rings of The Marx Brotherhood. I met him at one of Paul Wesolowski’s Open Houses and Paul (“Wesso”) is the foremost expert on the Marxes in the world. He knows everything about them and his house was - apparently he’s since moved - a museum to the Marxes with every wall and cabinet covered in Marxiana. They both collect vintage tv appearances of the Marxes and we were treated to a showing of kinescope footage not seen for many years. But notice that the DVD was copyright 2003 and the Snopes article is from 2007. With the renewed interest in vintage programming and the ability to put these shows out of the internet, it’s not surprising that new “lost” episodes have been made public in the interim. Snopes doesn’t give any indication where the episode was found or who made it available. Sorry for the misinformation. We all were trusting seemingly authoritative sources, but memory is a tricky thing. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorucho-marx/259243/10 "2008-01-10T19:30:27Z")
[QUOTE=kindablue2] Gorucho was, of course, the Spanish Marx brother. [/QUOTE] I thought that was Gaucho. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gorucho-marx/259243/11 "2008-01-12T18:51:39Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] I thought that was Gaucho. 😃 [/QUOTE] _“Anoche disparó un elefante en mi pijama y la forma en que se le ocurrió en mi pijama Yo nunca se sabe.”_ Still funny.