# Rediscovering the Marx brothers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419 "2007-01-02T15:40:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/1 "2007-01-02T15:40:34Z")
Got to watch some of their classics over the holidays. Not only were they funny, but I had forgotten what incredibly talented musicians they were. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/2 "2007-01-02T15:42:58Z")
I agree. Which ones did you watch? I think they are hilariously funny, and I am not very happy about the person years ago who told me they were “just like the Three Stooges”. Marx Brothers were real comedy! 3 Stooges is just stupid. Groucho’s one-liners are amazing, and Harpo’s skills on the…erm, harp…leave me breathless. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/3 "2007-01-02T15:52:13Z")
Make that 3 hard boiled eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/4 "2007-01-02T15:53:39Z")
And one duck egg! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/5 "2007-01-02T16:01:55Z")
> [@](#): > > “Why, a four-year-old child could understand this. (Run out and find me a four-year-old child; I can’t make head or tail out of it.)” > Duck Soup when reading a treasury department report. (1933) > > * * * > > “You’re a brave man. Go and break through the lines. And remember, while you’re out there risking your life and limb through shot and shell, we’ll be in here thinking what a sucker you are.” > Duck Soup to a soldier (Harpo as Pinky) about to enter battle. (1933) > > * * * > > “Gentlemen, Chicolini here may look like an idiot, and talk like an idiot, but don’t let that fool you. He really is an idiot.” > Duck Soup during the trial. (1933) Finally, Chico gets some lines– > [@](#): > > Trentino: Have you been trailing Firefly? > Chicolini: Have we been trailing Firefly? Why, my partner, he’s got a nose just like a bloodhound. > Trentino: Oh really? > Chicolini: Yeah, and the rest of his face don’t look so good either. > Trentino: Oh! Now, Chicolini, I want a full detailed report of your investigation. > Chicolini: All right, I tell you. Monday we watch-a Firefly’s house, but he no come out. He wasn’t home. Tuesday we go to the ball game, but he fool us. He no show up. Wednesday he go to the ball game, and we fool him. We no show up. Thursday was a double-header. Nobody show up. Friday it rained all day. There was no ball game, so we stayed home and we listened to it on-a the radio. > Trentino: Then you didn’t shadow Firefly? > Chicolini: Oh, sure we shadow Firefly. We shadow him all day. > Trentino: But what day was that? > Chicolini: Shadowday. Hahaha! That’s-a some joke, eh, Boss? > > * * * ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/6 "2007-01-02T16:14:34Z")
See my comments here: [SFF Net](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/marxes.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/7 "2007-01-02T16:22:07Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] See my comments here: [http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/marxes.htm](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/marxes.htm) [/QUOTE] > [@](#): > > The Story of Mankind 😕😕 HUH?!?! 😕😕 ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/8 "2007-01-02T16:25:40Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] And one duck egg! [/QUOTE] Why a duck? Sorry, couldn’t resist. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/9 "2007-01-02T16:30:14Z")
[The Story of Mankind](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Mankind_%281957_film%29) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/10 "2007-01-02T16:36:00Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] [The Story of Mankind](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Mankind_%281957_film%29) [/QUOTE] OOOO! Sucks like a Hoover-O-Matic. I’ll pass… ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/11 "2007-01-02T17:19:48Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] .. I’ll pass… [/QUOTE] So, you’ll pass over that? Must be the Jewish section. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/12 "2007-01-02T17:22:23Z")
I actually saw \*_The Story of Mankind_ once. As I said, it’s as bad as you’ve heard it was. Claude Rains and Ronald Coleman debate whether mankind should be allowed to live, with each bringing vignettes showing the good and the bad. The Marx don’t appear together, and are given absolutely nothing to do. It doesn’t work as drama – it’s just a listing of highlights and lowlights – and it’s not funny at all (though Groucho tries hard). No one seems to care enough to bother to put in a performance, and if it wasn’t for the footnote of being the Marx’s last film “together,” it would have been justly forgotten. The three did appear together one more time, in a TV show called “[The Incredible Jewel Robbery,](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0586319/)” though it was like **Love Happy** – Harpo and Chico, with a cameo by Groucho. I haven’t seen it, but some say it was quite good, and probably deserves to be dug up and rescued. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/13 "2007-01-02T17:23:03Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] OOOO! Sucks like a Hoover-O-Matic. I’ll pass… [/QUOTE] Fine, more Marx Brothers for me then. It’s actually not as terrible as the article makes it out to be. It’s far from a wonderful film but it’s more than watchable and if you’re a Marx Bros completeist must-see. TCM showed all of the Marx Bros films in blocks over several nights a few years back and I got all of them on tape. Outstanding stuff. ---
**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 2, 2007, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/14 "2007-01-02T18:24:46Z")
For the completists: All 13 Marx Brothers films have been released on DVD. The first five, Paramount, films are on [The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection](http://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Collection-Cocoanuts-Crackers-Business/dp/B0002MHDYW/sr=1-2/qid=1167760872/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/002-5625761-1946464?ie=UTF8&s=dvd). The next seven are on the badly titled [The Marx Brothers Collection](http://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Collection-Casablanca-Service-Circus/dp/B0001HAIP4/sr=1-1/qid=1167760872/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5625761-1946464?ie=UTF8&s=dvd). Their last film, [Love Happy](http://www.amazon.com/Love-Happy-Harpo-Marx/dp/B0002235M6/sr=1-1/qid=1167761051/ref=sr_1_1/002-5625761-1946464?ie=UTF8&s=dvd), you have to buy on its own. Just to confuse everyone, there is a second, totally separate, DVD box set also titled [The Marx Brothers Collection](http://www.amazon.com/Marx-Brothers-Collection/dp/B0000DJYPL/sr=1-2/qid=1167761196/ref=sr_1_2/002-5625761-1946464?ie=UTF8&s=dvd). It doesn’t have any films, but does contain the kinds of odds and end usually included as extras on real DVD sets. > [@](#): > > #1 “Inside the Marx Brothers” > #2 “You Bet Your Life” TV Pilot > #3 “Papa Romani” and “Person-to-Person” > #4 “The Marx Brothers Radio Days” > #5 “Marx Brothers Mixed Nuts” Some of this stuff, like the trailers, is on the other Marx Brothers Collection box set (which is only 6 DVDs not seven since one DVD holds two films), but most is not. Several box sets of Groucho’s You Bet Your Life programs have also been issued. Single DVDs of documentaries about them can also be found. It would be nice if all the films and extras could have been put together, but too many different movie studios seem to have been involved for that to happen. It’s still a lot better situation than in the old days, when their stuff was impossible to find. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/15 "2007-01-02T18:26:54Z")
“Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped!” ---
**Author:** ![lowbrass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@lowbrass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lowbrass)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/16 "2007-01-02T19:41:37Z")
“I’ll teach you to kick me.” “You don’t hafta teach me; I already know how.” ---
**Author:** ![Asgardking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Asgardking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asgardking)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/17 "2007-01-02T20:13:07Z")
Groucho making a speech about a chest he got as a present in Animal Crackers… “This magnficent chest” Points to Margaret Dumont “No, this magnficent chest” Points back to chest “No, this magnificent chest” and from the same movie… “One day I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How the elephant got in my pajama’s, I’ll never know” ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/18 "2007-01-02T20:22:25Z")
_A Night At The Opera_ and _Duck Soup_ were their best. You can throw in _A Day At The Races_ (though the ‘happy ol’ n\*\*\*\*\*s down on de ol’ plantation’ song-and-dance bit makes one cringe now) and _The Big Store_ (though ‘Tenement Symphony’ must be one of the worst songs ever written) as makeweights. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/19 "2007-01-02T20:39:19Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] I agree. Which ones did you watch? I think they are hilariously funny, and I am not very happy about the person years ago who told me they were “just like the Three Stooges”. Marx Brothers were real comedy! 3 Stooges is just stupid. [/quote] Much as I love the Marx Brothers, I can’t allow this asparugus on the Howard Brothers (and Fine) to pass unrelented. IMO most of Chico’s and Harpo’s humor was physical, and “stupid” in the sense that the joke often revolved around someone’s inability to “get” what was going on. As for miming I think Curly, at least, could do so at least as well as Harpo, though you only see him do it in one or two shorts. > [@](#): > > Groucho’s one-liners are amazing. In this I agree with you, the Stooges had nothing to match it. But don’t forget that a lot of the jokes were written, usually by Kaufman and Ryskind, and if you watch other movies which they wrote, you will recognize much of the humor. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419/20 "2007-01-02T20:43:32Z")
[QUOTE=Mk VII] _A Night At The Opera_ and _Duck Soup_ were their best. You can throw in _A Day At The Races_ (though the ‘happy ol’ n\*\*\*\*\*s down on de ol’ plantation’ song-and-dance bit makes one cringe now) and _The Big Store_ (though ‘Tenement Symphony’ must be one of the worst songs ever written) as makeweights. [/QUOTE] Both of those songs are horribly embarrassing. Personally, I think the best Marx movies after Opera and Duck Soup are Monkey Business and Horse Feathers. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-the-marx-brothers/386419.md?page=2)