# The Margaret Dumont Appreciation Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2001, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703 "2001-06-13T18:43:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703/41 "2015-02-22T16:51:54Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Who else is thinking “Christina Ricci!”? HOT Wednesday Addams! :eek: 😃 ---
**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:** [February 22, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703/42 "2015-02-22T17:01:20Z")
> [@Rocketeer](#): > > [Young Margaret, radiantly beautiful.](http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z256/hilbyf/margaret-dumont_zps0cdc1b8a.png) Young Margaret, my foot. The clothes and hair mark that as a picture from the late 1920s, when Dumont was in her 40s, as shown by the pictures in the site I linked to. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703/43 "2015-02-22T17:30:14Z")
Since YouTube was not in existence when the OP was written (though the Twin Towers were), i’ll post this year. In February 1965, 35 years after the film version of _Animal Crackers_ , Groucho and Dumont reunited at the Hollywood Bowl to perform that movie’s most famous number, “Hooray For Captain Spaulding”. Here it is: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xlWQqFB4ECI/hqdefault.jpg "Groucho Marx Hosts Hollywood Palace With Margaret Dumont 1965-03-03") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlWQqFB4ECI) Margaret Dumont died one week later. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703/44 "2015-02-22T22:29:27Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Since YouTube was not in existence when the OP was written (though the Twin Towers were), i’ll post this year. > In February 1965, 35 years after the film version of _Animal Crackers_ , Groucho and Dumont reunited at the Hollywood Bowl to perform that movie’s most famous number, “Hooray For Captain Spaulding”. Here it is: > [http://youtu.be/xlWQqFB4ECI](http://youtu.be/xlWQqFB4ECI) > > Margaret Dumont died one week later. The article I linked to has this to say: > [@](#): > > On February 26, 1965, Dumont recreated a scene from Animal Crackers on TV with Groucho. She died eight days later at the age of 82. On that broadcast, Dumont is as formidable as ever, clearly pleased when the audience applauds her, and nervously mirthful when Groucho ad-libs, “Don’t step on those few laughs I have.” Interestingly, she tries something new here, a delayed reaction to his dirty joke about native girls “developing,” as if she considers the joke for a moment and then thinks, “Ah, now I get that one!” Was this a choice, or was she finally getting this joke after thirty-five years? > > It seems clear when he chastises her for stepping on his lines in that final teaming that Groucho was toughly in charge and she was under his thumb professionally. In his Cavett interview, Groucho ungenerously sneered at Dumont’s behavior back stage at that last taping, sitting in her dressing room “as if she was still a big star,” and holding roses “that she probably bought herself.” Practically any other show business figure would have said a few kind words about an indispensable partner on her very last legs, but Groucho chose to hurl a few more insults at her when she could no longer hear them. Maybe that was his way of showing that he loved her. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703/45 "2015-02-23T00:44:12Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Young Margaret, my foot. The clothes and hair mark that as a picture from the late 1920s, when Dumont was in her 40s, as shown by the pictures in the site I linked to. I have it from a very reliable source that the picture is Sylvia Sydney circa 1931. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703/46 "2015-02-23T01:04:48Z")
[Here’s the Dick Cavett interview](http://youtu.be/VckmK-ZCpAU) referenced in that article. His comments about Margaret Dumont begin around 43:00. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703/47 "2015-02-23T03:10:09Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I have it from a very reliable source that the picture is Sylvia Sydney circa 1931. A quick stroll thru Google Images seems to confirm that. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703/48 "2015-02-23T03:48:14Z")
[nitpick]Silvia Sidney[/nitpick] You don’t need to know who Sidney was to see that the woman in that photo is tiny. Sidney was in fact a tiny, fragile beauty, about 5’2". Dumont was statuesque and large-framed and towers over Groucho in every scene because she was about 5’9" without heels. How can you see that picture and think of Margaret Dumont? ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703/49 "2015-02-23T20:56:37Z")
Okay, I guess I was wrong. [How about a charming grin instead?](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/787/545/320/marx4.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703/50 "2015-02-23T20:58:47Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Dumont was statuesque and large-framed and towers over Groucho in every scene because she was about 5’9" without heels. I can see you bending over the stove. I can’t see the stove. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2015, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703/51 "2015-02-25T08:24:05Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > [nitpick]Silvia Sidney[/nitpick] > > You don’t need to know who Sidney was to see that the woman in that photo is tiny. Sidney was in fact a tiny, fragile beauty, about 5’2". Dumont was statuesque and large-framed and towers over Groucho in every scene because she was about 5’9" without heels. How can you see that picture and think of Margaret Dumont? I’m not sure how you can tell height or size from a picture with no other objects for reference. Now I will agree you shouldn’t be able to look at that picture and think it resembles Margaret Dumont at all, but not based on the size of the person. Think shape of the chin, in particular. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703/52 "2015-03-01T17:22:15Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > [nitpick]Silvia Sidney[/nitpick] > > You don’t need to know who Sidney was to see that the woman in that photo is tiny. Sidney was in fact a tiny, fragile beauty, about 5’2". Dumont was statuesque and large-framed and towers over Groucho in every scene because she was about 5’9" without heels. How can you see that picture and think of Margaret Dumont? Because 40 years never adds pounds, spreads statues, nor enlarges frames? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-margaret-dumont-appreciation-thread/68703.md?page=2)