OK, I understand the bit about Burr spotting Stewart.
I still don’t know what the “fourth wall” means. 
From the Marx Brothers’ movies:
The Cocoanuts: In one scene the dialog between Groucho and Margaret Dumont is supposed to go like this:
GROUCHO: Your eyes–they shine like the pants of my blue serge suit.
DUMONT: What? That’s an insult!
GROUCHO: That’s not a reflection on you–it’s on the pants.
In the movie as released, Groucho and Dumont slip and slide over each other’s lines, as if the studio had only one usable take of the scene.
Animal Crackers: Why does Harpo knock himself out with the flit gun at the end?
Monkey Business: Near the beginning of the movie, the brothers are stowaways hiding in “kippered herring”: barrels in the ship’s hold. But when the barrels are hoisted away at the captain’s order, the brothers are left behind. Why woud they have disconnected the bottoms from the barrels?
Horse Feathers: Where did Harpo get that ridiculously long jersey? And did Zeppo marry Thelma Todd at the end, along with Groucho, Chico and Harpo?
*Duck Soup: * That was some motorcyle on Freedonia–Groucho fired it up and off rode Harpo in the sidecar!
A Night at the Opera: No matter how “magnificent” Lassparri’s voice was, I find it incredible that Gottlieb would hire someone with such a hateful, mendacious attitude as a lead tenor.
A Day at the Races: During the racetrack scene Morgan’s jockey tries to trip Harpo up. Morgan says, “I hope the judges didn’t see that.” Did Morgan think they were keeping their eyes closed?
Room Service: When Frank Albertson pretends to be sick, Dr. Glass asks him a question. He doesn’t answer. Chico asks, “How can he speak for himself when he’s-a got laryngitis?” Dr. Glass still says, “I insist the patient speak for himself!” Hel-lo…
At the Circus: What did Carter, Goliath and Professor Atom expect to accomplish by robbing Jeff of the $10,000 when he was going to pay it to Carter anyway?
Go West: In the deed scene, Groucho threatens to call “the law” in on Red Baxter (Robert Barratt), who tries to discourage him by showing his marksmanship (by shooting corks out of bottles without damaging the bottles). Does this mean Barratt would shoot Groucho if he called for the sheriff?
The Big Store: Since Grover (Dumbrille) calmly fires his pistol–several times–in the direction of the brothers, he should be shown getting roughed up when the cops come after him.
A Night in Casablanca: When Sig Rumann talks the local police into arresting Groucho and the others, he gives such a lame reason for bringing charges against them… it sure makes thas police force there look gullible!
Love Happy: I never did figure out how Harpo got hold of that pistol that he pointed at his own temple while eating the apple (in front of Raymond Burrr, no less).
Some boat trains were actually carried by the boats - rather like a car ferry today, but with rail tracks. Example. Whether or not this is what is meant in the film, I can’t tell you.
dougie_monty - you’ve mentioned in the past that you have a hard time understanding certain kinds of humor, and I think that’s the case here. Every Marx Brothers example you brought is funny because it’s illogical and unexpected, and in a Marx Brothers movie, being funny is a lot more important than making sense. Just accept it as not being your cup of tea, and move on.
I had this thought when I saw the movie, and was delighted that Mad magazine had the same thought and put it in their parody: In One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, at the end, Chief Bromden throws the water unit out the window and escapes from the institution, out into the night. It’s exhilarating, until you consider (as the Mad satire has the Christopher Lloyd character ask)
“Hey, why are we getting excited? The Chief was in here voluntarily!”
When watching a play (or movie) set inside a room, you are physically able to see three wal, of a room which you can assume has four. The reality is, there is no four wall, but simply a gap where you, the audience can see ppeople pretending to be other people. When those people point out that is is not real, that is called breaking the fourth wall. They might stop and address the audience, or "they might make remarks like “But that kind of thing only happens in stories! This is real life!”
The Cocoanuts was a very early sound film, and retakes were difficult (more so with the Marxes, who tended to wander off the set.
Because it was funny.
Because it was funny.
Because it was funny. Notice the pattern?
Been a while, but I don’t believe he did.
Happens all the time. If you have enough talent, people will let your bad qualities slide. See this article for a modern example.
Because it was . . . oh, never mind.
As Cecil said, "remind me to explain the concept of ‘joke’ to you.
They’d have the money, and could still say Jeff didn’t pay them. They get the the payment and the circus, too.
Yes.
Why?
So? That’s to make it be . .
From his coat, of course. It contains multitudes.
Not to shatter anyone’s view that the Marxes were brilliant, but if one is going to hide in a barrel, the most logical approach is to cut out the bottom and lower the barrel over you. You can easily stand up and toss the barrel off if you have to make a hasty exit, and since the top of the barrel is still intact, casual inspection will reveal nothing amiss. Consider cutting open the top of a barrel and climbing inside. To pass undetected, you then have to balance the top of the barrel on your head or constantly hold it, or secure it in some fashion (which would make a hasty exit difficult).
And, yes, the sudden reveal is funny.
dougie_monty. OMG, you’re right!
American Film Institute, throw all those movies out of your top 100 lists! Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, rescind Groucho’s honorary Oscar! Marx Brotherhood, disband!
Phew. That was a close one. Thanks, dougie_monty.
In the 1950’s War of the Worlds, there a shot in the war room near the middle-end of the movie. For a few seconds, you see a map of the world, with Martian units/represnted by black triangles being pushed around like shuffleboard…things.
Anyway, at one point, you can see a map of austraila, and it is fricken covered with Black triangles, forming a large black polyhedron of some sort. and it’s not on the coasts either. It’s right there in the middle of the continent.
So what’s so special about Austraila that the martians have all their stuff there in full force?
Or is the Military just keeping their spare triangles there for lack of space?(because nobody lives in austraila, apparently)
In 50 First Dates, a brain-damaged woman’s father and brother go to great lengths to prevent her from realizing that time is passing. They have special newspapers printed, they endlessly repeat the same day, etc. However, Lucy’s hair has darker roots. How does she not wake up one morning and find it strange that her roots are suddenly darker than they were last night?
Wasn’t it a play as well? My father used to say that The Caine Mutiny was often put on as a play at all+boys schools because there were no female parts. Anyone know?
Here’s my question: Ignoring, for a moment, the existence of T3 (which was better than I expected, but that’s neither her nor there), what happened after the end of T2. I mean, right after, in the hours following. Sarah Conner is still wanted by the cops. The steel factory has to be surrounded by now. Is the crushed Terminator arm in the big gear going to be sufficient evidence for people to suddenly believe her story? And if they do, what effect is that going to have?
The play is different. In the play, only the trial is played out, so you only need the principal characters. Fine with me, May Wynn is kind of irritating in the movie.
I was just watching a Hitchcock film. He made a film about the book "Secret Agent. He made a film called “Secret Agent” Yet, they are not the same film. The adaptation of secret agent is called “Sabotage”. Why Og, why? Why must you torture me so?
Why did they make Dirty Dancing?
Was just to give me headaches? Or is there a more sinister force behind it?
To give lonely women something to watch on Saturday nights.
[QUOTE=HPL]
…
So what’s so special about Austraila that the martians have all their stuff there in full force? QUOTE]
Have you seen the interior of this place? Its all red, dry & dusty. Perfect for the Martian- on-holiday.
At one point (and I can’t remember whether is before or after the scene you describe) there is another sweep of the War Room and you can see, in the background, that Australia has only a few of the black triangles in it. So either its a bit later & we opened a can of whoop-ass on the Martians (or just offered them Vegemite-on-toast for breakfast) or later when the Frequent Flyer special was announced.
Edgar Rice Burroughs explained why Tarzan had a clean-shaven face in Tarzan of the Apes. Tarzan finds a child’s illustrated primer found among his parents’ belongings. For the first time, he sees others who look like himself:
Later, Tarzan becomes self-conscious:
Remember that the Chief had just smothered McMurphy to death with a pillow. The authorities might not have taken too kindly to that.
The 1950s in Australia were so boring that we, for one continent, welcomed our new Martian overlords.