Marx Brothers: Paramounts or MGM?

Paramount, comrade!

 

I don't think any of their films are really bad. I don't think they scrape the barrel in the way that many of the later Laurel and Hardy films do, but I find an awful lot of Love Happy, Room Service and Go West tough going. On the other hand, I'm glad they exist. I think it was Joe Adamson who said that they were never in a film as good as they were.

 

In NIGHT AT THE OPERA we have the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle of a major Irving Thalberg project starring comedians(a personal Thalberg project, as opposed to films produced when Thalberg was Mayer's right-hand-man but were supervised by others).

 

In NIGHT AT THE OPERA we have the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle of a major Irving Thalberg project starring comedians(a personal Thalberg project, as opposed to films produced when Thalberg was Mayer's right-hand-man but were supervised by others).

 

And yet too much singing and side plot. I have watched this movie a hundred times at least. Essentially know the script by heart. Watch it to its completion whenever I channel surf and find it. And I am thankful I have a DVR so I can speed past Alan Jones and Kitty singing. As much as I understand Thalberg's need for comic relief, I prefer most of the Paramount movies for this reason. I do wonder at what Day At the Races might have been had Irving not died a month into production.

My wife is an accomplished sewer. She made my daughter's dresses when she was little. Shanah would come in to show me the latest creation. I would always make a comment such as "do you have trouble sleeping with such a big bow on your pajamas (or some variation-and those who know this movie easily get the reference). When Shanah was about six, I plopped her down in front of "Night" for the first time. As Groucho ran into Lassparri behind the stage, Shanah gave me the greatest "look". My wife pointed out that most of my wit was written for the Marx Brothers.

 

The same with ,Day at The Races The scenes with the Marx Brothers are as good as anything done in comedy,you just have to fast forward pass Allan Jones

 

"A question ain't really a question, when you know the answer too." - John Prine

C'mon, seriously - Paramount. Specifically the last 3 at Paramount.

 

Horse Feathers and Duck Soup are tops ,but so is Night at The Opera and Day at The Races ,Monkey Business and Animal Crackers make Paramount the Winner

 

That "dose of reality" is a serious flaw in many of the MGM films. If the other characters perceive them as con men, or weirdos, or (worst of all) make the Marxes the butt of the joke, the humor falls apart. Their characters only work correctly if the people around them take them completely seriously, and if they always have the upper hand. Groucho's character works best if he is in a position of authority. Even though the brothers made films that are probably worse on the whole than At The Circus, it's my least favorite of their films because of the scene with Eve Arden where she tricks and humiliates Groucho, as well the overall sense that her character views him as a boob. When you have characters looking down upon the Marxes and laughing at them, you clearly don't know how to write for them.

 

Groucho, you have to remember, is the smartest man in the film - except that Chico can, one way or another, get the better of him. And Harpo can get the better of both of them. They should do stuff because that's what they're like not because because someone's beating them up. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Night at the Opera, but the cracks and longeurs really show up in Day and get worse. The non-Marx bits in Circus are some of the worst in their oeuvre - possibly as bad as those in Love Happy. However, think there's a lot of good stuff in Circus, but you're right about the way the perception of the boys changed. As I said, my least favourite of the MGM films is Go West. I just don't think it's that funny and it's best gag was borrowed. I do think there was a little rallying in Casablanca, it's just a shame there wasn't a lot more. I know they claim they were getting tired of films but I imagine this meant they were also getting tired of getting scripts from people who didn't understand what they were about.

 

I'd repeat my spiel about how "Wild" movie comedy went out of fashion after the early 30s, but people are probably sick of it.

 

Agreed. For their zaniness to work, it has to be in a world where their zaniness somehow makes sense, not a world where it doesn't.

So the OP votes for the Paramounts.

I really need to watch Room Service again. I know it's quite pedestrian, but it's been years since my last viewing. In fact, I should cue up Love Happy, Circus, West, Big Store and Casablanca for the same reason.

 

Though the first two Paramounts are basically filmed versions of their Broadway shows, the "staginess" of them often works in their favor, setpieces are allowed to play out...for example, the fantastic Spaulding-Chandler scene in 'Animal Crackers' is just two guys sitting around talking for five minutes. By the time they got to Hollywood, everything was so rushed, scenes are over before you know it. The Groucho-Zeppo dictation scene in 'Animal Crackers' lasts four minutes, a similar scene in 'Duck Soup' lasts 10 seconds.

I want the Marxes to entertain me as opposed to the filmmaker...that's why I think "Cocoanuts" and "Animal Crackers" are their purest, richest work...

 

A Marx fan who spoke to Michael Coniam("Annotated Marx Brothers")said he felt that DUCK SOUP was actually the start of Hollywood imposing a style on the Marx Bros, as opposed to OPERA. Coniam's issue is that SOUP has the Marx Bros doing things that other comedians could do just as well, like the Tit-for-Tat scenes with Edgar Kennedy, already "patented" by Laurel and Hardy.

 

Hands down Paramount. Beats the pants off the glossy MGM's

 

I love Laurel & Hardy, and "Big Business" (maybe their ultimate tit for tat comedy) is my favorite short of theirs, But Harpo washing his feet in the lemonade, to me, brings a uniquely Marxian touch to the "Duck Soup" encounter.

 

Agree.

 

I think A Night In Casablanca is an underrated Marx Brother's movie. No, it does not scale the heights of the Paramount movies or even A Day At The Races, but it is surprisingly entertaining. I only watched it for the first time 2 years ago because I assumed it would be a real dog. I was surprised how much I liked it.

 

This!

 

Every time I see this rookie quarterback holding a clipboard on the sideline during a Jets game, I can't help but call him "Hackenapuss".

 

We actually had neighbors across the street named Quackenbush. Apparently that was the original name for Hugo Z (for obvious reasons) until the legal department at MGM found out it was a relatively common name

 

Dr. Hackenbush at least has slightly more subtlety than Dr. Quackenbush.

 

Cant really say based on that categorization.

My ranking

Duck Soup
Horse Feathers
Races
Opera
Duck Soup
Monkey Business
Go West
Animal Crackers
Circus
Big Store
Coconuts
Room Service
Casablanca
Love Happy

 

I like "Monkey Business" the best because I think it's the most focused. It keeps things contained and doesn't go down a bunch of potentially unnecessary sidetracks...