Director: Victor Heerman
Stars: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, The Marx Brothers
comedy, musical
originally posted 24 Sep 2017 21:28
[Weird observation: the 5 Paramount films have life in the titles: Cocoanut, Animal, Monkey, Horse, Duck. The 6 MGM films all have locations: Opera, Races, Room, Circus, West, Store.]
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This one barely qualifies as a musical. Of course, I'm looking for dancing. Only Groucho does some high kicks; no need to hire a choreographer for that.
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This is the Hooray for Captain Spalding / Hello I Must Be Going movie, but the plot centers around 2(!) independent mischievous replacements of a $100,000 painting with amateur copies.
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We have the formula for MB success: Harpo chases girls and plays the harp beautifully, and has lots of pilfered silverware and other metals hidden in his baggy clothing.. Chico plays the piano and pairs with Groucho for a lengthy conversation mangling English. Margaret Dumont is on hand, but not enough. Lillian Roth plays her daughter, a tame creature; she was used much better in The Love Parade (1929).
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The gags are good, as expected. But watching this so recently after The Cocoanuts, I liked that one better, while I'd rated this a 7 and that a 6. What to do, what to do. The IMDb users rated this one higher, but the romp through the adjoining hotel rooms and the auction are more memorable than anything here.
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Paramount, dir. Heerman; 7-
