![]() None of that is on display in the trailer. Aided by his secretary (Zeppo) but undermined by two agents of neighboring Sylvania (Chico and Harpo), Firefly’s ego winds up getting in the way of peace between the two countries more than any plots of sabotage. Firefly, an unqualified huckster thrust into the leadership of Freedonia because he’s favored by the wealthy Mrs. Hands down my favorite in their filmography and widely considered one of the greatest comedies of all time, Duck Soup is the pinnacle of everything the Marx Brothers had built in the preceding years. There’s a bit of Groucho’s verbal fireworks but even that is in short supply, as the studio clearly felt it was just the combination of the four that was enough to draw in audiences. There’s remarkably little story contained in the trailer, other than a brief shot of Spaulding being carried into reception by a group of “natives.” Instead most of the running time is devoted to spotlighting the talents of each of the Brothers, from Chico’s piano playing to Harpo’s talent with the harp and more. Rittenhouse’s daughter, to prop up the flailing painting career of her fiancé John, something that devolves into first-rate farce as mistaken identities, multiple forgeries of a famous painting and more all come crashing together. They become involved in a plot hatched by Arabella, Mrs. Rittenhouse (frequent Groucho foil Margaret Dumont) at her lavish estate. Spaulding, a famous explorer returning from an expedition to Africa and being welcomed back by Mrs. That got me interested in who this was he was aping, which led me to discover the films the Brothers had produced, first for Paramount and then for MGM.īecause I can’t let such an auspicious milestone pass unremarked upon, especially when it comes to one of my comedic heroes, today we’re going to look back at the trailers for five of my favorite big-screen romps featuring Groucho and the rest of the Marx Brothers. My first exposure to their humor likely came from “M.A.S.H.”, on which Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda) would frequently don a fake mustache and oversized cigar and engage in a blatant impersonation of Groucho’s style, from the walk to the delivery and more. I came at the Marx Brothers catalog a bit sideways. If he were alive that milestone would certainly qualify him for membership he had no interest in being in simply because it would accept him. In what I can only call an unqualified failure on my part, I missed this past Monday’s prominence as the anniversary of the birth of the late, great Groucho Marx. ![]()
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