Animal Crackers

source: Animal Crackers

A much better production than the Marx Brothers' first effort, The Cocoanuts. You can tell more money was shelled out for this one. The sets are bigger, the decor is finer, and even the supporting cast is better (which isn't saying a lot, of course). The dancing chorus girls from The Cocoanuts were wisely done away with, and the musical numbers are given more motivation. Despite these improvements, though, Animal Crackers is simply not as funny as their first film. The movie seems slow for a Marx Brothers picture, with too much time given to the romantic leads and the flimsy story. Having been adapted from one of their Vaudeville shows, many of the comic bits drag on too long, or don't work as well as they would have on stage. Probably the best scene in the film is Chico's piano act in which Groucho and Harpo both get involved, but moments like these are few. Classic film buffs might enjoy seeing Lillian Roth as the heroine.

Mrs Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont) holds a society party at which Captain Spaulding (Groucho Marx) is the guest of honour and Roscoe Chandler (Louis Sorin) will unveil a painting. There are 2 fake paintings that also turn up at the house and the plot involves these 3 paintings being switched round.......the police are called as the valuable original seems to have gone missing... There are only 3 entertaining sections that last about 3 minutes each in this film: 1 - Chico playing the piano; 2 - Harpo dealing the cards at a Bridge game: 3 - Chico and Harpo hammering very loudly in the dark while trying to subtly steal the painting from the wall. That's your lot. The rest of the film is boring and it's too long. Margaret Dumont sounds like Anne Widdicombe, ie, she has a terrible voice and there is no real need for the insipid characters that play the romance story that runs simultaneously. Harpo has always creeped me out a little and that's what he does in this film. The brothers should have rehearsed something funny .......more practice needed....

The first two surviving Marx Brothers films were based on their second and third major Broadway successes: THE COCONUTS and ANIMAL CRACKERS. As early movies they suffer from the rigidity of the early talkies. Papers used as props on the set had to be wet in order for the crackling of paper to be reduced as much as possible from being picked by the microphones. It is remarkable that the films survived to continue to bring pleasure to audiences. In the case of ANIMAL CRACKERS, for years it and the later A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA were tied up in copy-write problems that prevented them being released to the public. I did not see it until I went with my sister to see the film in 1974 in Manhattan. This film is the one that established Groucho Marx's theme song, "Hooray For Captain Spaulding." Groucho's Jeffrey T. Spaulding has just returned from Africa, and has been invited to the Long Island estate of Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont). Her guests include the noted art collector and expert Roscoe W. Chandler (Louis Sorin). He's going to reveal a masterpiece of art that he has purchased. Mrs. Rittenhouse's "friend" and rival Mrs. Whitehead plans to steal the painting, and hide it to embarrass her hostess. Her daughter and her ex-butler Hives (Robert Greig) are in on this plot. Meanwhile Mrs. Rittenhouse's daughter Arabella (Lillian Roth) is trying to help her boyfriend John Parker (Hal Thompson), a struggling artist prove his abilities. Other guests include the musician, Signior Emmanuel Ravelli and the Professor (Chico and Harpo) and Spaulding's secretary Horation Jamison (Zeppo). There are many similarities between this musical's book and THE COCONUTS, such as both having detectives named Hennesey, and both naming Zeppo Jamison. The struggles of Roth standing by her struggling painter-boyfriend mirror the struggles of Mary Eaton supporting her struggling architect-boyfriend Oscar Shaw. But here Groucho is a visitor, not the hotel owner/manager. And here there is more use for Zeppo. In fact, except for the third film (MONKEY BUSINESS)and the fifth film (DUCK SOUP), Zeppo never had as much to do that was funny in any of the Marx Brothers movies than here. He has to take dictation from Groucho regarding the legal team of Hungerdunger, Hungerdunger, Hungerdunger, Hungerdunger, and McCormick (pronounced "Hoongerdoonger"). It is a classic Marx routine. There are some topical humor. Roscoe W. Chandler is a spoof on the noted millionaire and culture maven Otto Kahn, head of the Board of the Metropolitan Opera. Kahn was trying to find a location for the new opera house in the late 1920s, and we hear Chandler and Groucho discussing possibly putting it into Central Park. Kahn was from the old Wilhelmine Empire, and was an immigrant (though one who made good in banking). Chandler, in one stunning moment with Chico, turns out to be Abe Kabible, a fish peddler from Czechoslovakia (Chandler has to pay some blackmail to Chico and Harpo about this, but he does shoot back at Chico an inquiry of how long he's been an Italian!). Another topical jab is regarding Eugene O'Neill's STRANGE INTERLUDE, where O'Neill had characters speak their minds separately from the regular dialog with each other. In fact, Groucho even admits he is going into a strange interlude of his own. His comments are spoken in a clipped, sad voice, and include a final set of lines where he sounds portentous - talking about strange figures, weird figures. Then he starts giving stock quotations! The film is a little slow at spots, as was THE COCONUTS, but the brothers do well, as does Lillian Roth and Margaret Dumont. The film is very entertaining, and it is good that it is still around.

The Marxes second film is an even more uncinematic production than their first ("The Cocoanuts"). The camera barely moves throughout the picture, and matters are not helped at all by the fact that the print is in fairly poor condition, with entire frames missing from several scenes. And, as usual, the film contains far too much music. Nevertheless, the brothers (and especially Harpo and Chico, who in my opinion have all the funniest scenes) are amazingly lively for a 1930 film, and they make it worth seeing after all. (**1/2)

I periodically revisit the Marx films to recharge my own desire for creative anarchy. This time around, I became more aware of how unclever this is AS FILM, and how clever they got later in the medium as fast learners. Its not anarchy yet. This and Coconuts were stage shows the brothers had been working on for years. The jokes aren't spontaneous, but polished over many iterations. This is filmed in New York by theater people who didn't know much about movies. The staging is theatrical and the camera stationary. The magic of the Marxes at this point is not the spontaneity, but the variety and energy of how they jump out of the convention. They wouldn't understand the convention of film for another couple years well enough to poke fun at it. But when they do, it changes film forever. That was genuine anarchy, where they really do "steal the pic." This has some funny word gags. And it also is the only Marx film (I think I'm right) that has Lillian 'Butterfingers' Roth. She's pretty darn funny. Watch how she acts with her rubber neck and what she does with her eyes. I think I read that all these girls were sexual targets for Marxing and that she was special. Already, she was a depressive drunk I think. Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 4: Worth watching.

Groucho Marx in one of the Marx Brothers' Classics, surrounded by the usual cast of High Society bubble heads, delivers what many consider their very best work. The lunacy begins when Groucho arrives back from an African Exploration, just in time to be the guest of honor at a Society Dinner Party. The craziness is fueled by some twists and turns about a valuable painting (which seems to be easily copied onto what appears like a roll of wall paper). The predictable plot keeps rolling along, while Groucho seems to consume 95% of the script with one-liners. In 1930 this may have been a welcome distraction from Depression Era hum-drum life. I tried to find the same amusement a lifetime later, and can't agree with the critics. Aside from a few clever (even risqué) jokes, I was missing the rolling-on-the-floor-with-laughter effect. Animal Crackers left me only with Luke-warm feelings, while I found the "other" Marx Brothers Classic, "Duck Soup" hilarious. I would rather see "Duck Soup" 5 more times than view "Animal Crackers" ever again. Not a total loss of 1 1/2 time, but don't expect any "mirror scenes", because this film doesn't have any.

One of the Marx Brothers' earliest films, "Animal Crackers" is not nearly as refined as some of their later comic masterpieces, but it is a lot of fun. Some of the sequences are just as good as anything in their greatest films. As in most of their movies, the actual plot is amusing but simple, and serves mostly as an excuse to tie together the various comic bits and songs. Compared with their later movies, this one seems much more stage-bound, and there is more screen time given to the other actors, slowing things down somewhat. But when Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo get their chance, they usually deliver. Particularly funny in this one is a hilarious bridge game that matches Harpo and Chico against two society women. Zeppo gets a few good moments, too, as the secretary to "Captain Spaulding" (Groucho). And of course Captain Spaulding's theme song is always a favorite. Though the Marx Brothers would later make even better movies, "Animal Crackers" is great entertainment in its own right, and well worth watching.

This is one of my favorite Marx Brothers movies. Just sit back and watch the mayhem come at you, and everyone else in their way. Filled with some of their reliable stock players and plots, there's nothing new about this at all- except for their astounding wit and polish and amazing routines. George Kaufman wrote the script, which is one of their strongest, and it's just sublime silliness from the first word. Watch it when you're sick, it'll lift up your spirits.

Once again, this Marx Brothers film is different from most comedies in that is features a mile-a-minute gags, either verbal or sight, constant silliness and some music thrown in the mix. All of it runs the gamut from very clever to stupid. However, if it gets stupid hang around another minute or so and you'll find something to laugh at. One problem, especially with this film, is that some of the humor is dated and/or topical, meaning what was funny back then isn't necessarily now or the subject Groucho or Chico is talking about was big news back then but unknown now. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed this and found a lot of funny material. I enjoy the Marx Brothers clever stuff and their slapstick. I particularly appreciated Groucho apparently ad-libbing one scene. In a few others he acted like he was ad- libbing, turning his head and talking to the camera. You don't see much of that stuff, and it's funny. Two of the three songs were instrumentals, and they seemed to take away from the pace of the story. Groucho's song, "Hooray For Captain Spaulding," is a classic. Some consider this to be the best Marx Brothers movie but I found several others I liked a lot more, such as "Horse Feathers" and "Duck Soup," just to name two.