ridicule and satire of colleges
Added 3/22/2009
The idea that Groucho could be put in charge of a college or university in 1932 is pretty funny alone, but these brothers mock everything sacred in education as well as college football.
They were a very talented bunch who could play well and sing,
besides satire and do slap-stick comedy.
I suppose irreverent is the best way to describe this movie.
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Don't trust the iceman, he is a dog catcher
Added 5/5/2008
1932 has come and still the same depression and still the lack of whisky or bourbon and still the methylated spirit of moonshine trafficking on the telephone. So just invest, or dump, the four Marx brothers in a good college that is lying flat on its back in spite of all the varnish and inflating they have been doing with hot air and filling beans and you can greet the great implosion of the intellectual effete hormones of the middle-aged menopausal college professors and college widows and the latter's mafia beaus and college gigolos. But the speakeasy methylated whisky deliverer and his good friend the dog-catcher are better footballers than they are football player kidnappers. Though as for escaping from their locked rooms by sawing the floor around themselves they do better than any carpenter would do. What is surprising is how the Marx brothers are trying to confuse us with their symbolic subliminal innuendo that everyone feels and no one understands. Who knows that 42 is Solomon's number multiplied by the holy week, six times seven? Who knows that Harpo's swordfish is the flaming sword of some archangel in Genesis, the flaming sword that is the verb of God in the Old Testament's prophets sheathed upside down, outside in into a good old fish probably caught by Peter-Simon the fisherman and multiplied by Jesus? And we could go on like that for pages. Every single detail is ambiguous, meaningful but everything is said so fast, too fast, so that we hardly can follow the meaning of all these expectorations. And you jump from the "falsetto", or is it "false set o' toes" to a "false set o' teeth", a toe for a tooth, let's toe the line, tiptoe the mark that leads to the famous lex talionis. But what brass neck this Chico has who is playing the piano all the time as if he were on a music hall stage! What contumelious behavior this Harpo has who is constantly playing the harp, but is he really or is he alone! What bumptious chutzpah this Groucho has who is for the first time ever playing the guitar and throws it away to the ducks in the lake! And that is no wise quack from him even if it is a not so wise quack from the duck. And animal are thus constantly sprouting up in the language, a hog hugs a pig that picks a fight at once. Or some police dog ends up for sale in the dog catcher's van, who wanted to give a ticket to Harpo for blocking the traffic when he was only feeding and resting his horse. And I will not comment upon the football match that is won by the losers because they get loose on the rules and cheat openly. And that will end with the lurid scene of the college widow shifting her loyalties from the local mafioso and the smooth looking Zeppo to the triad of Harpo, Chico and Groucho in a polygamous marriage. That's what I would call a deep dive they will take all together on top of the widow after a high soar to a winning score, and the sore is for all of them who will be sorry to have ever come to that Huxley College that has little to do with any Brave New World. But they might sorely consider they have had some fun.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
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It's enough to make me pull myself to pieces !!!
Added 8/18/2007
Horse Feathers stars the four Marx Brothers; and they carry this film like the champs they still remain. Thelma Todd plays the college widow with sophistication; her sense of timing during the comedy scenes equals that of the four Marx Brothers. The plot moves along at a good pace and there are plenty of laughs for everyone.
The action begins with Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff (Groucho Marx) becoming president of Huxley College. Wagstaff disapproves of his son running around with the college widow Mrs. Bailey (Thelma Todd); and unbeknownst to anyone Mrs. Bailey is in cahoots with her real boyfriend Mr. Jennings (David Landau) and Darwin University. Jennings wants to get the football signals from Huxley University so that once again Huxley will lose a college football game; that way Jennings's bet that Darwin will win the football game will pay off handsomely.
Of course, from there on in it's anybody's guess what happens next. Will Wagstaff ever find out the real reason Connie Bailey is after him AND his son? Will Wagstaff be able to correct his mistake when he finds out he recruited the wrong two men to win the football game? Sure, he recruited two men--Pinky (Harpo Marx) and Baravelli (Chico Marx), but he was supposed to recruit two other young brutes. The young brutes play for the opposing Darwin University team to get the team to victory and let Jennings win his bet. How will Huxley University win the game after Pinky and Baravelli are taken hostage by the two brutes sent into the Darwin team to help fix the game?
There is something potentially controversial thing about this film. Paramount was apparently desperate to have singing and dancing in it. Therefore you get several song and dance numbers that push the limits; poor Wagstaff (Groucho) has to sing a song as the movie opens. It's a very funny song; but Groucho Marx couldn't sing. Baravelli has a short musical number with the widow Bailey at the piano and Pinky (Harpo) magically finds a harp sitting conveniently just outside the widow Bailey's window so he can serenade her. In addition, you need to suspend belief somewhat because Zeppo plays Wagstaff's son, even though in real life Zeppo Marx was only 11 years younger than his brother Groucho. Sigh. They do try hard and it's a very funny movie so I'll overlook these issues and give the movie five stars anyway. I laughed a lot!
Overall, this movie is a must have for Marx Brothers fans; and anyone who likes screwball comedies from the 1930s will cherish this one for years to come. If anyone says you should skip this movie, ignore their advice!
Enjoy!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Only the Marx Brothers Hold Up.
Added 2/25/2007
I've never been a Three Stooges guy, and, frankly, I think most of the stuff from the twenties and thirties, humor wise, is utterly dated today--except for the Marx Brothers. Groucho et al remain horn and painted moustache above their peers with the only type of shtick that consistently holds up in our new century. Horse Feathers, like Duck Soup, is timeless due to the volcanic creativity of its dialogue. Groucho's cranial word play is an asset which he brings into his every scene appearance. Yes, Chico and Harpo are quite good, but Groucho is absolutely exquisite. I was surprised by how many times I laughed aloud during these seventy minutes. The spin on college and football, while rather superficial, remain fresh on the ear. Hopefully, young people can be persuaded to give these old masters a chance; they'll be extremely pleased should they do so.
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Quotable Insanity
Added 9/30/2006
All four Marx Brothers star in this hilarious movie set at a college. Groucho becomes the president of a college and everything goes haywire. His son Zeppo is seeing the "college widow" (Thelma Todd), so pop takes it upon himself to romance her himself to steal her away from his son! Also, he goes to a speakeasy to enlist the help of two men to make the football team better than any other. Instead, he enlists Chico and Harpo which wreaks havoc on the school. Goodbye books, goodbye plot, goodbye sanity; the Marx Brothers are here!
This movie is a laugh a minute, and even if you're not a fan of black and white movies, you'll love this film. It is filled with puns, wit, visual humor, fast pacing, random events, and fun. It's got something for everyone, and everyone must see this movie.
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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ridicule and satire of colleges
Added 3/22/2009
The idea that Groucho could be put in charge of a college or university in 1932 is pretty funny alone, but these brothers mock everything sacred in education as well as college football.
They were a very talented bunch who could play well and sing,
besides satire and do slap-stick comedy.
I suppose irreverent is the best way to describe this movie.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Don't trust the iceman, he is a dog catcher
Added 5/5/2008
1932 has come and still the same depression and still the lack of whisky or bourbon and still the methylated spirit of moonshine trafficking on the telephone. So just invest, or dump, the four Marx brothers in a good college that is lying flat on its back in spite of all the varnish and inflating they have been doing with hot air and filling beans and you can greet the great implosion of the intellectual effete hormones of the middle-aged menopausal college professors and college widows and the latter's mafia beaus and college gigolos. But the speakeasy methylated whisky deliverer and his good friend the dog-catcher are better footballers than they are football player kidnappers. Though as for escaping from their locked rooms by sawing the floor around themselves they do better than any carpenter would do. What is surprising is how the Marx brothers are trying to confuse us with their symbolic subliminal innuendo that everyone feels and no one understands. Who knows that 42 is Solomon's number multiplied by the holy week, six times seven? Who knows that Harpo's swordfish is the flaming sword of some archangel in Genesis, the flaming sword that is the verb of God in the Old Testament's prophets sheathed upside down, outside in into a good old fish probably caught by Peter-Simon the fisherman and multiplied by Jesus? And we could go on like that for pages. Every single detail is ambiguous, meaningful but everything is said so fast, too fast, so that we hardly can follow the meaning of all these expectorations. And you jump from the "falsetto", or is it "false set o' toes" to a "false set o' teeth", a toe for a tooth, let's toe the line, tiptoe the mark that leads to the famous lex talionis. But what brass neck this Chico has who is playing the piano all the time as if he were on a music hall stage! What contumelious behavior this Harpo has who is constantly playing the harp, but is he really or is he alone! What bumptious chutzpah this Groucho has who is for the first time ever playing the guitar and throws it away to the ducks in the lake! And that is no wise quack from him even if it is a not so wise quack from the duck. And animal are thus constantly sprouting up in the language, a hog hugs a pig that picks a fight at once. Or some police dog ends up for sale in the dog catcher's van, who wanted to give a ticket to Harpo for blocking the traffic when he was only feeding and resting his horse. And I will not comment upon the football match that is won by the losers because they get loose on the rules and cheat openly. And that will end with the lurid scene of the college widow shifting her loyalties from the local mafioso and the smooth looking Zeppo to the triad of Harpo, Chico and Groucho in a polygamous marriage. That's what I would call a deep dive they will take all together on top of the widow after a high soar to a winning score, and the sore is for all of them who will be sorry to have ever come to that Huxley College that has little to do with any Brave New World. But they might sorely consider they have had some fun.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
It's enough to make me pull myself to pieces !!!
Added 8/18/2007
Horse Feathers stars the four Marx Brothers; and they carry this film like the champs they still remain. Thelma Todd plays the college widow with sophistication; her sense of timing during the comedy scenes equals that of the four Marx Brothers. The plot moves along at a good pace and there are plenty of laughs for everyone.
The action begins with Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff (Groucho Marx) becoming president of Huxley College. Wagstaff disapproves of his son running around with the college widow Mrs. Bailey (Thelma Todd); and unbeknownst to anyone Mrs. Bailey is in cahoots with her real boyfriend Mr. Jennings (David Landau) and Darwin University. Jennings wants to get the football signals from Huxley University so that once again Huxley will lose a college football game; that way Jennings's bet that Darwin will win the football game will pay off handsomely.
Of course, from there on in it's anybody's guess what happens next. Will Wagstaff ever find out the real reason Connie Bailey is after him AND his son? Will Wagstaff be able to correct his mistake when he finds out he recruited the wrong two men to win the football game? Sure, he recruited two men--Pinky (Harpo Marx) and Baravelli (Chico Marx), but he was supposed to recruit two other young brutes. The young brutes play for the opposing Darwin University team to get the team to victory and let Jennings win his bet. How will Huxley University win the game after Pinky and Baravelli are taken hostage by the two brutes sent into the Darwin team to help fix the game?
There is something potentially controversial thing about this film. Paramount was apparently desperate to have singing and dancing in it. Therefore you get several song and dance numbers that push the limits; poor Wagstaff (Groucho) has to sing a song as the movie opens. It's a very funny song; but Groucho Marx couldn't sing. Baravelli has a short musical number with the widow Bailey at the piano and Pinky (Harpo) magically finds a harp sitting conveniently just outside the widow Bailey's window so he can serenade her. In addition, you need to suspend belief somewhat because Zeppo plays Wagstaff's son, even though in real life Zeppo Marx was only 11 years younger than his brother Groucho. Sigh. They do try hard and it's a very funny movie so I'll overlook these issues and give the movie five stars anyway. I laughed a lot!
Overall, this movie is a must have for Marx Brothers fans; and anyone who likes screwball comedies from the 1930s will cherish this one for years to come. If anyone says you should skip this movie, ignore their advice!
Enjoy!
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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