Typically-Unique Marx Brothers
Added 7/22/2009
Once again, this Marx Brothers film is different from most comedies in that is features rapid-fire gags, either verbal or sight, constant silliness and some music thrown in the mix. All of it run 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 thing of not about this film: 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," however, 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," to name two.
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Tusks are looser in Alabama
Added 4/29/2008
The depression is finally arrived and the Marx Brothers are having it easy more than ever, stealing silverware and paintings and anything they can set their fingers on. When the rich are living well, they know how to throw a party in their fancy homes and invite all kinds of funny characters that are nothing but funny and have absolutely nothing in common except their grotesqueness. But beware the musicians or artists you may invite because you may invite trouble more than music. And the four siblings are adding their touch of delirium tremens to that alco-hole which is no waterhole though there is no alcohol in this prohibition blind alley that is as dark as the wine cellar in which you keep the roof of the house for the chimneys not to get wet when it rains. And they play on the dumbness of one, I mean muteness though I do not reject dumbness for that Harpo the harpist that is as dumb as my thumb, and on the accents of the Chico who is a good pianist and mixes all kinds of linguistic idiosyncrasies, Italian, German, New Yorker, Jewish, except maybe black, and even so at times he is not that clear, especially when everything is alight and he wants to make them dark, or is it the other way round and everything is dark and he wants to make them alight, and he looks for a "flash" and gets across, right out of Harpo's pockets, the "flesh" of a cheek, a "fish", a "flask", a "flush" (of cards of course), a "flitz" of Fly-toxic fluid that will be used at the end of the film, an enchanted "flutz" with six holes that makes it a pipe, and he may even get to some more fluted or highfalutin objects, things or beings if he did not find the "flash"-light and lose it all over again at once. And we enter the labyrinth of all kinds of plays on words and puns and innuendo, of "bigamy" that is "big of me", "Uruguay" that is "going your-a-way and me mine", even the "small stakes" of the game of bridge come along with some "French-fried potatoes". And do not call three times for "three cheers" for anyone at all because the Harpo may bring you three chairs, and you may turn "colder than a Frigidaire", and if you have "quotes, unquotes, quotes," in other words three quotes, you just add "one more and you get a gallon", though that gallon may come along with "a moose", you know this little animal that "runs around on the floor, eats cheese and is chased by the cat," and you may even understand why "tusks are looser in Alabama" somewhere on the University of Alabama's campus in Tuscaloosa, which is another story. If finally you ask your own brother to provide you with "a parachute," he will probably abide by your wish if he knows "the parachute won't open," and you should think your wish over and check if you have a "pair of shoes" instead. At least these do not need to open for you to be able to walk. And the depression is completely contained in this motto: "One nickel carefully used would last a family a lifetime." And that is so because with what we today call inflation "a nickel is no longer what it used to be ten years ago," and even "fifteen years ago," to the point of the obligation we find ourselves in to invent the seven-cent nickel and even later an eight-cent nickel, which would enable a well husbanded family to buy a three cent newspaper with that eight-cent nickel and yet get the good old nickel back again to be used over and over again and again in a three-penny store, a way to rewrite the three-penny opera of some English tradition that had been revived in 1928 by Bertold Brecht in Germany. Brilliant. And at least some kind of rejuvenation for the nickel that has been in use unchanged for at least "one hundred years, since 1492" And the physical antics are just as crazy, repetitive and luminously hilarious as well as benightedly exhilarating. If you just manage to follow the rhythm of these four siblings, you will be in for a down slope going race that will look like a high dive and sound like a deep delve into the abysmal chasm of the ocean where you may find a dozen of ir-elephant elks convening for a symposium on the importance of being earnest about the true value of learning how to paint in Paris, sell fish in Czechoslovakia, or hunt tigers with a bag or a sack or a plain vanity case as for that in Africa. These Marx Brothers are more than brothers, they are a whole tribe of buffoons, clowns, fools, bunglers and blunderheads. I just stop at five not to reach Solomon's number.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
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Genius Still Apparent
Added 2/19/2008
My father was a major Marx Brothers devotee. Over the past few years I've gradually taken the time to become familiar with their oeuvre and have to admit that what most amazes me most is how well they hold up in relation to today's comedies. I think the major reason for this being true is that their shtick is a perfect combination of slapstick and wit. Yes, there's physical humor but there is a wilderness of verbal humor as well. This combination is what makes them appeal to so many people in my estimation.
I really think Animal Crackers is every bit as strong as Horse Feathers which was my previous favorite. I'm surprised I got to this one so late though as I grew up hearing my dad sing the "My name is Captain Spaulding the African Explorer" on numerous occasions. I now finally know what he was cacophonizing about for all those years. The bottom line is that there's nothing dated about Groucho. His wit is straight out of Aristotle. That's not to say that older cultural references such as "Eugene O'Neil" won't perplex younger viewers but hopefully they'll dash to the computer and get an education to go with their belly laugh. I'm very glad that all of these films got converted into DVDs so quickly.
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The masters!!
Added 7/15/2007
Still as funny as ever! Gift for my brother, he was thrilled. Now I need a copy for me.
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as good a take on academia as there was (at least til randal jarrell) ...
Added 3/21/2007
does it matter that i complain the plot makes no sense? hardly! this was the marx brothers second movie (again based on one of their broadway shows) and the madness of the early films is running rife here. these earliest films are not as polished as the work from a few years later -- theyre just funnier. i leave it up to YOU to determine which is more imnportant in a comedy.
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Typically-Unique Marx Brothers
Added 7/22/2009
Once again, this Marx Brothers film is different from most comedies in that is features rapid-fire gags, either verbal or sight, constant silliness and some music thrown in the mix. All of it run 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 thing of not about this film: 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," however, 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," to name two.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Tusks are looser in Alabama
Added 4/29/2008
The depression is finally arrived and the Marx Brothers are having it easy more than ever, stealing silverware and paintings and anything they can set their fingers on. When the rich are living well, they know how to throw a party in their fancy homes and invite all kinds of funny characters that are nothing but funny and have absolutely nothing in common except their grotesqueness. But beware the musicians or artists you may invite because you may invite trouble more than music. And the four siblings are adding their touch of delirium tremens to that alco-hole which is no waterhole though there is no alcohol in this prohibition blind alley that is as dark as the wine cellar in which you keep the roof of the house for the chimneys not to get wet when it rains. And they play on the dumbness of one, I mean muteness though I do not reject dumbness for that Harpo the harpist that is as dumb as my thumb, and on the accents of the Chico who is a good pianist and mixes all kinds of linguistic idiosyncrasies, Italian, German, New Yorker, Jewish, except maybe black, and even so at times he is not that clear, especially when everything is alight and he wants to make them dark, or is it the other way round and everything is dark and he wants to make them alight, and he looks for a "flash" and gets across, right out of Harpo's pockets, the "flesh" of a cheek, a "fish", a "flask", a "flush" (of cards of course), a "flitz" of Fly-toxic fluid that will be used at the end of the film, an enchanted "flutz" with six holes that makes it a pipe, and he may even get to some more fluted or highfalutin objects, things or beings if he did not find the "flash"-light and lose it all over again at once. And we enter the labyrinth of all kinds of plays on words and puns and innuendo, of "bigamy" that is "big of me", "Uruguay" that is "going your-a-way and me mine", even the "small stakes" of the game of bridge come along with some "French-fried potatoes". And do not call three times for "three cheers" for anyone at all because the Harpo may bring you three chairs, and you may turn "colder than a Frigidaire", and if you have "quotes, unquotes, quotes," in other words three quotes, you just add "one more and you get a gallon", though that gallon may come along with "a moose", you know this little animal that "runs around on the floor, eats cheese and is chased by the cat," and you may even understand why "tusks are looser in Alabama" somewhere on the University of Alabama's campus in Tuscaloosa, which is another story. If finally you ask your own brother to provide you with "a parachute," he will probably abide by your wish if he knows "the parachute won't open," and you should think your wish over and check if you have a "pair of shoes" instead. At least these do not need to open for you to be able to walk. And the depression is completely contained in this motto: "One nickel carefully used would last a family a lifetime." And that is so because with what we today call inflation "a nickel is no longer what it used to be ten years ago," and even "fifteen years ago," to the point of the obligation we find ourselves in to invent the seven-cent nickel and even later an eight-cent nickel, which would enable a well husbanded family to buy a three cent newspaper with that eight-cent nickel and yet get the good old nickel back again to be used over and over again and again in a three-penny store, a way to rewrite the three-penny opera of some English tradition that had been revived in 1928 by Bertold Brecht in Germany. Brilliant. And at least some kind of rejuvenation for the nickel that has been in use unchanged for at least "one hundred years, since 1492" And the physical antics are just as crazy, repetitive and luminously hilarious as well as benightedly exhilarating. If you just manage to follow the rhythm of these four siblings, you will be in for a down slope going race that will look like a high dive and sound like a deep delve into the abysmal chasm of the ocean where you may find a dozen of ir-elephant elks convening for a symposium on the importance of being earnest about the true value of learning how to paint in Paris, sell fish in Czechoslovakia, or hunt tigers with a bag or a sack or a plain vanity case as for that in Africa. These Marx Brothers are more than brothers, they are a whole tribe of buffoons, clowns, fools, bunglers and blunderheads. I just stop at five not to reach Solomon's number.
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.
|
Genius Still Apparent
Added 2/19/2008
My father was a major Marx Brothers devotee. Over the past few years I've gradually taken the time to become familiar with their oeuvre and have to admit that what most amazes me most is how well they hold up in relation to today's comedies. I think the major reason for this being true is that their shtick is a perfect combination of slapstick and wit. Yes, there's physical humor but there is a wilderness of verbal humor as well. This combination is what makes them appeal to so many people in my estimation.
I really think Animal Crackers is every bit as strong as Horse Feathers which was my previous favorite. I'm surprised I got to this one so late though as I grew up hearing my dad sing the "My name is Captain Spaulding the African Explorer" on numerous occasions. I now finally know what he was cacophonizing about for all those years. The bottom line is that there's nothing dated about Groucho. His wit is straight out of Aristotle. That's not to say that older cultural references such as "Eugene O'Neil" won't perplex younger viewers but hopefully they'll dash to the computer and get an education to go with their belly laugh. I'm very glad that all of these films got converted into DVDs so quickly.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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