I really respect you for watching these 1930s/40s movies. I've been obsessed with that time period after working on a production of Stage Door. These films had such a feel to them.
@@kayreacts4763 ,, really fortunately, in the 70s before starting school and in my early years, during and after all the UK strikes and power cuts the 3 UK TV channels showed an immense amount of classics from between the 20s & 60s,, mainly venturing amidst the 30s&40s or the great silent era 🤗✨ ,, I grew up believing that everyone spoke politeness, dressed elegance danced magnificence drove crazy laughed berserkingly lived vicariously and at whim ✨💐🥂🍾🍾🥳
I never noticed before how many different war costumes they used. I recognised US war of independence, the Civil War, Davy Crockett style and Napoleonic. There's probably several more.
We usually see two different people in the same actor, that being Harpo. We see his hilarious comedic Harpo character throughout the majority of a movie, and then when he plays the harp, we see Arthur Marx, the talented and serious harpist. The Monty Python guys were influenced by The Marx Brothers in their zaniness and anti-establishment, stuffy, upper crust society attitudes.
Yes, Vaudeville was a popular form of entertainment before movies took off in the 1920's and 1930s. They usually opened with a silent comic because people might be late to the show and there were dancers, animal acts and then the headliners like the Marx Brothers, WC FIelds, Ted Healy and his Three Stooges were usually the last act of the night. Each large city and small city and a few small towns had Vaudeville theaters and the acts normally changed each week. Vaudeville died in the early 1930s because of the Great Depression and talking movies.
First off, as a brand new subscriber, not only am I excited to find your channel, where you have a wide variety of stuff to enjoy, much of which is stuff I like, but I think there's something almost poetic and beautiful that you began your channel with something as fundamental as "Duck Soup". And so, this is where I'm starting, too! With your reaction to it! This was so much fun to revisit with you, loved every single thing you had to say, how you appreciated how much practice must have been involved, noticing the roots in vaudeville, and basically everything you had to say at the end of the video. My personal favorite Marx Brothers, in terms of out loud laughs, is "A Day At The Races" (although I like "Duck Soup" and "Night Of The Opera" as well). I'm very excited to see more of your videos, it's such a pleasure to see someone react who knows a bit of history, understands different time periods, different styles.....isn't allergic to black & white or some bizarre border of time between the 80s and everything that went before, much of which is pretty great! I'm bursting with titles to recommend....but instead right now, I'm going to give you a link to a ten minute comedy, from 1919......Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels.....comedy that is still fresh a hundred years later. You can react to it, or just enjoy it for yourself. It's way cool, and undeniably brilliant and funny....at the end of ten minutes, you feel like you've just seen a full movie. And you have! ruclips.net/video/-_18WziMttM/видео.html
I have always loved the Marx Brothers. I've seen all their films, numerous times, and have read various books and biographies on them. Harpo's autobiography, "Harpo speaks" is one of my favorite books, which I've read multiple times. They got their start in vaudeville, and it's because of that that they always had several musical numbers in their films. Producer Irving Thalberg introduced a new concept with the Brothers, by sending them out on the road with certain bits to see how audiences reacted to them. The 'Stateroom" scene in "Night at the Opera" is a prime example of this. Some of their humor may be dated by this time, but remember, these jokes and bits are almost a hundred years old.
Hey Kay! Thanks for reacting to 'Duck Soup'! Cool style and laugh. I also saw it when I was around 8 years old for the first time. My parents recorded on vhs and I used to whatch it a lot. Not many people my age seem to know how influential The Marx Brothers was on comedy films and TV comedy to come. I have to give you props for spotting and aknowledging the similarity between the Freedonian War Song and the song 'Knights of the Round Table' by Monty Python from 'Monty Python And The Holy Grail', another favourite :) I like the creativity, the anarchic quality adn the way they make fun of authority in the early Marx Bros films from the 1930s to 1940s.
There were actually FIVE Marx Brothers who performed on stage ("Gummo" didn't make it to the movies). "Zeppo" was the youngest, and he basically played the "straight" character in these movies, but supposedly on stage, he was as funny as the others. He left the act around 1934 and when into the business side of show business.
The old lady Margaret Dumont usually wore plunging evening gowns as Groucho's undercover girl friend . She was a rich widow who got back into show business after her husbands early death .
Funny, but the exact quote is "One morning I shot in an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I don't know." But that was Animal Crackers. ;-)
There were five Marx Brothers. When they started out in Vaudeville, the act was Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Gummo. Later, Gummo quit performing on stage to focus more on his work behind the scenes, so Zeppo (the youngest) took his place. Out of the five movies they made for Paramount, Margaret Dumont played the straight man in three of them, making Zeppo less important in those films, so when the group split with Paramount and moved to MGM, Zeppo quit the group.
Gummo actually dropped out of the act to serve in World War One. Zeppo, at the time, was working at the Ford plant near Chicago as a tool and die machinist which he enjoyed a great deal. The boys' mother Minnie insisted that Zeppo join the act for the family's sake. Zeppo was never truly very happy in the act and as playing straight man.
@@garagepunkfan Groucho often said Zeppo was really the funniest of the group, ironically, because of the off screen off stage stuff he would do and make all the brothers laugh. And at least once he took Groucho's place onstage as a gag and Zeppo made everyone laugh playing "Groucho" and the audience had no clue they had switched roles.
Also there was a sixth Marx Brother, the firstborn, named Manfred (Mannie), who died in infancy; Zeppo was given the middle name Manfred in his memory. The core of the act was the three elder brothers: Chico, Harpo, and Groucho, each of whom developed a highly distinctive stage persona.
Love your reactions !!! Actually , there was a 5th Marx Brother...... Gummo He left early in the game with the Advent of WW 1. He got the Nickname because he would creep up to people silently Like a Gumshoe. Also , he apparently Chewed Gum A lot.
It's one of the funniest movies ever made. Also, the director Leo McCarey was a GREAT Hollywood director who won several Oscars, directing both comedies and dramas. He's one of my favorite directors of all time. Another good Marx Brothers film is Horse Feathers.
So glad to see someone checking out a Marx Bros movie for sort of the first time. I always thought these guys were a major formative influence on my sense of humor, since my dad got me into them as a kid. Hope you get around to some of their other greats, like Horse Feathers and Night at the Opera.
I love seeing people appreciate the old classics. I’ve been a Marx Brothers fan since I was a kid. I even dressed up as Groucho one year for Halloween when I was in high school. You were right that they got their start in Vaudeville. They incorporated many of their Vaudeville bits in their movies. Duck Soup is said by many to be their best movie, but I’d also recommend Horse Feathers, A Night at the Opera, and A Day at the Races. You said humor back then was different than it is today. That’s true, but the Marx Brothers movies weren’t representative of all comedies of the time. Comedies like Bringing Up Baby, Ninotchka, and The Thin Man were not the same zany, irreverent comedy that you see in the Marx Brothers. They were one of a kind.
Duck Soup has the best telegraphed joke ever. As soon as Zeppo announces that his boss will be in time you know that there’s no way on God’s green earth he’s going to be. It’s brilliant.
Nice reaction! Actually they were 5 brothers Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo but as far as I know Gummo never played in their shows, Zeppo always played the romantic and handsome guy. They all were very talented for music, instruments, etc and yeah they started in Vodeville. To me the best comedians in history ever 😊😊
It's incorrect the reason people don't remember Zeppo is because his speciality is playing ordinary people, victim to the other three madness or the romantic lead meaning the person whom the Marx either help or whose their foil, he is actually incredibly important as his always serious ordinary persona helps to draw the absurdity of the situation out in the scenes and he is actually present in every movie, he was a part of the group.
Straight man is invisible, but immensely important. Abbott of Abbott & Costello got larger share of combined pay because "comedians are dime-a-dozen but straight men are worth their weight in gold". Zeppo Marx was straight man and absolutely genius.
There was Four Mark Brothers on Broadway and Zeppo dropped out the act after Duck Soup after appearing in their first five films and became an film agent.
When this film was made there was a rule that unmarried men and women had to sleep in separate beds. However there was no rule concerning horses! The Marx Brothers managed to make fun of the censors on that one.
Zeppo was the fourth brother, who was in the first three or four films. Yes, they started in Vaudeville, and then did a few plays on Broadway that became their first three or four films.
Marx Brothers are so funny man...I remember watching Night At The Opera at 15 years old and laughing hysterically...this was back in 1985 when they gave the movie on local TV...Channel 5 in NYC...I recorded it on my VHS...Duck Soup I recorded in 1986...and in that same year...Monkey Business and Horse Feathers....memories man...wow
I remember a scene from another Marx Brothers movie in which Harpo,the one that doesn’t talk,is walking along.A person on the street walks up to him and says”Could you help me out please?I’m trying to get a cup of coffee.”Harpo reaches into his pocket and pulls out......a cup of coffee.It was at that moment I remember becoming a Marx Brothers fan.Incidentally I’m sure someone already informed you but that fourth brother is named Zeppo,and he is in all their films,although I can’t spot him.I’d be surprised if anyone can.There was even an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer called “the Zeppo” which plays with the fact that a particular character doesn’t get noticed within his group.
Spot on. Zeppo became a real estate agent in Hollyyood, if I'm not mistaken. And this, one of their earlier films, definitely withstands the test of tme. Some comedy is eternal.
Thank you so much for watching this. It's such a hilarious movie and my favourite of the Marx Brothers! Pure comedy gold. The Mirror Gag and the Hat switch scene kill me. Zeppo was the most boring of the brothers and usually the one involved in the "romantic"side story. Italy's tyrannical leader at the time, Benito Mussolini, accused the Marx Brothers of mocking him with this movie, much to their delight. The country of Fredonia(one E)said that the movie was giving their country a bad name. Groucho shot back that their country was giving their movie a bad name.
Where's the public nuisance bit?...When Groucho asks Chico after Chico is being basically a vagrant around Groucho's office and Groucho asks him...."You wanna be a public nuisance?" and Chico answers...."Sure how much does the job pay?"...that had me rolling back in the day...lol
Music, art, comedy. If it was good in the past it's still good 👍. By the way there was a fifth Marx brother, Gummo, but he joined the service before they made any films 🎥.
In answer to your question about how much practice the various bits took... If I remember right, the brothers used to work out material in front of live audiences on stage. So while one movie was playing in theaters, they would be on the road practicing scenes for the next movie to get the timing right, how to space out the jokes, etc.
In my opinion, the silent comedies were so great because all of the humor had to be acted, without the snide quips and punchlines. And, there were GREAT comic actors back in the Nineteen-teens and 'twenties, like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. I really recommend finding some good silent movies because especially in the 1920s, there were some exceptionally great movies made back then.
They were the result of hard work. Many were vaudeville routines . The Marx brothers would take routines on the road before filming them. Lloyd wasn’t a vaudeville star but he would test screen his movies and edit or remove scenes . Very little of the lazy modern ad lib style.
there is clear tone shift mung movies from 1920 , 1930, 1970, 1980, and 2010 and in between its kind of the same. Zepo was in few of there films but he was strait man and less popular so not in all of them. hope you see more from the era.
My favorite Marx Bros. movie is "Animal Crackers" which came next. Another black and white comedy I highly recommend is "Harvey" starring James Stewart whose best friend is a 6 foot tall invisible rabbit.
After duck soup they switched to mgm and had a big success with a night at the opera and then a day at the races. Then their producer Irving thalberg died and they were left hanging. The quality of the movies declined.
Then, someone's going to let you hear about FATHER GOOSE after that. Then it's 1943's MR LUCKY and DESTINATION TOKYO as two good war-effort films. There aren't a lot of bad Cary Grant films, unfortunately - just seldom-seen-these-days. CRISIS, for example, PEOPLE WILL TALK... on and on.
duck soup was supposedly a parody of mussolini. he even banned the film. its also the ONLY marx bros film with no musical interludes by chico or harpo. it was a bust when first released. groucho thought their movie careers were over. today its considered the quintessential marx brothers movie. this and "the cocoanuts" (1929, their first film) are my two favorites. but all the way through to "the big store" (1941) all the marx bros films are a joy to watch. after that their films went definitely downhill. thanks for the video.
Love the Marx Brothers. If you do more, please react to Room Service. There is a colorized version if you prefer over the B&W, and it's the big screen debut of Lucille Ball.
You said you had never heard of Zeppo. Zeppo was the "normal" brother, who always played a serious part. The part where the soldier told Groucho about the gas attack (lol), that soldier was Zeppo. He looked alot like a much younger version of Groucho, without a mustache.
Actually all brothers looked very much alike without their outfits and knew how to perform each other's roles passably. Sometimes they did it as well. Zeppo was especially good at substituting his elder brothers.
O.k. someone has probably answered this,but I don't see it so at the risk of being an upstart..to answer your question. All the Marx Brothers were classically trained musicians so pretty much all their films hstop at some point for at the very least Chico to play the piano and Harpo the Harp.
Lucille Ball did the mirror gag with Harpo on her t.v. show. Check it out if you haven't seen it. Or if you have. In the old days funny people were funny. In the Pryor/Wilder. John Candy. W.C. Fields. That's a top of my head list so please someone provide the female names. Myrna Loy.
For the record, the greatest comedy ever, top 5 movie ever. Most Marx Bros. movies incorporate music into the plot. The musical bits were part of the times. They just turned that fad on it's head with this, financially bombing upon release. Hail, hail FREEDONIA!!!
The best Cary Grant comedy is, also the best screwball comedy ever, 'Bringing Up Baby' with Katherine Hepburn. Also a lot of double-entendres and sexual subtext that was pointed out to me😊. Cary Grant is playing against type, rather like Ryan O'Neal in the later re-imagining 'What's Up Doc' - also fabulous, as a absented minded hen-pecked Professor. Grant spends the movie searching for his 'bone' (dinosaur). At the start he suggests trying it in the 'tail' (of the dinosaur) his fiance (Ms Swallows) says "we tried that last night and it didn't fit"! I'm not making this up😀
LOL I never really noticed that before, but you're right about there always being double entendres in these old movies. I HAVE only seen that movie once though. Maybe I should do that one sometime
Bringing up Baby may also be one of the first uses of the word Gay to mean homosexual. At the time gay was a sort of code word in the Hollywood community.
@@tremorsfan Yes quite possibly. Though I have seen it denied that the term had that affinity at that time. I think, again, if it was having that usage it was another double-entendre towards those in the know whilst overtly meaning just 'merry' or 'festive'.
@@por1821 My test is to try saying it with the other meaning of gay. "These aren't my clothes" "Then why are you wearing them" "Because I just went very happy all of a sudden"
I believe there are a lot of musicals in this time period because the ability to record sound for film was still new and they felt a musical was the best way to make full use of the technology. Zeppo was the straight man of the group and the group doesn't really require a straight man.
When I was on the channel 5 Movie Club in the mid-70s 1976.... that when the Mark's Brothers did movies at Paramount Studios their first sound movie was coconuts and they second one was animal crackers at the Paramount Studios in Long Island Paramount Studios in Melrose Avenue in California took the Marx Brothers from Long Island to do movies over there in California their last movie was Duck Soup according to me that was their Swan Song the motion picture was a box office failure no one could get the jokes so Paramount Pictures and Melrose Avenue tore up the Marx Brothers contract to this day marks Brothers movie Duck Soup became the number one hit movie of screwball comedy
I want to make a video crossover with the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges using Blender editing software. I hope I can learn to splice images so Groucho, Chico, Harpo can share the same scenes as Moe, Larry, and Curly. Wish me luck XD
Zeppo was only in the first 5 movies (The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers and Duck Soup) and was the straight man of the group. After Duck Soup, he decided that he wanted to pursue a career away from the act, so he became a Hollywood agent instead.
Great channel! I watched this a few years back and noticed you cut your disapproving head shake of Harpo's chasing of women. It was an honest reaction and I wonder what changed your mind?
Groucho was the king of one liners and insults. Loved these guys. Comedy gold.
The expression is "never darken my doorstep again" as in your shadow. Groucho says "never darken my towels" meaning he's dirty.
I really respect you for watching these 1930s/40s movies. I've been obsessed with that time period after working on a production of Stage Door. These films had such a feel to them.
I especially love the precode comedies.
Love the marx brothers love people rediscovering classic entertainment!
I agree. I totally think people should watch more of these older films. People just don’t appreciate how much this stuff set up today’s entertainment
@@kayreacts4763 ,, really fortunately, in the 70s before starting school and in my early years, during and after all the UK strikes and power cuts the 3 UK TV channels showed an immense amount of classics from between the 20s & 60s,, mainly venturing amidst the 30s&40s or the great silent era 🤗✨
,, I grew up believing that everyone spoke politeness, dressed elegance danced magnificence drove crazy laughed berserkingly lived vicariously and at whim ✨💐🥂🍾🍾🥳
@@kayreacts4763 ,, the thirties hold the best modern western music couture &motor designs &comedy within the strongest perseverance of hedonism ✨🤗🎉🥂🍾🍾
I never noticed before how many different war costumes they used. I recognised US war of independence, the Civil War, Davy Crockett style and Napoleonic. There's probably several more.
We usually see two different people in the same actor, that being Harpo. We see his hilarious comedic Harpo character throughout the majority of a movie, and then when he plays the harp, we see Arthur Marx, the talented and serious harpist.
The Monty Python guys were influenced by The Marx Brothers in their zaniness and anti-establishment, stuffy, upper crust society attitudes.
But of course in this one he got to play Groucho (which was usually Zeppo's job to fill in that role during vaudeville)
Yes, Vaudeville was a popular form of entertainment before movies took off in the 1920's and 1930s. They usually opened with a silent comic because people might be late to the show and there were dancers, animal acts and then the headliners like the Marx Brothers, WC FIelds, Ted Healy and his Three Stooges were usually the last act of the night. Each large city and small city and a few small towns had Vaudeville theaters and the acts normally changed each week. Vaudeville died in the early 1930s because of the Great Depression and talking movies.
First off, as a brand new subscriber, not only am I excited to find your channel, where you have a wide variety of stuff to enjoy, much of which is stuff I like, but I think there's something almost poetic and beautiful that you began your channel with something as fundamental as "Duck Soup". And so, this is where I'm starting, too! With your reaction to it! This was so much fun to revisit with you, loved every single thing you had to say, how you appreciated how much practice must have been involved, noticing the roots in vaudeville, and basically everything you had to say at the end of the video. My personal favorite Marx Brothers, in terms of out loud laughs, is "A Day At The Races" (although I like "Duck Soup" and "Night Of The Opera" as well).
I'm very excited to see more of your videos, it's such a pleasure to see someone react who knows a bit of history, understands different time periods, different styles.....isn't allergic to black & white or some bizarre border of time between the 80s and everything that went before, much of which is pretty great!
I'm bursting with titles to recommend....but instead right now, I'm going to give you a link to a ten minute comedy, from 1919......Harold Lloyd and Bebe Daniels.....comedy that is still fresh a hundred years later. You can react to it, or just enjoy it for yourself. It's way cool, and undeniably brilliant and funny....at the end of ten minutes, you feel like you've just seen a full movie. And you have!
ruclips.net/video/-_18WziMttM/видео.html
Found the channel because of Space Balls. Subscribed immediately when I saw you reacted to this. Bravo!
I have always loved the Marx Brothers. I've seen all their films, numerous times, and have read various books and biographies on them. Harpo's autobiography, "Harpo speaks" is one of my favorite books, which I've read multiple times.
They got their start in vaudeville, and it's because of that that they always had several musical numbers in their films.
Producer Irving Thalberg introduced a new concept with the Brothers, by sending them out on the road with certain bits to see how audiences reacted to them. The 'Stateroom" scene in "Night at the Opera" is a prime example of this.
Some of their humor may be dated by this time, but remember, these jokes and bits are almost a hundred years old.
Lucille Ball did the mirror scene with Harpo in I Love Lucy
The one that started it all!!!
Hey Kay! Thanks for reacting to 'Duck Soup'! Cool style and laugh. I also saw it when I was around 8 years old for the first time. My parents recorded on vhs and I used to whatch it a lot.
Not many people my age seem to know how influential The Marx Brothers was on comedy films and TV comedy to come. I have to give you props for spotting and aknowledging the similarity between the Freedonian War Song and the song 'Knights of the Round Table' by Monty Python from 'Monty Python And The Holy Grail', another favourite :)
I like the creativity, the anarchic quality adn the way they make fun of authority in the early Marx Bros films from the 1930s to 1940s.
One of the greatest comedies ever. Thanks!!
You should react to BRAIN DONORS (1992), a great hommage to the Marx Brothers starring John Turturro.
I’d probably recommend watching A Night at the Opera first to see the correlations
Agreed
There were actually FIVE Marx Brothers who performed on stage ("Gummo" didn't make it to the movies). "Zeppo" was the youngest, and he basically played the "straight" character in these movies, but supposedly on stage, he was as funny as the others. He left the act around 1934 and when into the business side of show business.
As a Marx Bros fan, you are legit the first person I've seen reacting to this. Also, you had the oddest, coolest babysitter. ;)
Funny, I’m only here because I watched another reactor, and then this one came up on my feed. Dawn Marie has done most of the Marx Bros movies now.
@reverbscherzo7850 - I like Dawn Marie too, but chronologically this was the first full Marx Brothers movie reaction I recall seeing.
The old lady Margaret Dumont usually wore plunging evening gowns as Groucho's undercover girl friend . She was a rich widow who got back into show business after her husbands early death .
FANTASTIC Always !..grew up with them !...Groucho quit wit!..Harpo's craziness !..just per COMEDY LEGRNDS!!!CLASSIC
Lucille Ball did the mirror scene once-with Harpo Marx.
"Last night I shot an Elephant in my pajamas, how the Elephant got into my pajamas I'll never know". --Groucho
Funny, but the exact quote is "One morning I shot in an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I don't know." But that was Animal Crackers. ;-)
@@gabevee3 Close enough for rock and roll.
There were five Marx Brothers. When they started out in Vaudeville, the act was Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Gummo. Later, Gummo quit performing on stage to focus more on his work behind the scenes, so Zeppo (the youngest) took his place. Out of the five movies they made for Paramount, Margaret Dumont played the straight man in three of them, making Zeppo less important in those films, so when the group split with Paramount and moved to MGM, Zeppo quit the group.
Gummo actually dropped out of the act to serve in World War One. Zeppo, at the time, was working at the Ford plant near Chicago as a tool and die machinist which he enjoyed a great deal. The boys' mother Minnie insisted that Zeppo join the act for the family's sake. Zeppo was never truly very happy in the act and as playing straight man.
@@garagepunkfan Groucho often said Zeppo was really the funniest of the group, ironically, because of the off screen off stage stuff he would do and make all the brothers laugh. And at least once he took Groucho's place onstage as a gag and Zeppo made everyone laugh playing "Groucho" and the audience had no clue they had switched roles.
Also there was a sixth Marx Brother, the firstborn, named Manfred (Mannie), who died in infancy; Zeppo was given the middle name Manfred in his memory. The core of the act was the three elder brothers: Chico, Harpo, and Groucho, each of whom developed a highly distinctive stage persona.
Zeppo and gummo eventually formed a talent agency and had a big success with it.
Love your reactions !!!
Actually , there was a
5th Marx Brother......
Gummo
He left early in the game with the
Advent of WW 1.
He got the Nickname because he would creep up to people silently
Like a Gumshoe.
Also , he apparently Chewed Gum
A lot.
It's one of the funniest movies ever made. Also, the director Leo McCarey was a GREAT Hollywood director who won several Oscars, directing both comedies and dramas. He's one of my favorite directors of all time. Another good Marx Brothers film is Horse Feathers.
"Never darken my towels again" is a play on a 20/30 saying "Never darken my doorway again" (i.e. don't come around here anymore).
Kay, your beautiful smile always lights up the RUclips universe. And your sweet spirit makes your reactions that much better!
My favorite comedy! Subscribed!
So glad to see someone checking out a Marx Bros movie for sort of the first time. I always thought these guys were a major formative influence on my sense of humor, since my dad got me into them as a kid. Hope you get around to some of their other greats, like Horse Feathers and Night at the Opera.
They all are extremely talented as shown in the musical part of their movies
Duck Soup predates Monty Python by about 40 yrs, but I agree there are lots of similarities in style.
Good taste in movies!
I love seeing people appreciate the old classics. I’ve been a Marx Brothers fan since I was a kid. I even dressed up as Groucho one year for Halloween when I was in high school. You were right that they got their start in Vaudeville. They incorporated many of their Vaudeville bits in their movies. Duck Soup is said by many to be their best movie, but I’d also recommend Horse Feathers, A Night at the Opera, and A Day at the Races.
You said humor back then was different than it is today. That’s true, but the Marx Brothers movies weren’t representative of all comedies of the time. Comedies like Bringing Up Baby, Ninotchka, and The Thin Man were not the same zany, irreverent comedy that you see in the Marx Brothers. They were one of a kind.
Fun fact, Harpo was born in the late 1800's with the name Adolph Marx. He changed his name later in life, because reasons.
Duck Soup has the best telegraphed joke ever.
As soon as Zeppo announces that his boss will be in time you know that there’s no way on God’s green earth he’s going to be.
It’s brilliant.
You are an utter delight to watch!!!!
Gabe Kaplan of Welcome Back Kotter fame did a one man show as Groucho
My favorite comedy troupe of all time. Every time I watch the Marx bros movies I cant stop laughing. Awesome
They had great gag writers back then. Modern comedies have lost the silliness that made so many of the classic comedies so wonderful.
Nice reaction! Actually they were 5 brothers Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo and Gummo but as far as I know Gummo never played in their shows, Zeppo always played the romantic and handsome guy. They all were very talented for music, instruments, etc and yeah they started in Vodeville. To me the best comedians in history ever 😊😊
darken my doorway was common expression, Groucho says darken my towels to imply the guy is dirty.
It's incorrect the reason people don't remember Zeppo is because his speciality is playing ordinary people, victim to the other three madness or the romantic lead meaning the person whom the Marx either help or whose their foil, he is actually incredibly important as his always serious ordinary persona helps to draw the absurdity of the situation out in the scenes and he is actually present in every movie, he was a part of the group.
Straight man is invisible, but immensely important. Abbott of Abbott & Costello got larger share of combined pay because "comedians are dime-a-dozen but straight men are worth their weight in gold". Zeppo Marx was straight man and absolutely genius.
There was Four Mark Brothers on Broadway and Zeppo dropped out the act after Duck Soup after appearing in their first five films and became an film agent.
Groucho Marx is and will always be my King of Sarcasm
When this film was made there was a rule that unmarried men and women had to sleep in separate beds. However there was no rule concerning horses! The Marx Brothers managed to make fun of the censors on that one.
Zeppo was the fourth brother, who was in the first three or four films. Yes, they started in Vaudeville, and then did a few plays on Broadway that became their first three or four films.
Harpo Marx has a great grandson who acted for a while,,he was in a couple of Bad News Bears movies
You should also do their film A Night At The Opera, which is my choice for the funniest feature film of all time.
So many good one liners. Lol! Plus an influence of me smoking cigars…
Marx Brothers are so funny man...I remember watching Night At The Opera at 15 years old and laughing hysterically...this was back in 1985 when they gave the movie on local TV...Channel 5 in NYC...I recorded it on my VHS...Duck Soup I recorded in 1986...and in that same year...Monkey Business and Horse Feathers....memories man...wow
I remember a scene from another Marx Brothers movie in which Harpo,the one that doesn’t talk,is walking along.A person on the street walks up to him and says”Could you help me out please?I’m trying to get a cup of coffee.”Harpo reaches into his pocket and pulls out......a cup of coffee.It was at that moment I remember becoming a Marx Brothers fan.Incidentally I’m sure someone already informed you but that fourth brother is named Zeppo,and he is in all their films,although I can’t spot him.I’d be surprised if anyone can.There was even an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer called “the Zeppo” which plays with the fact that a particular character doesn’t get noticed within his group.
Spot on. Zeppo became a real estate agent in Hollyyood, if I'm not mistaken. And this, one of their earlier films, definitely withstands the test of tme. Some comedy is eternal.
Thank you so much for watching this. It's such a hilarious movie and my favourite of the Marx Brothers! Pure comedy gold. The Mirror Gag and the Hat switch scene kill me.
Zeppo was the most boring of the brothers and usually the one involved in the "romantic"side story.
Italy's tyrannical leader at the time, Benito Mussolini, accused the Marx Brothers of mocking him with this movie, much to their delight.
The country of Fredonia(one E)said that the movie was giving their country a bad name. Groucho shot back that their country was giving their movie a bad name.
5:44 I came here to see the famous *Mirror Gag*.
You may have see the Lucille Ball/Harpo Marx revision.
Kay There were 4 Marx brothers the 4th Gummo was in their vaudeville act. Was never in their movies. All the brothers are excellent musicians
Famous Groucho Line....
" I would never join a club that would have me as a member "
LOL
I think Zeppo usually acted as a straight man, although I understand he was very funny in real life.
Yeah and a straight man is really extraneous in a group like the Marx Bros where everyone they meet fulfills that role.
@@Trilaan Looking forward to your next video.
@@brandonflorida1092 Thank you.
He would sometimes stand in as Groucho on stage and in some of the movie scenes.
You have the greatest laugh ever
Where's the public nuisance bit?...When Groucho asks Chico after Chico is being basically a vagrant around Groucho's office and Groucho asks him...."You wanna be a public nuisance?" and Chico answers...."Sure how much does the job pay?"...that had me rolling back in the day...lol
Gods of comedy
Zeppo was one of the senators.
His appearance is very clean cut and he reminds me of Errol Flynn or something
Harpo is the ultimate agent of chaos
Music, art, comedy. If it was good in the past it's still good 👍. By the way there was a fifth Marx brother, Gummo, but he joined the service before they made any films 🎥.
In answer to your question about how much practice the various bits took... If I remember right, the brothers used to work out material in front of live audiences on stage. So while one movie was playing in theaters, they would be on the road practicing scenes for the next movie to get the timing right, how to space out the jokes, etc.
In my opinion, the silent comedies were so great because all of the humor had to be acted, without the snide quips and punchlines. And, there were GREAT comic actors back in the Nineteen-teens and 'twenties, like Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. I really recommend finding some good silent movies because especially in the 1920s, there were some exceptionally great movies made back then.
They were the result of hard work. Many were vaudeville routines . The Marx brothers would take routines on the road before filming them. Lloyd wasn’t a vaudeville star but he would test screen his movies and edit or remove scenes . Very little of the lazy modern ad lib style.
Marx Brothers are my favorite old movies )
There's a movie called Brain Donors based on Night At The Opera
I like how you are cultured enough to enjoy black and white movies
Kay, I would binge watch Marx Brothers, Three Stooges, and even Bud Abbott & Lou Costello films with you.
there is clear tone shift mung movies from 1920 , 1930, 1970, 1980, and 2010 and in between its kind of the same.
Zepo was in few of there films but he was strait man and less popular so not in all of them.
hope you see more from the era.
2:29 Have you seen 'Blazing Saddles'? - re the 'chewing gum on line eh?' joke.
"The Ed Sullivan Show" was like vaudeville. Everything from singers to animal acts.
I know someone mentioned it below but yes the movie Brain Donors is a must see if you like the Marx brothers. A great homage
old movies are the best!
My favorite Marx Bros. movie is "Animal Crackers" which came next.
Another black and white comedy I highly recommend is "Harvey" starring James Stewart whose best friend is a 6 foot tall invisible rabbit.
After duck soup they switched to mgm and had a big success with a night at the opera and then a day at the races. Then their producer Irving thalberg died and they were left hanging. The quality of the movies declined.
Have you ever seen It Happened One Night (1934) starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert? A fun romantic comedy that's one of my favourites.
The Thin Man with Myna Loy & William Powell is another great flick.
@@fiddiehacked I love all the Thin Man films too - great suggestion.
you should react to "Operation Petticoat" (1959). it has Cary Grant in it. its a funny ww2 movie
I've never heard of it, but I do like Cary Grant. I'll have to look into it
Then, someone's going to let you hear about FATHER GOOSE after that. Then it's 1943's MR LUCKY and DESTINATION TOKYO as two good war-effort films. There aren't a lot of bad Cary Grant films, unfortunately - just seldom-seen-these-days. CRISIS, for example, PEOPLE WILL TALK... on and on.
Groucho,Chico,Harpo,Gummo, and Zeppo.
The different uniforms were used to depict different eras of war. The movie was pretty much a parody for the senselessness of war.
duck soup was supposedly a parody of mussolini. he even banned the film. its also the ONLY marx bros film with no musical interludes by chico or harpo. it was a bust when first released. groucho thought their movie careers were over. today its considered the quintessential marx brothers movie.
this and "the cocoanuts" (1929, their first film) are my two favorites. but all the way through to "the big store" (1941) all the marx bros films are a joy to watch. after that their films went definitely downhill. thanks for the video.
Love the Marx Brothers. If you do more, please react to Room Service. There is a colorized version if you prefer over the B&W, and it's the big screen debut of Lucille Ball.
"I can see you bent over the stove...but I can't see the stove"😂😁😁
You said you had never heard of Zeppo. Zeppo was the "normal" brother, who always played a serious part. The part where the soldier told Groucho about the gas attack (lol), that soldier was Zeppo. He looked alot like a much younger version of Groucho, without a mustache.
Actually all brothers looked very much alike without their outfits and knew how to perform each other's roles passably. Sometimes they did it as well. Zeppo was especially good at substituting his elder brothers.
O.k. someone has probably answered this,but I don't see it so at the risk of being an upstart..to answer your question.
All the Marx Brothers were classically trained musicians so pretty much all their films hstop at some point for at the very least Chico to play the piano and Harpo the Harp.
Did you notice they break the mirror but there's no glass on the floor?
Monty Python got it from the Marx Brothers. . .
Lucille Ball did the mirror gag with Harpo on her t.v. show. Check it out if you haven't seen it. Or if you have. In the old days funny people were funny. In the Pryor/Wilder. John Candy. W.C. Fields. That's a top of my head list so please someone provide the female names. Myrna Loy.
If you're going to mention John Candy, you can't forget his castmates at SCTV, Andrea Martin and Catherine O'Hara.
@@daneng3641 The whole S.C.T.V. gang and Kids in the Hall and early SNL. Eugene Levy. Martin Short creeps me out.
Check out Night Patrol, Murray Langston, Linda Blair,Andrew Dice Clay, Billy Barty
Groucho was a real character
For the record, the greatest comedy ever, top 5 movie ever.
Most Marx Bros. movies incorporate music into the plot. The musical bits were part of the times. They just turned that fad on it's head with this, financially bombing upon release.
Hail, hail FREEDONIA!!!
I would suggest "We're No Angels" 1955
Zeppo left the act after this movie. He always had the smallest parts which
he began to resent.
The best Cary Grant comedy is, also the best screwball comedy ever, 'Bringing Up Baby' with Katherine Hepburn. Also a lot of double-entendres and sexual subtext that was pointed out to me😊. Cary Grant is playing against type, rather like Ryan O'Neal in the later re-imagining 'What's Up Doc' - also fabulous, as a absented minded hen-pecked Professor. Grant spends the movie searching for his 'bone' (dinosaur). At the start he suggests trying it in the 'tail' (of the dinosaur) his fiance (Ms Swallows) says "we tried that last night and it didn't fit"! I'm not making this up😀
LOL I never really noticed that before, but you're right about there always being double entendres in these old movies. I HAVE only seen that movie once though. Maybe I should do that one sometime
Bringing up Baby may also be one of the first uses of the word Gay to mean homosexual. At the time gay was a sort of code word in the Hollywood community.
@@tremorsfan Yes quite possibly. Though I have seen it denied that the term had that affinity at that time. I think, again, if it was having that usage it was another double-entendre towards those in the know whilst overtly meaning just 'merry' or 'festive'.
@@por1821 My test is to try saying it with the other meaning of gay.
"These aren't my clothes"
"Then why are you wearing them"
"Because I just went very happy all of a sudden"
'I don't remember Zeppo...' A lot of people said that.
However, Zeppo was reportedly the most talented of all the Brothers.
I believe there are a lot of musicals in this time period because the ability to record sound for film was still new and they felt a musical was the best way to make full use of the technology. Zeppo was the straight man of the group and the group doesn't really require a straight man.
Ah, that makes sense.
But in all the films that follow without Zeppo there is always a character played by another actor which could have been Zeppo.
When I was on the channel 5 Movie Club in the mid-70s 1976.... that when the Mark's Brothers did movies at Paramount Studios their first sound movie was coconuts and they second one was animal crackers at the Paramount Studios in Long Island Paramount Studios in Melrose Avenue in California took the Marx Brothers from Long Island to do movies over there in California their last movie was Duck Soup according to me that was their Swan Song the motion picture was a box office failure no one could get the jokes so Paramount Pictures and Melrose Avenue tore up the Marx Brothers contract to this day marks Brothers movie Duck Soup became the number one hit movie of screwball comedy
I want to make a video crossover with the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges using Blender editing software. I hope I can learn to splice images so Groucho, Chico, Harpo can share the same scenes as Moe, Larry, and Curly. Wish me luck XD
Zeppo was only in the first 5 movies (The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers and Duck Soup) and was the straight man of the group. After Duck Soup, he decided that he wanted to pursue a career away from the act, so he became a Hollywood agent instead.
Along with his other brother gummo. They were a huge success.
was always a huge laurel and hardy fan
Great channel! I watched this a few years back and noticed you cut your disapproving head shake of Harpo's chasing of women. It was an honest reaction and I wonder what changed your mind?
Hola Kay has escogido muy bien esa pelicula es una de mis favoritas Sopa de pato.