How About the Marx Brothers

Isn't Romantic Comedy redundant?
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The Brothers or The Stooges

The Marx Brothers are the better
12
92%
The Stooges are the best
1
8%
 
Total votes: 13

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ken123
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How About the Marx Brothers

Post by ken123 »

I personally prefer The Three Stooges, which shows where my mind is at. My favorite Marx Brother's films are Room Service, with Lucille Ball and Ann Miller,and The Big Store, even if Tony Martin is in it .
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MissGoddess
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Post by MissGoddess »

I love A Night in Casablanca and Duck Soup. Oh, well, I love all the Marx Brothers!

Even Tony Martin. :D
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dfordoom
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Post by dfordoom »

I think I saw too many Marx Brothers movies when I was young I overdosed on them. I still love Duck Soup though.
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Garbomaniac
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Post by Garbomaniac »

I have nothing but good memories of the Marx Brothers. They were one group of comedy guys of whom my parents not only approved, but one at whom they laughed out loud! So, they have a special place in my memory book. But, you are right, I must have seen too many cause I just never voluntarily pic a Marx Brother's movie to watch at night. If there is one on TV, though, I will sit and watch it.
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movieman1957
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Post by movieman1957 »

The Marx Brothers are favorites in my house. Both of my teenagers love them (especially "Horse Feathers".) When we get a chance for a family movie night their name will almost always come up.

Back in high school for our "Senior Will" a friend left me a private viewing of "Duck Soup", this is when it was still hung up in rights issues. Luckily, I get to watch it anytime I want now.

The Stooges are fun but follow well behind the Marxes.
Chris

"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
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Dewey1960
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Post by Dewey1960 »

I'll take The Stooges. This may owe something to the fact that I discovered them on my own in my youth; the Marx Bros, funny as they could often be, seemed to be a product of an older generation, despite the fact that these films were all being made during the same period; it's just that the Stooges seemed more modern to me. Besides, in Marx Bros movies you had to wade through a lot of singing and other stuff (like too much plot, especially in the later ones) that seemed fairly insufferable at the time. With The Stooges, it all happend pretty fast and furiously: a finger in an eye, a pie in the face, a two-by-four across the back of the head and BOOM! - you're outta there! But I think the bigger and broader question should be: Curly or Shemp?
Last edited by Dewey1960 on May 14th, 2007, 8:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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dfordoom
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Post by dfordoom »

I never could watch the Three Stooges. The appeal of slapstick is a mystery to me.
MikeBSG
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Post by MikeBSG »

I like the Marx Brothers. Of course, all Marx Brothers films aren't created equal. Watching "The Coconuts" is painful. But I really like "Animal Crackers," and "Monkey Business," "Horse Feathers" and "Duck Soup" are treasures.

I like parts of "Night at the Opera" and "Day at the Races" but the romantic subplots drive me bats.

A pleasant surprise from relatively late in their career is "Go West" from 1940, which offers bits of parody of "Stagecoach," "Dodge City" and "Destry Rides Again" from 1939. It probably helps that I am a Western fan.
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Garbomaniac
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Post by Garbomaniac »

Senior Will? Wow! I had forgotten about that!

Anyway, the Stooges definitely have their place. As has been said, a pie in the face, and you're out of there! They were pretty much for the regular guy who didn't want to have to think too much when being entertained, and sometimes I have to admit, I watch them for exactly that reason.

But, what sets the Marx Brothers apart is their intellectual appeal. They were fast and witty with an abundance of private jokes only the "in crowd" would get. One of my favorites goes something like,
"Who are you talking about?" "Euripides!" "Ok, you rip a dees, and I'll rip a dos!"
It was very sophisticated comedy. I also think that is why, later, so many romantic sub plots were thrown in. Their movies were for the thinkers and feelers, the stooges weren't.
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

Both groups are purveyors of New York, urban humor. To me, they were just more of the same kind of people I grew up around.

However, I didn't really "get" the Stooges when I was young. All I focused on was the physical humor. I appreciate them a lot more now - maybe not as literate as the Marx Brothers (and their writers) in humor, but very smartly funny at times.
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CoffeeDan
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Post by CoffeeDan »

Personally, I prefer W. C. Fields to all of them. Back in my college film programming days, I once showed a double bill of YOU'RE TELLING ME with Fields and DUCK SOUP with the Marx Brothers. Many people I talked to afterward told me they liked the Fields film better, even a few diehard Marx Brothers fans.

But with my back against the wall, I will say that I prefer the Marxes to the Stooges. MONKEY BUSINESS, HORSE FEATHERS, and DUCK SOUP are three of the most sublime comedies ever, and I can watch them over and over, plus large portions of A NIGHT AT THE OPERA and A DAY AT THE RACES. Heck, I even like A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA!

I like the Stooges' early comedies (especially those directed by Charlie Chase), but for the most part, I can stand them only in small doses. But my stepfather loved the Stooges, and we loved to watch them together.

Trivium: Frequent Stooges director Del Lord was one of the original Keystone Kops.
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Garbomaniac
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Post by Garbomaniac »

CoffeeDan wrote:Trivium: Frequent Stooges director Del Lord was one of the original Keystone Kops.
Wow! What a great piece of info, and that explains a lot of their schtick!
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CoffeeDan
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Post by CoffeeDan »

I should also mention that another frequent Stooges director, Jules White, co-wrote and co-directed (with Zion Meyers) the "Dogville" comedies at MGM in the early 1930s.
pktrekgirl
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Post by pktrekgirl »

I don't really care for either the Marx Brothers OR the Stooges.

I suppose I would rather sit through a Marx Brothers film than a Stooges film. But it would be a choice similar to "Would you rather have a root canal, or a root planing and scaling?"

In short, slapstick and/or puns are just not my cup of tea.

Of course, YMMV.

I'll just take my Chaplin film and go in the other room. :D
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