The Silver Screen Oasis

I thought Minnie's boys might have their own thread.

On March 29 TCM has the whole evening for Chico, Harpo, Groucho and sometimes Zeppo. (Gummo had other plans.)

8pm - Monkey Business
9:30pm - Horse Feathers
10:45pm - Duck Soup
12:00am - A Night At The Opera
2:00am - A Day At The Races
4:00am - At The CIrcus.

Hail Freedonia!

No Room Service ?

No. No "Room Service." It is nice to see the Paramount and MGM films on the same evening.

Hooray!

Monkey Business is my FAVORITE!

DUCK SOUP is my favorite comedy (when it isn't DR. STRANGELOVE).

From about the age of four, when I vaccinated her with a phonograph needle, our younger daughter has walked around the house in her Groucho pose, spouting out lines from DUCK SOUP. She's such a good young woman.

MONKEY BUSINESS isn't far behind. There's my argument. Restrict immigration. And, ohhhh, Thelma Todd: I want excitement. I want to ha-cha-cha-cha.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.

My daughter still runs around the house singing "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It!" (Horse Feathers.)

Here are the two songs Harpo wrote about in Harpo Speaks. The only two songs he could play on the piano:

[youtube][/youtube]
[youtube][/youtube]

Check out this photo I found!

Chico Marx playing cards.... with himself.

Harpo played a little clarinet too. (Not a tiny one but not that often.)

That's right! I love the toodling he does in The Cocoanuts, is it? Leaning in the doorway, playing not particularly well, but with emotion. Lovely.

My favorite scene in any Marx movie is the one where they all meet at the bandstand on deck in Monkey Business, and each one picks up a different instrument and plays - unrecognizable songs all at the same time, and yet they all end up in the same place, musically! Amazing, a musical joke that makes me laugh every time.

Right on both counts.

As someone who has been in a musical train wreck the "band scene" in "MB" is especially funny to me. One of my favorites is in "A Day At The Races" where Chico and Harpo play the piano together and then wind up destroying it in the vigorous playing.

I'm absolutely punch-drunk over The Marx Brothers. As a young lad I was more enamored of the goofy antics of Bud & Lou (whom I still love), but as I've (hopefully) matured the Frère Marx have for many years become my comic idols. I'll confess that I'm not quite as fond of Harpo's antics as I am with Groucho and Chico but that's simply because the verbiage between these two cannot be beat and IMO provide some of the best laughs in cinema.

Also, while I don't much care for musical interludes in such comedies, I really enjoy and admire Chico's "shooting the key" segments. That guy really mastered the art of piano playing.

Nice to know of another fan. We may yet have more in common. than westerns and the Marx Brothers.

Favorite films, scenes, lines?

I love all Marx Brothers Movies ... there is not one I don't like ...

And, I silly every time I see one!

Gosh, movieman, how is it possible to pick specific lines or scenes from Marx Brothers pictures? Waaayyy too many to single out. But as I said I do love the interplay between Groucho and Chico - absolutely classic stuff. We know that Groucho was a comedic genius well into his latter years but I wonder how many people truly appreciate Chico's talents. Kinda like Bud Abbott. I found as I got older that I enjoyed Bud's contributions to the act more than Lou's oft-times annoying childhood antics. Bud was actually hilariously funny with his con man tactics. At least that's the way I look at it now.