The two things one can expect from a Marx Brothers movie (at least those made by Paramount Pictures): a chockablock of puns and visual gags and anarchy as far as the eye can see. It's no surprise their early film, Monkey Business, is a collection of miscellaneous mix ups and quirky events all strung together by the vaguest resemblance of a plot. It's funny, intelligent, and some of the purest and richest satire conducted in such a loose form.
The film involves the four brothers, Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo, who are involuntarily placed on a ship as stowaways to North America. Along the way, they become mistaken for toughs, who work alongside gangsters, and eventually, become the alleged heroes when one of the gangster's daughters is kidnapped. About half the film takes place on the ship itself, before they reach land, and believe me, the laughs continue there as well.
Let's be honest for a second and admit, with what has been released over the last seventy plus years into the mainstream and what new groups have formed, it's easy to dub the Marx Brothers films dated and unimportant, when they are the direct opposite. Dated, maybe, I don't think I can argue with that. The standard of humor has greatly changed, and it's beyond rare we get a slapstick comedy that brings to light humanity and wit. But unimportant is the polar opposite of the brothers themselves. It is because of the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, and the Three Stooges that comedy evolved into what would eventually be a never-ending supply of audience enjoyment. They showed us, in the black and white days of cinema, what humor was. Simple and effective little events, strung together by the bare basics of a plot, littered with verbal puns and lunacy, with a little satire and commentary on the side, to create a feast of humor and intelligence. In the day and age of limitless raunchiness and where repetition among tiresome jokes has become normality, it is great to revisit a classic comedy like Monkey Business that relies on its own personal intelligence to carry a film. And at seventy-seven minutes, feels neither bloated or too quick and empty, although the end, like in many Marx Brothers films, is a blink and you miss it sort of setup.
Notable scenes are scattered amongst the camaraderie and zaniness of it all. One of them, Chico does a beautiful piano solo, the infamous and interesting scene that involves a surreal puppet show with Harpo (who, again, gives us some of the most hilarious physical, expressionist comedy this side of film), and Zeppo, for once, seems moved to the foreground here, and is presented during the second and third act as Groucho's right-hand man. Zeppo has always been ostracized by Marx enthusiasts as the least funny brother and the one who was always given the role of the realist or the serious-man. Here, he shows us that giving him a role that occupies zany quirks and goofball antics is truly doable. Monkey Business is an anarchic piece of work, knows it, embraces it, and, most importantly, lives it.
Starring: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, and Thelma Todd. Directed by: Norman Z. McLeod.
The film involves the four brothers, Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo, who are involuntarily placed on a ship as stowaways to North America. Along the way, they become mistaken for toughs, who work alongside gangsters, and eventually, become the alleged heroes when one of the gangster's daughters is kidnapped. About half the film takes place on the ship itself, before they reach land, and believe me, the laughs continue there as well.
Let's be honest for a second and admit, with what has been released over the last seventy plus years into the mainstream and what new groups have formed, it's easy to dub the Marx Brothers films dated and unimportant, when they are the direct opposite. Dated, maybe, I don't think I can argue with that. The standard of humor has greatly changed, and it's beyond rare we get a slapstick comedy that brings to light humanity and wit. But unimportant is the polar opposite of the brothers themselves. It is because of the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, and the Three Stooges that comedy evolved into what would eventually be a never-ending supply of audience enjoyment. They showed us, in the black and white days of cinema, what humor was. Simple and effective little events, strung together by the bare basics of a plot, littered with verbal puns and lunacy, with a little satire and commentary on the side, to create a feast of humor and intelligence. In the day and age of limitless raunchiness and where repetition among tiresome jokes has become normality, it is great to revisit a classic comedy like Monkey Business that relies on its own personal intelligence to carry a film. And at seventy-seven minutes, feels neither bloated or too quick and empty, although the end, like in many Marx Brothers films, is a blink and you miss it sort of setup.
Notable scenes are scattered amongst the camaraderie and zaniness of it all. One of them, Chico does a beautiful piano solo, the infamous and interesting scene that involves a surreal puppet show with Harpo (who, again, gives us some of the most hilarious physical, expressionist comedy this side of film), and Zeppo, for once, seems moved to the foreground here, and is presented during the second and third act as Groucho's right-hand man. Zeppo has always been ostracized by Marx enthusiasts as the least funny brother and the one who was always given the role of the realist or the serious-man. Here, he shows us that giving him a role that occupies zany quirks and goofball antics is truly doable. Monkey Business is an anarchic piece of work, knows it, embraces it, and, most importantly, lives it.
Starring: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, and Thelma Todd. Directed by: Norman Z. McLeod.