Rent The Marx Brothers: Animal Crackers (1930)
3.8 of 5 from 74 ratings
1h 33min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Feature is a classic of screen history and as uproariously funny today as it was seventy years ago. This film introduced Groucho's African lecture ("One morning I shot an elephant in my pyjamas. How he got into my pyjamas, I don't know...") and the card game which Harpo and Chico play with the wealthy society woman Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont).
- Actors:
- Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, The Marx Brothers, Zeppo Marx, Lillian Roth, Margaret Dumont, Louis Sorin, Hal Thompson, Margaret Irving, Kathryn Reece, Robert Greig, Edward Metcalf, The Music Masters, Robert Allen, Donald MacBride, Ann Roth, Fredi Washington
- Directors:
- Victor Heerman
- Writers:
- George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby
- Studio:
- Universal Pictures
- Genres:
- Classics, Comedy
- Collections:
- A Brief History of Singer Biopics, A Brief History of Film...
More like The Marx Brothers: Animal Crackers
Reviews (1) of The Marx Brothers: Animal Crackers
Classic Comedy. - The Marx Brothers: Animal Crackers review by Steve
Follow up to the Marx Brothers debut feature The Cocoanuts, released the following year. Both are written by George Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind and adapted from the brothers' '20s Broadway hits. It's an improvement; there is more of Groucho, Chico and Harpo and less of the supporting musical acts. And the quality of the routines is so much stronger.
Partly the upgrade is due to improvements in early sound and camera technology. But mainly it's because for the first hour, this is as good as the Marx Brothers ever got. The unabated bombardment of classic puns, wordplay and general lunacy is inspired and very funny. For which Kaufman and Ryskind deserve more credit than they are ever likely to get.
The stars tear through pages of this stuff at reckless speed. Then they run out of gags with half an hour left. So everything stops for long musical recitals by Chico and Harpo, which I suppose are very much to taste. The show tune sung by Lillian Roth isn't as much of a killjoy, but the momentum never returns and the weaker sketches are kept for last.
The boys drop in on a Long Island mansion and get involved in some farce plotted around the stealing of a valuable painting. Groucho plays a famous big game hunter, and Chico and Harpo a couple of freeloaders. Zeppo is also present. The support cast just has to take it and like it, but Margaret Dumont is, as always, a brilliant stooge. It's the brothers at their crazy best. For an hour.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.