It's probably the fastest paced and tightest. Unfortunately there are some cuts in it, and quite a bit of damage to the print, with lines dropping out. The holy grail is for someone to find an original print of it somewhere. My favorite ending of a Marx Brothers film!
I can't believe nobody has mentioned Thelma Todd in the comments yet. "Hot Toddy", as she was known, was "the college widow" in the film. She was in two Marx Brothers films, this one and Monkey Business. She worked with all the major comedians of the era, everyone from Laurel and Hardy to Buster Keaton. She was a comedienne in her own right, having been paired with Zasu Pitts ( and then Patsy Kelly ) in several short films to become the "female Laurel and Hardy". She died under suspicious circumstances in 1935.
I was just about to mention her, in fact. I still believe she was murdered, most likely by her shitheel mobbed up husband, the poor devil, and staged to look like an accident. That's one of the few Hollywood conspiracy theories I would give any credence to.
I rwad somewhere that her boyfriend confessed on his deathbed that he had infact murdered her. The rwstaurant she had owned is just in the process of being demolished as well.
@@harveydent73- she just had the rotten luck of being born in the wrong century. She'd have been right at home in the current era of torpedoing macho posturing. They'd have tossed her Chris Evanses for days nowadays.
Love your knowledge of that. Todd was comic gold, and she would have been a bigger star if she had lived a full life, and if Hollywood wasn't so blind and deaf...I think she was a good as Lombard, Blondell and the rest.
It's not unusual that Chico's charm and musicality appeal to you. Chico was the lady's man of the group. Unfortunately, Chico was a gambling addict and couldn't keep money in his pocket. Harpo was known in real life as the nicest man. He was a devoted family man. He adopted a whole bunch of kids. George Burns, another comic from the older era, asked Harpo how many kids he was going to adopt. He said he wanted one child for every window, of his very large house, so each could have their own place to wave to him. Groucho was more of a mixed bag. He had a more difficult family life and marital history.
Parts of the B-movie "Eegah!", with Richard Kiel, were filmed on property on Harpo Marx's Palm Springs estate. The director didn't ask permission or give notice. They were filming one day by a road when Harpo was driving by. He stopped and asked them what they were doing. The director told him they were making a movie. Harpo said "Oh, okay" and drove on.
@@unclerabbit254 Leonard "Chico" was the oldest brother and is said to have been their mother's favorite and she openly favored him while she treated Julius "Groucho" the worst and he was the one of the sons she showed the least love. Arthur "Harpo" was the second oldest. According to Chico's daughter, Groucho must have been constantly overlooked and did everything to make his mother happy, which left a deep mark on her uncle for the rest of his life. Chico was married twice and had a daughter with his first wife. However, he was a woman chaser (his nickname came from that) and had been constantly unfaithful to his first wife. He was also a gambling addict and gambled on everything. Their last two films were more or less made just to save Chico's finances as he had filed for bankruptcy a few years prior. When his brothers finally found out about his out-of-control gambling, they took full control over his finances; they took all money away from Chico as he earned it and put him on an allowance to curb his constant betting and gambling. Chico stayed on the allowance until his death. Groucho was married three times and each marriage ended in divorce. He battled depression and one of the wives was an alcoholic. He had three children (two children with his first wife, who, according to the children, lacked any sense of humor). In the early 1970s, He had a relationship with a much younger woman named Erin Fleming who was initially (and extemporaneously) hired as his secretary and later assumed the role of his manager. Several of Groucho's friends and family, including his children, charged Erin Fleming with embezzling money and pushing the increasingly frail Groucho to the limits of his endurance, largely for her own personal gain. There were also charges against her because of psychological and suspected physical abuse against Groucho. Herbert "Zeppo" (who left the act for careers as an engineer and theatrical agent) was the youngest brother and is said to have had a rather hot temper. He was very jealous and is said to have beaten a man just for talking to his wife at a party (he however, was not the faithful type himself). He was married twice, both of which ended in divorce (he and his first wife adopted two children). His second wife was much younger and later married Frank Sinatra who was a good friend of Zeppo's with whom she had started an affair behind Zeppo's back, but they remained friends. When Zeppo became ill with cancer in 1978 he moved to a house on the fairway off Frank Sinatra Drive and his ex wife accompanied him to doctor's appointments and treatment. He spent his last days with his family. Harpo was married to the same woman all his life and they had a very happy and loving marriage (according to his brothers, they were the perfect couple who wanted to do everything together and never be apart). They adopted four children and according to the children he was a very warm and present father who loved them more than anything. One of Groucho's daughters has said in interviews that when it was too tugh to be at home (due to her mother's alcoholism and Groucho's depression) she fled home to Harpo and his wife where she was always welcome (she said that Harpo however, he had a rule, that he did not allow her to speak bad of her parents). Groucho's children have said that the only time they saw their father cry was when his most beloved older brother Harpo died. There was also a fifth brother, Milton "Gummo" Marx (he was the second youngest). He was the group's first straight man during their early years on the vaudeville circuit, but left the act when he was drafted into the US Army in 1918 during World War I and replaced by his g brother Zeppo. Gummo never liked to be on stage but became a successful businessman and was later also the brothers' agent together with Zeppo. He is said to have been a calm person who had a happy marriage and they had a son. He and his wife were married from 1929 until her death in 1976. When Gummo died in 1977, his death was never reported to his big brother Groucho, who by that time had become so ill and weak that it was thought the news would be a further detriment to his health. Groucho died four months later, at age 86.
Groucho hosted a very popular game show called "You Bet Your Life" which is available on TH-cam & elsewhere- half the show is just him messing with the contestants. I grew up loving that show.
A speakeasy was establishment that served illicit alcohol. They became especially prominent in the US during prohibition. In 1932 alcohol was still illegal in the US. Prohibition was repealed in 1933. They were called speakeasies as you weren't supposed to speak loudly about them, so as not to alert the police. The quarterback can signal to the team what the play is through numbers he calls before the center hikes the ball to him. The rhymes Chico uses aren't particularly secret, though.
This was one of my favorites. As for your questions, (1) speakeasys were secret "underground" nightclubs during Prohibition (1920-33), when making and selling alcoholic beverages was illegal in the US; and (2) football signals, like you guessed, are codes that football players use to give instructions during the game, which is why the Darwin team was so eager to get a list of the Huxley teams signals.
To add to this, a "college widow" was sort of a derogatory term for a gal from a college town who kept company with a number of college athlete types. The gag where all the brothers are in and out of Connie Bailey's apartment was sort of a euphemism for the comings and goings of her suitors. This movie, by the way, was made in the "pre code era" before the Hayes Act laws were enacted in the U.S., where "decency standards" were enforced upon the movie studios. As a result, probably 6-7 minutes of jokes, gags, and dialogue were edited out of all of the existing prints after the act was passed, and are pretty much now lost forever. The Connie Bailey apartment scene probably suffers most in this respect, with lots of jump cuts and a loss of natural flow to the scene
@@garagepunkfan I always wondered why the apartment scene jumps around so much with missing gags. You would think that with today's technology, someone could re-insert scenes & voices for the brothers. Or maybe we haven't looked hard enough in the film vaults of other countries to find an old intact copy of "Horse Feathers".
A Day At The Races is very good but it's one of the later ones. My personal favorite is their 2nd film "Animal Crackers". Groucho plays his iconic role of Captain Spaulding the African explorer. And it has Margaret Dumont who's always in their best pictures. Must-see.
I LOVE this movie. One year, for Christmas, before he died, my dad gave me a five cd set of them, with all of their movies from The Cocoanuts to Duck Soup.
The Marx Bros. grew up about thirteen blocks from where I live in New York City. Can't help but feel a little honored by that. Just too funny, they were.
The US passed anti-liquor "prohibition laws" in 1919. Clubs and taverns tried to become 'speak-easy' clubs, hiding the sale of liquor and beer. This was the time of rising organized crime because liquor sales were a cheap way to make lotsa money!
I've watched this (and several other MB films) on the big screen with a full audience of hysterically laughing people, which is an experience on a whole other level. We mostly only see these old films alone on TV. As a group experience, the laughter becomes infectious and people are actually laughing so hard they are in tears.
Ah yes the greatest football game in history As funny as they are, their musical talent is also amazing. Chico and Harpo are virtuosos on those instruments.
It was an era where most stage actors had to good-or-better dancers, had to be good-or-better singers and probably played an instrument or two or three. This way, theatres could deliver singing, dancing, drama, comedy - anything - with a small group of performers for even ten hours a day. From stage, these were passed along to movie studios - and this was part of the to-be-hated "studio system" of the '30s and '40s.
Haven't seen this since I was a kid, many decades since. Just as funny now. I think you're right, Dawn - they inspired many a cartoon gag. I'm sure WB especially were taking careful note. Thanks for bringing this back to us and Happy New Year, precious.
Speakeasy is an illegal bar, [and other things like illegal gambling etc] during the prohibition period from 1920 to 1933, when alcohol was illegal in the USA. Cast member Thelma Todd, who played the "College widow," was mysteriously murdered by carbon monoxide poisoning in her garage in her car in 1935...no one was "able to prove" [suspicious in itself] that the gangster she was dating did it or someone else affiliated did. She was a wonderful comic actress....they really ought to do a movie about her.
If you ever get a chance, check out the 1992 movie Brain Donors. It was produced by the Zucker Brothers (of Airplane! and Naked Gun fame) and was intended on a modern take on a Marx Brothers movie, with John Turturro as the Groucho character, Mel Smith as the Chico character, and Bob Nelson as the Harpo character. It really does feel like the script to a lost Marx Brothers movie, and while those three aren't the Marx Brothers by any means, they all do a terrific job.
"A Day At The Races" next? NICE! I can't wait. I really enjoy your Marx Bros reactions. You have a very infectious laugh. There are a lot more Marx Bros movies to go. I hope you react to them all. Yes, the Marx Bros inspired a lot of comedy, including a lot of cartoon gags. Including Monty Python as well.
One of my favourite reactions so far! It's great seeing your love for the Marx Brothers grow from film to film! It's amazing that entertainers of this vintage can still have this effect on younger generations and are still bringing joy and laughter! ❤️
This movie was made during prohibition in the US. Establishments that sold alcohol illegally were called "speakeasies". Didn't scan all the comments, so someone might have already mentioned this. The Marx Brothers were an absolutely stellar comedy ensemble. Groucho went on to have a "solo" career after the Marx Brothers movies came to an end, and was a comedic MC on an early TV show called "You Bet Your Life". He also did solo appearances, and was occasionally featured on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show". I never tire of seeing old Marx Brothers movies. Much appreciated!
Swordfish! I love Horse Feathers! Some of Harpo's best gags. The speakeasy scene alone is a laugh riot, everyone gets a great song/musical number, and the football finale is just ridiculous.
Their talent is as real as your laughter is genuine. Watching them with you reminds me of the bliss I felt when I discovered them. Thank you for being so cool 😊
Watching you laugh at this made my day. "Animal Crackers", "A Day at the Races" or "Monkey Business" next. Sad note, the actress in the movie Thelma Todd died just 2 years later from carbon monoxide poisoning. She was in "Monkey Business" too.
"Horse Feathers" is my favorite Marx Brothers movie. It was the second one that I saw of theirs as a kid, and their madcap, wordplay, and visual humor as well as their songs made me a fan!
You are so awesome to review the Marx Brothers. Honestly it's how I found your page and why I subscribed. I have watched about 20 of your videos so far and it's because of the Marx Brothers. Only the brave would review them. Now if you would review the 1977 Hockey Comedy called "Slap Shot," starring Paul Newman, you will be a legend! Nobody reviews it and it is a cult classic! Slap Shot. Millions love it and have memorized every line in the movie! Please consider checking it out. You rock!!
(4:50) A "college widow" is a young woman who lives in a college town and dates many men year-after-year but never seems to end up married. (5:02) In America, we had Prohibition--a time when drinking alcohol was legally banned. Undeterred, we established bars where you would quietly gather to get soused. Because you didn't want the cops to know, everyone inside was instructed to "speak easy" (quietly). Such a bar then became known as a "speakeasy".
I've seen all the marx brothers movies a million times but this is the first time I ever noticed Harpo's hat says "dogcatcher" only on one side and "kidnapper" on the other lmao
one of their best films, btw the song Groucho sings at the start has been covered by Kula Shaker, its on there 2022 album 1st congregational church of eternal love, but its like a retro 70s rock style song lol
This is the movie that started the tradition of all passwords in films being 'swordfish'. One of the Darwin players Groucho went to the speakeasy (illegal bar during Prohibition) to recruit was James Pierce, who played Tarzan in a 1927 movie, 'Tarzan and the Golden Lion'. He married the daughter of Edgar Rice Burroughs, who created Tarzan in 1927.
College Widow , a single woman living in a college town who attracts, encourages and enjoys the attention of the young men from the local school. Often she is the younger wife of a deceased faculty member or college president,
When this movie was made, prohabition was still going on in the U.S. During that time, to get alcohol, you had to go to what was basically a secret bar. Some places of business would have a secret entrance with a secret bar as an illegal side business. These secret bars were known as a speakeasy.
I am so glad to see someone reacting to Horse Feathers. My trifecta of Marx Brothers movies is Horse Feathers, Monkey Business and Duck Soup. (BTW: A speak easy is from the alcohol prohibition years in the US. When alcohol became illegal, there were establishments that went underground, "speak easies". The owners of these establishments had to be careful. If they let a person in who was an informant for government, they could be closed down and the owner sent to jail. That's where the joke about the "swordfish" password comes into play).
A character type dating to at least the early 20th century (there is a 1915 silent film entitled The College Widow ), but now a Forgotten Trope: a single woman living in a college town who attracts, encourages and enjoys the attention of the young men from the local school.
One of my earliest and favorite Marx movies! So glad you liked it. I do love all the Marxes, but admit to a special affection for Chico, the one in the middle, without whom the team could not succeed. He's not as wild and unpredictable as Harpo; he doesn't drive whatever plot there is like Groucho can, if he so chooses, but he's the one who can move from one to the other, communicate with Harpo (well......) and drive Groucho up a wall. In fact, there's a kind hierarchy: Groucho can get the best of anyone except his two manic brothers. Chico and Harpo are the only ones who can beat Groucho at their game; and Harpo is the only who can drive Chico up a wall. And I have to put in a word for Zeppo, the most .... normal ... of the brothers. You think he's kind of a spare wheel, but in movies where he doesn't join the brothers, I miss him. I'm not knowledgeable about football of any variety, but the signals would have to do with strategy for playing a game and I would guess they are in code of some sort. In the days when this movies was made, Prohibition was in force in the US, which made selling and buying alcoholic drinks illegal. This didn't help anything: the mob became very powerful with illegal liquor, people made what was called "bathtub gin" and went to speakeasies, which were bars hidden inside buildings (that's why you needed a password to get in). In NYC, there are still some not-at-all secret speakeasies where you can go and have a drink. It's kind of fun. The College Widow was a lady associated with a university in a sexual way. She was not (at least not often) an actual widow. Thelma Todd was a beautiful and very funny lady, who was in one more Marx movie "Monkey Business". Unfortunately, she died very young, not long after this movie. She was found in her car, and all sorts of theories surround how she died, from tragic accident to something more sinister. If you watch her little scene with Chico at the piano, it looks as though her hand is wandering near him and that he reacts with charming surprise: th-cam.com/video/3kDHD4Bs_EI/w-d-xo.html. Chico was in a car accident during the filming of this one, and broke his knee (!!!), so he missed out on a lot of action scenes toward the end. On the bright side, news reports said the hospital had never been so full of fun because Chico and his brothers were in the same room there. Yep, "horsefeathers" means "nonsense". When I was little, there was a popular tv show about a talking horse, whose name was Mr. Ed. I loved the horse and the show, and one Christmas, my parents got a Mr. Ed puppet for me. There was a pull string which let the puppet actually talk in Mr. Ed's voice, and one of the things he could say was "Oh, horsefeathers!"
7:20- A "speakeasy" was an illegal bar and/or nightclub that served liquor- something you weren't supposed to be drinking during "Prohibition" (1920-1933).
I do usually your reactions, Dawn Marie, but mostly I come here because you have the same accent as my parent do, as I used to as a lad… I find it strangely calm, and makes me feel a little less, lonely… Thanks, Doll!
You fell in love with Chico playing the piano and, watching you swoon over him, I fell in love with you. Wonderful reaction to a wonderful movie. And your laughter made it so much funnier. A DAY AT THE RACES is a good choice for the next one given that after NIGHT AT THE OPERA it was the only other collaboration the Marx Brothers had with the genius Irving Thalberg before he died. So you expect some the magic of your first experience with the brothers to be present in that movie, too. After that I'd recommend ANIMAL CRACKERS. But even the movies they made that were not that highly rated have comedy bits in them that are brilliant. So enjoy the ride and I am looking forward to the next one.
i haven't watched any marx brothers movies in years,and this is the perfect way to revisit them. i love that you appreciate their musical talents as well as their ability to make you laugh constantly.
A speakeasy is an illegal establishment that sells alcoholic beverages. During the Prohibition era 1920-1933 the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages was illegal throughout the USA and the speakeasies ars came into prominence in America during that period (and largerly disappeard after it ended in 1933).
A speakeasy was a place where they served alcoholic beverages during prohibition. Since alcohol was illegal speakeasies were private establishments where you had to give a password to get in to prove you weren’t the police.
The signals means different plays and tactics worked on before the match. It has been a common thing in American football of stealing the other teams signals. This is why coaches even in modern games cover they faces when they talk to their players.
Glad to see you're appreciating top quality cinema finally. Who needs movies like Forrest Gump, It's A Wonderful Life, Shawshank Redemption and Casablanca when you have great Oscar Mayer winning cinema masterpieces like Horse Feathers and Duck Soup with Animal Crackers? 🥸
A College Widow is “a girl whom new men meet from year to year but whom no one ever marries.” During Prohibition a speakeasy was informal slang for "an illicit liquor store or nightclub." Black looks good on you by-the-way.
The really big question from this movie: What the hell is a College Widow? (Even screenwriter .J. Perelman admitted he didn't know). But, like most great works of art, Horse Feathers raised more questions than it answered.
So glad Xmas is over - don't want to bring anyone down, so I'll spare the chilling details. Pray 2023 will be a better year! A 'Speak-easy' is an illicit bar (when alcohol was prohibited in the US from 1920-1933).
In the US, from 1920 until 1933, liquor was illegal. So, people went to private clubs called a "Speak Easy". To be sure the place wasn't raided by the police, they used a password to get in.
Football signals are the secret number codes for the specific plays, that the quarterback calls out to the other players- Except for Chico’s which are a little more creative (“Hey, look out, we’re going to throw a forward pass!”)
As I remember it, from Groucho autobiography, Groucho and Me, most if not all of the movies started as Broadway show. Oh by the way as he associated with Queen, he was also a friend of Alice Cooper. You also might like Harpos autobiography, Harpo Speaks. Both great reads and uncensored.
The beautiful Thelma Todd appeared with the Marxes in Monkey Business and Horse Feathers. She is best-known for a series of comic shorts co-starring ZaSu Pitts, and then Patsy Kelly. She was found dead in her car in her garage in 1935.
Although he never showed it Groucho could play the violin their mother made them all take music lessons, which is why I think Chico could do all the fun piano playing probably to combat boredom during his lessons.
Don't miss out on "The Cocoanuts," their first motion picture (1929). A speakeasy was an illegal bar during prohibition in the U.S. There was usually a legitimate store out front but the bar was hidden and you had to have a password to get in or be a regular customer after a while.
Funny comment on a dialogue from the class scene in Horsefeathers (1932): Groucho: “Now then baboons, what is a corpuscle?” Chico: “That’s easy. First there’s a captain, then there’s a lieutenant, then there’s a corpuscle.” Hilarious comment by alanr4447a, TH-cam: “He skipped over the insurgent! And how could he? The streets are full of insurgents, because the peasants are revolting! And they’re not the only ones who are revolting. Frankly, you’re not so hot yourself! You better take of your clown makeup. Oh, you’re not? You better put some on!” (a remark worthy of Groucho himself!)
A speakeasy is an illegal bar during Prohibition in the United States (when alcohol was illegal). An illegal bar after prohibition is referred to as a blind pig.
Horsefeathers was my favorites growing up. But yeah Starting with Night at The Opera and Duck Soup means you've started with their absolute 2 best. As a huge Marx Brothers fan I think they all have their charm.
Thanks! I’m still a Patron for January, but think it’s simpler for my brain to just show my appreciation here. Your MP videos are the first reaction videos I’ve thought of putting on a playlist because they hold up to repeated viewings. It’s comedy therapy.
I think Horsefeathers is very underrated. Doesn't get the recognition of Duck Soup, but it's one of their best
It might be a hot take, but I think my favorite is either Horse Feathers or A Night in Casablanca.
It's probably the fastest paced and tightest. Unfortunately there are some cuts in it, and quite a bit of damage to the print, with lines dropping out. The holy grail is for someone to find an original print of it somewhere.
My favorite ending of a Marx Brothers film!
The Marx Brothers are funny and Dawn's laugh is infectious. Thumbs up! 👍
"The Marx Brothers are funny" amazing
I so love your appreciation of my guys (Marx Brothers). Theirs is a lost art because it takes genius to combine chaos with intelligence and humor ♥️
I can't believe nobody has mentioned Thelma Todd in the comments yet. "Hot Toddy", as she was known, was "the college widow" in the film. She was in two Marx Brothers films, this one and Monkey Business. She worked with all the major comedians of the era, everyone from Laurel and Hardy to Buster Keaton. She was a comedienne in her own right, having been paired with Zasu Pitts ( and then Patsy Kelly ) in several short films to become the "female Laurel and Hardy". She died under suspicious circumstances in 1935.
I was just about to mention her, in fact. I still believe she was murdered, most likely by her shitheel mobbed up husband, the poor devil, and staged to look like an accident. That's one of the few Hollywood conspiracy theories I would give any credence to.
I've always been fascinated with Thelma Todd, her career, and mysterious death. She was such a pretty girl ... dead at 29. So sad.
I rwad somewhere that her boyfriend confessed on his deathbed that he had infact murdered her.
The rwstaurant she had owned is just in the process of being demolished as well.
@@harveydent73- she just had the rotten luck of being born in the wrong century. She'd have been right at home in the current era of torpedoing macho posturing. They'd have tossed her Chris Evanses for days nowadays.
Love your knowledge of that. Todd was comic gold, and she would have been a bigger star if she had lived a full life, and if Hollywood wasn't so blind and deaf...I think she was a good as Lombard, Blondell and the rest.
I really enjoy your reactions to the Marx Brothers. The combination of word play and irreverence is just perfect. More Marx Brothers please.
It's not unusual that Chico's charm and musicality appeal to you. Chico was the lady's man of the group. Unfortunately, Chico was a gambling addict and couldn't keep money in his pocket. Harpo was known in real life as the nicest man. He was a devoted family man. He adopted a whole bunch of kids. George Burns, another comic from the older era, asked Harpo how many kids he was going to adopt. He said he wanted one child for every window, of his very large house, so each could have their own place to wave to him. Groucho was more of a mixed bag. He had a more difficult family life and marital history.
What about the other brothers?
@@unclerabbit254 they were not mentioned in the article he copied and pasted here
Groucho suffered with depression. He didn't have a Groucho Marx to cheer him up. (Dick Cavett said that)
Parts of the B-movie "Eegah!", with Richard Kiel, were filmed on property on Harpo Marx's Palm Springs estate. The director didn't ask permission or give notice. They were filming one day by a road when Harpo was driving by. He stopped and asked them what they were doing. The director told him they were making a movie. Harpo said "Oh, okay" and drove on.
@@unclerabbit254 Leonard "Chico" was the oldest brother and is said to have been their mother's favorite and she openly favored him while she treated Julius "Groucho" the worst and he was the one of the sons she showed the least love. Arthur "Harpo" was the second oldest.
According to Chico's daughter, Groucho must have been constantly overlooked and did everything to make his mother happy, which left a deep mark on her uncle for the rest of his life.
Chico was married twice and had a daughter with his first wife. However, he was a woman chaser (his nickname came from that) and had been constantly unfaithful to his first wife. He was also a gambling addict and gambled on everything. Their last two films were more or less made just to save Chico's finances as he had filed for bankruptcy a few years prior. When his brothers finally found out about his out-of-control gambling, they took full control over his finances; they took all money away from Chico as he earned it and put him on an allowance to curb his constant betting and gambling. Chico stayed on the allowance until his death.
Groucho was married three times and each marriage ended in divorce. He battled depression and one of the wives was an alcoholic. He had three children (two children with his first wife, who, according to the children, lacked any sense of humor). In the early 1970s, He had a relationship with a much younger woman named Erin Fleming who was initially (and extemporaneously) hired as his secretary and later assumed the role of his manager. Several of Groucho's friends and family, including his children, charged Erin Fleming with embezzling money and pushing the increasingly frail Groucho to the limits of his endurance, largely for her own personal gain. There were also charges against her because of psychological and suspected physical abuse against Groucho.
Herbert "Zeppo" (who left the act for careers as an engineer and theatrical agent) was the youngest brother and is said to have had a rather hot temper. He was very jealous and is said to have beaten a man just for talking to his wife at a party (he however, was not the faithful type himself).
He was married twice, both of which ended in divorce (he and his first wife adopted two children). His second wife was much younger and later married Frank Sinatra who was a good friend of Zeppo's with whom she had started an affair behind Zeppo's back, but they remained friends.
When Zeppo became ill with cancer in 1978 he moved to a house on the fairway off Frank Sinatra Drive and his ex wife accompanied him to doctor's appointments and treatment. He spent his last days with his family.
Harpo was married to the same woman all his life and they had a very happy and loving marriage (according to his brothers, they were the perfect couple who wanted to do everything together and never be apart). They adopted four children and according to the children he was a very warm and present father who loved them more than anything. One of Groucho's daughters has said in interviews that when it was too tugh to be at home (due to her mother's alcoholism and Groucho's depression) she fled home to Harpo and his wife where she was always welcome (she said that Harpo however, he had a rule, that he did not allow her to speak bad of her parents).
Groucho's children have said that the only time they saw their father cry was when his most beloved older brother Harpo died.
There was also a fifth brother, Milton "Gummo" Marx (he was the second youngest). He was the group's first straight man during their early years on the vaudeville circuit, but left the act when he was drafted into the US Army in 1918 during World War I and replaced by his g brother Zeppo. Gummo never liked to be on stage but became a successful businessman and was later also the brothers' agent together with Zeppo. He is said to have been a calm person who had a happy marriage and they had a son. He and his wife were married from 1929 until her death in 1976.
When Gummo died in 1977, his death was never reported to his big brother Groucho, who by that time had become so ill and weak that it was thought the news would be a further detriment to his health. Groucho died four months later, at age 86.
Groucho hosted a very popular game show called "You Bet Your Life" which is available on TH-cam & elsewhere- half the show is just him messing with the contestants. I grew up loving that show.
Because the show was totally unscripted, you get to see Groucho's quick wit at its best.
A speakeasy was establishment that served illicit alcohol. They became especially prominent in the US during prohibition. In 1932 alcohol was still illegal in the US. Prohibition was repealed in 1933. They were called speakeasies as you weren't supposed to speak loudly about them, so as not to alert the police.
The quarterback can signal to the team what the play is through numbers he calls before the center hikes the ball to him. The rhymes Chico uses aren't particularly secret, though.
Well said.
I couldnt put it any better than you did and everyone I know calls me the Genius.
@@geniusjohn8280 Just like Wile E. Coyote. Genius.
@@undergroundwarrior70 Exactly!
This was one of my favorites.
As for your questions, (1) speakeasys were secret "underground" nightclubs during Prohibition (1920-33), when making and selling alcoholic beverages was illegal in the US; and (2) football signals, like you guessed, are codes that football players use to give instructions during the game, which is why the Darwin team was so eager to get a list of the Huxley teams signals.
To add to this, a "college widow" was sort of a derogatory term for a gal from a college town who kept company with a number of college athlete types. The gag where all the brothers are in and out of Connie Bailey's apartment was sort of a euphemism for the comings and goings of her suitors. This movie, by the way, was made in the "pre code era" before the Hayes Act laws were enacted in the U.S., where "decency standards" were enforced upon the movie studios. As a result, probably 6-7 minutes of jokes, gags, and dialogue were edited out of all of the existing prints after the act was passed, and are pretty much now lost forever. The Connie Bailey apartment scene probably suffers most in this respect, with lots of jump cuts and a loss of natural flow to the scene
@@garagepunkfan I always wondered why the apartment scene jumps around so much with missing gags. You would think that with today's technology, someone could re-insert scenes & voices for the brothers. Or maybe we haven't looked hard enough in the film vaults of other countries to find an old intact copy of "Horse Feathers".
Another of my favourite jokes is Chico’s “falsetto teeth” 😂
A Day At The Races is very good but it's one of the later ones. My personal favorite is their 2nd film "Animal Crackers". Groucho plays his iconic role of Captain Spaulding the African explorer. And it has Margaret Dumont who's always in their best pictures. Must-see.
I LOVE this movie. One year, for Christmas, before he died, my dad gave me a five cd set of them, with all of their movies from The Cocoanuts to Duck Soup.
I have that set as well and cherish it!
I understand. I saw "Duck Soup" at 5. Loved it. They were all on TV as I grew up.
The Marx Bros. grew up about thirteen blocks from where I live in New York City. Can't help but feel a little honored by that. Just too funny, they were.
Yes! Can never have enough Marx Brothers!
The first sounds: laughter, laughter and more laughter... and decades before Silly Walks even had a Ministry!
Really - we need to get Dawn Marie into theaters hosting all of these Marx Brothers' films.
The US passed anti-liquor "prohibition laws" in 1919. Clubs and taverns tried to become 'speak-easy' clubs, hiding the sale of liquor and beer. This was the time of rising organized crime because liquor sales were a cheap way to make lotsa money!
I've watched this (and several other MB films) on the big screen with a full audience of hysterically laughing people, which is an experience on a whole other level. We mostly only see these old films alone on TV. As a group experience, the laughter becomes infectious and people are actually laughing so hard they are in tears.
Ah yes the greatest football game in history
As funny as they are, their musical talent is also amazing. Chico and Harpo are virtuosos on those instruments.
It was an era where most stage actors had to good-or-better dancers, had to be good-or-better singers and probably played an instrument or two or three. This way, theatres could deliver singing, dancing, drama, comedy - anything - with a small group of performers for even ten hours a day. From stage, these were passed along to movie studios - and this was part of the to-be-hated "studio system" of the '30s and '40s.
Haven't seen this since I was a kid, many decades since. Just as funny now. I think you're right, Dawn - they inspired many a cartoon gag. I'm sure WB especially were taking careful note. Thanks for bringing this back to us and Happy New Year, precious.
They even ended up in some older cartoons.
I love the Marx Bothers, but I especially love your reaction to them!
The "Horse's @$$" joke in the classroom always gets me
Speakeasy is an illegal bar, [and other things like illegal gambling etc] during the prohibition period from 1920 to 1933, when alcohol was illegal in the USA. Cast member Thelma Todd, who played the "College widow," was mysteriously murdered by carbon monoxide poisoning in her garage in her car in 1935...no one was "able to prove" [suspicious in itself] that the gangster she was dating did it or someone else affiliated did. She was a wonderful comic actress....they really ought to do a movie about her.
Chico's distinctive piano playing style is called "Shooting the keys"
Prohibition against most types of alcohol in the US was from 1920 to 1933. This film came out in 1932 so speakeasies were still common.
The classroom scenes were based on some of their older Vaudeville sketch "Fun in Hi Skule" in the 1910's.
"What's a speakeasy? *Hick*" 😂
If you ever get a chance, check out the 1992 movie Brain Donors. It was produced by the Zucker Brothers (of Airplane! and Naked Gun fame) and was intended on a modern take on a Marx Brothers movie, with John Turturro as the Groucho character, Mel Smith as the Chico character, and Bob Nelson as the Harpo character. It really does feel like the script to a lost Marx Brothers movie, and while those three aren't the Marx Brothers by any means, they all do a terrific job.
I did not know it was made by the Sugar (Zucker) Bros! No wonder I love it so.
Brain Donors is hilarious.
I feel like I've heard of the zucker bros. But didn't know they did any marx bros spinoffs/inspired films.
You ask what a speakeasy is while hiccuping. One of TH-cam's finest moments.
"A Day At The Races" next? NICE! I can't wait. I really enjoy your Marx Bros reactions. You have a very infectious laugh. There are a lot more Marx Bros movies to go. I hope you react to them all.
Yes, the Marx Bros inspired a lot of comedy, including a lot of cartoon gags. Including Monty Python as well.
Yes! Day At The Races is my favorite! Can't wait!
One of my favourite reactions so far! It's great seeing your love for the Marx Brothers grow from film to film! It's amazing that entertainers of this vintage can still have this effect on younger generations and are still bringing joy and laughter! ❤️
This movie was made during prohibition in the US. Establishments that sold alcohol illegally were called "speakeasies". Didn't scan all the comments, so someone might have already mentioned this. The Marx Brothers were an absolutely stellar comedy ensemble. Groucho went on to have a "solo" career after the Marx Brothers movies came to an end, and was a comedic MC on an early TV show called "You Bet Your Life". He also did solo appearances, and was occasionally featured on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show". I never tire of seeing old Marx Brothers movies. Much appreciated!
Whenever I go to a store or something, and they ask me what brought me in, I always say “my car, but I left it out in the parking lot.”
Just voted in a Patreon poll for the first time. Now I’m addicted.
Your belly laughs are a joy to behold, keep up the good work Dawn!!!
My wife and I watch black & white movies every night. We really got into the Sherlock Holmes movies only with Basil Rathbone. He was the best!
You are an angel Dawn, for reacting on the Marx Brothers, for your love of these movies and your laughter.
I watched the Horsefeathers film last week...great fun!!!
Swordfish! I love Horse Feathers! Some of Harpo's best gags. The speakeasy scene alone is a laugh riot, everyone gets a great song/musical number, and the football finale is just ridiculous.
17:55 I've been a fan of these lads for thirty years and I'm JUST now noticing Harpo's got 'Kidnapper' on his hat for this bloody scene.
Chico plays extended piano pieces in "Night in Casablanca", incl. the 2nd movement from the "Beer Barrel Polka".
Their talent is as real as your laughter is genuine. Watching them with you reminds me of the bliss I felt when I discovered them. Thank you for being so cool 😊
I just watched a video of yours the other day about a Marks brothers movie and now you’re doing this one. Love it.
Here in Glasgow we have a bar called "Rufus T. Firefly" in the city centre. Their upstairs lounge used to be called "Otis B. Driftwood".
Watching you laugh at this made my day. "Animal Crackers", "A Day at the Races" or "Monkey Business" next. Sad note, the actress in the movie Thelma Todd died just 2 years later from carbon monoxide poisoning. She was in "Monkey Business" too.
My absolute favorite! Thank you for reacting to these!
"Horse Feathers" is my favorite Marx Brothers movie. It was the second one that I saw of theirs as a kid, and their madcap, wordplay, and visual humor as well as their songs made me a fan!
You are so awesome to review the Marx Brothers. Honestly it's how I found your page and why I subscribed. I have watched about 20 of your videos so far and it's because of the Marx Brothers. Only the brave would review them. Now if you would review the 1977 Hockey Comedy called "Slap Shot," starring Paul Newman, you will be a legend! Nobody reviews it and it is a cult classic! Slap Shot. Millions love it and have memorized every line in the movie! Please consider checking it out. You rock!!
(4:50) A "college widow" is a young woman who lives in a college town and dates many men year-after-year but never seems to end up married.
(5:02) In America, we had Prohibition--a time when drinking alcohol was legally banned. Undeterred, we established bars where you would quietly gather to get soused. Because you didn't want the cops to know, everyone inside was instructed to "speak easy" (quietly). Such a bar then became known as a "speakeasy".
I agree - I wish I was the girl at the end! Imagine the fun you could have with the Marx Brothers 💙
I've seen all the marx brothers movies a million times but this is the first time I ever noticed Harpo's hat says "dogcatcher" only on one side and "kidnapper" on the other lmao
Everything I know about American football, I learned from this movie.
one of their best films, btw the song Groucho sings at the start has been covered by Kula Shaker, its on there 2022 album 1st congregational church of eternal love, but its like a retro 70s rock style song lol
THANK YOU for doing these old movies that nobody else is!
This is the movie that started the tradition of all passwords in films being 'swordfish'. One of the Darwin players Groucho went to the speakeasy (illegal bar during Prohibition) to recruit was James Pierce, who played Tarzan in a 1927 movie, 'Tarzan and the Golden Lion'. He married the daughter of Edgar Rice Burroughs, who created Tarzan in 1927.
I meant, Burroughs created Tarzan in 1912. I apologize for the brain fart.
The Literal meaning of "Horse Feathers" is "Nonsense"! GREAT Reaction Dawn!
Coach: Hey, what’re you doing with that cigar in your mouth? 😠🤨
Groucho: Why, do you another place to smoke it? 🥸😁😉
😆
College Widow , a single woman living in a college town who attracts, encourages and enjoys the attention of the young men from the local school. Often she is the younger wife of a deceased faculty member or college president,
So happy to see you into these crazy old films! Lots of people don't get the Marx Bros., you totally do.
When this movie was made, prohabition was still going on in the U.S. During that time, to get alcohol, you had to go to what was basically a secret bar. Some places of business would have a secret entrance with a secret bar as an illegal side business. These secret bars were known as a speakeasy.
I haven't watched these films since I was a kid, I've forgotten how funny they are
I am so glad to see someone reacting to Horse Feathers. My trifecta of Marx Brothers movies is Horse Feathers, Monkey Business and Duck Soup. (BTW: A speak easy is from the alcohol prohibition years in the US. When alcohol became illegal, there were establishments that went underground, "speak easies". The owners of these establishments had to be careful. If they let a person in who was an informant for government, they could be closed down and the owner sent to jail. That's where the joke about the "swordfish" password comes into play).
Christmas break REALLY agreed with you! You're glowing like Donna Reed! Glad you're back
A character type dating to at least the early 20th century (there is a 1915 silent film entitled The College Widow ), but now a Forgotten Trope: a single woman living in a college town who attracts, encourages and enjoys the attention of the young men from the local school.
Yayyy some fun again ! Your laugh takes me with you, we all need more laughter.
Love your reactions, especially ones with the Marx Bros. Your laughter is contagious.
"Monkey Business" is a great one.
One of my earliest and favorite Marx movies! So glad you liked it. I do love all the Marxes, but admit to a special affection for Chico, the one in the middle, without whom the team could not succeed. He's not as wild and unpredictable as Harpo; he doesn't drive whatever plot there is like Groucho can, if he so chooses, but he's the one who can move from one to the other, communicate with Harpo (well......) and drive Groucho up a wall. In fact, there's a kind hierarchy: Groucho can get the best of anyone except his two manic brothers. Chico and Harpo are the only ones who can beat Groucho at their game; and Harpo is the only who can drive Chico up a wall. And I have to put in a word for Zeppo, the most .... normal ... of the brothers. You think he's kind of a spare wheel, but in movies where he doesn't join the brothers, I miss him.
I'm not knowledgeable about football of any variety, but the signals would have to do with strategy for playing a game and I would guess they are in code of some sort.
In the days when this movies was made, Prohibition was in force in the US, which made selling and buying alcoholic drinks illegal. This didn't help anything: the mob became very powerful with illegal liquor, people made what was called "bathtub gin" and went to speakeasies, which were bars hidden inside buildings (that's why you needed a password to get in). In NYC, there are still some not-at-all secret speakeasies where you can go and have a drink. It's kind of fun.
The College Widow was a lady associated with a university in a sexual way. She was not (at least not often) an actual widow.
Thelma Todd was a beautiful and very funny lady, who was in one more Marx movie "Monkey Business". Unfortunately, she died very young, not long after this movie. She was found in her car, and all sorts of theories surround how she died, from tragic accident to something more sinister. If you watch her little scene with Chico at the piano, it looks as though her hand is wandering near him and that he reacts with charming surprise: th-cam.com/video/3kDHD4Bs_EI/w-d-xo.html.
Chico was in a car accident during the filming of this one, and broke his knee (!!!), so he missed out on a lot of action scenes toward the end. On the bright side, news reports said the hospital had never been so full of fun because Chico and his brothers were in the same room there.
Yep, "horsefeathers" means "nonsense". When I was little, there was a popular tv show about a talking horse, whose name was Mr. Ed. I loved the horse and the show, and one Christmas, my parents got a Mr. Ed puppet for me. There was a pull string which let the puppet actually talk in Mr. Ed's voice, and one of the things he could say was "Oh, horsefeathers!"
Regarding Chico's car accident: He can be seen limping noticeably in the second half of the picture.
7:20- A "speakeasy" was an illegal bar and/or nightclub that served liquor- something you weren't supposed to be drinking during "Prohibition" (1920-1933).
I do usually your reactions, Dawn Marie, but mostly I come here because you have the same accent as my parent do, as I used to as a lad…
I find it strangely calm, and makes me feel a little less, lonely… Thanks, Doll!
A speakeasy is an underground illegal bar which operated during Prohibition -- which ended in 1933.
You fell in love with Chico playing the piano and, watching you swoon over him, I fell in love with you. Wonderful reaction to a wonderful movie. And your laughter made it so much funnier.
A DAY AT THE RACES is a good choice for the next one given that after NIGHT AT THE OPERA it was the only other collaboration the Marx Brothers had with the genius Irving Thalberg before he died. So you expect some the magic of your first experience with the brothers to be present in that movie, too. After that I'd recommend ANIMAL CRACKERS. But even the movies they made that were not that highly rated have comedy bits in them that are brilliant. So enjoy the ride and I am looking forward to the next one.
Have you looked into 'Keeping Up With Appearances'? Hyacinth is great, but Daisy is funny af. I'm American and that old show is top tier.
Football signals are the hand signals a coach uses to tell the players what to do, before the next play. Each team has it's own signals and plays,
Yes Dawn
I love your laugh
I haven’t seen this for years
Sweet Dawn
The beautiful Thelma Todd was The College Widow. You can see more of her ( Groucho wiggles his eyebrows) in Monkey Business.
i haven't watched any marx brothers movies in years,and this is the perfect way to revisit them. i love that you appreciate their musical talents as well as their ability to make you laugh constantly.
A speakeasy is an illegal establishment that sells alcoholic beverages. During the Prohibition era 1920-1933 the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages was illegal throughout the USA and the speakeasies ars came into prominence in America during that period (and largerly disappeard after it ended in 1933).
A speakeasy was a place where they served alcoholic beverages during prohibition. Since alcohol was illegal speakeasies were private establishments where you had to give a password to get in to prove you weren’t the police.
Just remember that after this there are ten more. A speak easy was a bar or pub during prohibition (when they were illegal hence the password).
The signals means different plays and tactics worked on before the match. It has been a common thing in American football of stealing the other teams signals. This is why coaches even in modern games cover they faces when they talk to their players.
Glad to see you're appreciating top quality cinema finally. Who needs movies like Forrest Gump, It's A Wonderful Life, Shawshank Redemption and Casablanca when you have great Oscar Mayer winning cinema masterpieces like Horse Feathers and Duck Soup with Animal Crackers? 🥸
A College Widow is “a girl whom new men meet from year to year but whom no one ever marries.” During Prohibition a speakeasy was informal slang for "an illicit liquor store or nightclub." Black looks good on you by-the-way.
The really big question from this movie: What the hell is a College Widow? (Even screenwriter .J. Perelman admitted he didn't know). But, like most great works of art, Horse Feathers raised more questions than it answered.
Love when Groucho breaks the 4th Wall at 14:29 and talks to the audience. Only he could get away with something like that!😄
So glad Xmas is over - don't want to bring anyone down, so I'll spare the chilling details. Pray 2023 will be a better year! A 'Speak-easy' is an illicit bar (when alcohol was prohibited in the US from 1920-1933).
In the US, from 1920 until 1933, liquor was illegal. So, people went to private clubs called a "Speak Easy". To be sure the place wasn't raided by the police, they used a password to get in.
Football signals are the secret number codes for the specific plays, that the quarterback calls out to the other players-
Except for Chico’s which are a little more creative (“Hey, look out, we’re going to throw a forward pass!”)
As I remember it, from Groucho autobiography, Groucho and Me, most if not all of the movies started as Broadway show.
Oh by the way as he associated with Queen, he was also a friend of Alice Cooper.
You also might like Harpos autobiography, Harpo Speaks.
Both great reads and uncensored.
The beautiful Thelma Todd appeared with the Marxes in Monkey Business and Horse Feathers. She is best-known for a series of comic shorts co-starring ZaSu Pitts, and then Patsy Kelly. She was found dead in her car in her garage in 1935.
Might be my favourite Marx Brothers film but it's so hard to choose! When Groucho acts all cute I just melt 😍 They're all so talented and hilarious!
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx
I’m 56 and there have been 2 constants in my life - The Beatles and The Marx Brothers. Love your videos.
Although he never showed it Groucho could play the violin their mother made them all take music lessons, which is why I think Chico could do all the fun piano playing probably to combat boredom during his lessons.
The Marx Brothers weren't movie actor so much as they were Vaudeville actors performing their skits in the movies. Love your reactions.
When I was 5 years old or younger I loved Harpo. I loved that he was silent and kind and his harp music was so beautiful. I liked his hair too!
Don't miss out on "The Cocoanuts," their first motion picture (1929). A speakeasy was an illegal bar during prohibition in the U.S. There was usually a legitimate store out front but the bar was hidden and you had to have a password to get in or be a regular customer after a while.
Funny comment on a dialogue from the class scene in Horsefeathers (1932):
Groucho: “Now then baboons, what is a corpuscle?”
Chico: “That’s easy. First there’s a captain, then there’s a lieutenant, then there’s a corpuscle.”
Hilarious comment by alanr4447a, TH-cam:
“He skipped over the insurgent! And how could he? The streets are full of insurgents, because the peasants are revolting! And they’re not the only ones who are revolting. Frankly, you’re not so hot yourself! You better take of your clown makeup. Oh, you’re not? You better put some on!”
(a remark worthy of Groucho himself!)
A speakeasy is an illegal bar during Prohibition in the United States (when alcohol was illegal). An illegal bar after prohibition is referred to as a blind pig.
Horsefeathers was my favorites growing up. But yeah Starting with Night at The Opera and Duck Soup means you've started with their absolute 2 best. As a huge Marx Brothers fan I think they all have their charm.
Thanks! I’m still a Patron for January, but think it’s simpler for my brain to just show my appreciation here. Your MP videos are the first reaction videos I’ve thought of putting on a playlist because they hold up to repeated viewings. It’s comedy therapy.