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The Zany World of the Marx Brothers
The Zany World of the Marx Brothers
During the early days of Hollywood, movie producers were looking for new
talent to entertain the public. New stars started to emerge in musicals,
dramatic movies and comic movies. One of the most famous acts in the early
days of motion pictures drew on all of these elements in creating their
movies. The brothers Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Gummo and Zeppo were the stars
of many memorable performances and movies as The Marx Brothers.
The Marx
Brothers, who are actually brothers, were sons of German and French Jewish
immigrant parents. They were born in New York City in the late 1800’s and
lived in the Yorkville section of the city. Growing up, the brothers and
the family did not have a lot of money to spend, but made due with modest
means. At a young age, the brothers showed a talent and love of
music. Harpo became a talented harp player, which is how he got his name,
Chico was an accomplished pianist, Groucho played the guitar, Gummo sang and
played other instruments and Zeppo was a fine singer.
The love of music
gave the brothers the opportunity to earn a living. At an early age, the
Marx Brothers (originally just Groucho, Chico and Zeppo) formed an act and
started to perform in Vaudeville. Shortly after, Harpo would join the act,
as well as other members of the family. At first the act was strictly a
musical act, but audiences quickly found out that Groucho and the guys had
comedic instincts and the act started to incorporate more humor into
it. When Gummo left to serve in the Army during World War I, youngest
brother Zeppo replaced him. Soon, the brothers were out of vaudeville and
on to Broadway, and eventually they were signed by Paramount Pictures for the
movies.
Through their vaudeville and Broadway performances, they started
to develop personas that were different than their real
personalities. Groucho began to walk hunched over and wore a fake mustache,
Harpo stopped talking and began to use a horn to communicate, Chico adopted a
fake Italian accent and Zeppo became the dashing ladies man of the
group. These personalities were discovered by Hollywood and brought over to
the movies.
The four Marx Brothers first movie was "The Cocoanuts" which
was released by Paramount Pictures in 1929. The success of that movie
quickly led to a series of very popular movie such as "Animal Crackers" in 1930,
"Monkey Business" in 1931, "Horse Feathers" in 1932 and "Duck Soup" in 1933.
Zeppo Marx left the movies after "Duck Soup", but the remaining brothers
continued to make popular movies. Movies such as "Night at the Opera" in
1935, "Night at the Races" in 1937 and "Room Service" in 1938 soon
followed. Each of the movies continued to be successful.
The Marx
Brothers continued to make movies together until the 1950’s. Each of the
movies followed similar formats with Groucho portraying a zany character such as
Professor Wagstaff in Horse Feathers, Captain Spaulding in Animal Crackers and
Rufus T. Firefly in Duck Soup. The movies also usually featured Harpo and
Chico as comic foils, and leading ladies such as Margaret Dumont being annoyed
by Groucho. Another feature of Marx Brothers movies was the inclusion of
music. In all of the movies you could always count on a musical number or
two to give viewers a break from the comedy. Many times the brothers would
also be involved in playing or singing in the musical performances.
For
more than twenty years the Marx Brothers was one of the leading acts in
Hollywood. However, audiences began to look for different types of
entertainment and the brothers popularity started to wane. The Story of
Mankind in 1957 was the last of the Marx Brothers 17 movies. After the
movie act broke up, the brothers continued to work in shows as a group, as well
as individual performances. One of Groucho’s most famous roles was as Host
of the television show You Bet Your Life. His trademark cigar always at his
lips and famous humorous one liners made this a classic TV show for many years.
The Marx Brothers was one of the first comedy acts in Hollywood and have
given us some of the funniest moments in cinema history. To help remember
the comic genius of the Marx Brothers, we have gathered a selection of resources
on the brothers:
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