Monkey Business (1931)

Monkey Business is an American adventure film first released in 1931, directed by Norman Z. McLeod.  The film stars Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx and Rockliffe Fellowes.  Our overall rating for this film is: very good.


Four brothers, Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo, stowaway on a ship bound for New York.  As they try to elude the ship’s First Mate, the brothers find themselves embroiled in the machinations of two rival gangs.  Groucho takes a liking to an attractive young woman named Lucille, not knowing that she is married to the notorious gangster Alky Briggs.  Meanwhile, Harpo takes over a Punch and Judy Show and has a great time chasing young females all over the ship.  The enterprising Chico finds work as a bodyguard to bootlegger Joe Helton, whose daughter attracts the attention of the incurably romantic Zeppo.    Having reached New York, the brothers attend a party at Helton’s house in Long Island, where Briggs intends to abduct Mary.  Fortunately, Groucho and his brothers are on hand to enliven a dull soiree and scupper the gangster’s fiendish plans...



Monkey Business, the Marx Brothers’ third film, differs from their first two in that it was an original work, not based on a show they had previously performed on stage.  This is significant because this is the first time we get to see the Marxes as they are best remembered, completely unfettered and knocking out one stunning gag after another in a frenzy of wild anarchic fun.  Although the Marxes would make better films in subsequent years – including the all-time classics Duck Soup (1933) and A Night at the Opera (1935) – Monkey Business is the film that features their funniest and most inspired comedy routines.

Admittedly, the plot is next to non-existent and the characters are absurd caricatures of the familiar Hollywood types (mostly played by individuals with minimal acting skill), but who cares?  With Groucho performing verbal gymnastics of the kind that ought to be an Olympic sport and his brothers applying their own individual skills to the cause of comedy, who can complain?   The film is stuffed with so many great gags that no one can resist liking it.

The best remembered routine is the one where the four brothers take it in turn to impersonate the French chansonnier Maurice Chevalier, each singing a line from one of his songs (which presents a small problem for Harpo who, as we all know, never speaks).  Other highpoints include the barber’s shop gag, in which Chico’s attempt to direct Harpo in shaving a moustache ends in disaster, and Harpo’s Punch and Judy routine (which is so hilarious and weird that you just have to rewind the tape/DVD and watch it again).  This is comedy at its most inspired and unpredictable; no wonder the film was a phenomenal success.  The Marx Brothers certainly knew their trade.

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