Monkey Business (1931)
Directed by Norman Z. McLeod

Comedy / Adventure

Film Review

Abstract picture representing Monkey Business (1931)
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.
© James Travers 2009
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.

Film Synopsis

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...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.


Film Credits

  • Director: Norman Z. McLeod
  • Script: S.J. Perelman, Will B. Johnstone, J. Carver Pusey, Al Shean, Arthur Sheekman (dialogue)
  • Cinematographer: Arthur L. Todd
  • Music: John Leipold, Ralph Rainger
  • Cast: Groucho Marx (Groucho), Harpo Marx (Harpo), Chico Marx (Chico), Zeppo Marx (Zeppo), Rockliffe Fellowes (Joe Helton), Harry Woods (Briggs), Thelma Todd (Lucille), Ruth Hall (Mary Helton), Tom Kennedy (Gibson), Eddie Baker (Ship's Officer), Bobby Barber (Barber's Hoarse Customer), Billy Bletcher (Man in Deck Chair), Eddie Borden (Joe - Photographer), James Bradbury Jr. (Party Guest), Maxine Castle (Opera Singer at Party), Maurice Chevalier (Singing Voice), Davison Clark (Passport Official), Cecil Cunningham (Madame Swempski), Bobby Dunn (Gangster), Al Flosso (Punch and Judy Puppeteer)
  • Country: USA
  • Language: English
  • Support: Black and White
  • Runtime: 77 min

The very best sci-fi movies
sb-img-19
Science-fiction came into its own in B-movies of the 1950s, but it remains a respected and popular genre, bursting into the mainstream in the late 1970s.
The best French war films ever made
sb-img-6
For a nation that was badly scarred by both World Wars, is it so surprising that some of the most profound and poignant war films were made in France?
Continental Films, quality cinema under the Nazi Occupation
sb-img-5
At the time of the Nazi Occupation of France during WWII, the German-run company Continental produced some of the finest films made in France in the 1940s.
The best of Indian cinema
sb-img-22
Forget Bollywood, the best of India's cinema is to be found elsewhere, most notably in the extraordinary work of Satyajit Ray.
The very best of French film comedy
sb-img-7
Thanks to comedy giants such as Louis de Funès, Fernandel, Bourvil and Pierre Richard, French cinema abounds with comedy classics of the first rank.
 

Other things to look at


Copyright © filmsdefrance.com 1998-2024
All rights reserved



All content on this page is protected by copyright