Monkey Business
With the release of this particular film in 1931 (their third), it appears that The Marx Brothers had finally hit their stride when it came to their movie career, mostly due to a number of factors that were finally applicable here, up to and including 1) This film was conceived directly for the screen and not based upon any prior stage show as the first two had been, which leads into 2) There are no unnecessary musical numbers here especially ones involving supporting characters breaking out suddenly into spontaneous singing. 3) Zeppo was FINALLY allowed to play a real character here and it was a good one, that of the well dressed, strait laced debonair type who just so happened to be allied with these three other maniacs AND he gets to be the heroic romantic lead too! 4) The absence of Margaret Dumont playing the rich, haughty, older matron to Grouchoâs advances (a funny act to be sure, but also a repetitive and formulaic part of Grouchoâs routine), thus forcing him instead to work his charms on the younger and prettier Thelma Todd as a gangsterâs wife (a sad irony given her role here as Todd was later found to have died of carbon monoxide poisoning in her garage in what was said to be a staged suicide at the hands of organized crime types) even as Dumont would indeed return in later films. 5) For the first time, The Four Brothers are shown to be allied from the beginning instead of beginning the story as two separate factions (Groucho with Zeppo and Chico with Harpo) and itâs even very well possible that they could be playing four lunatic brothers although obviously thatâs not stated at all during the film. 6) With Zeppoâs greatly expanded role and Groucho forging new territory, Harpo is NOT required to carry as much of the movieâs zaniness even though he still manages to get in a number of great bits that are totally and uniquely him and finally 7) The movieâs running time is considerably shorter than the previous two which makes the pacing that much tighter in comparison. It also allows the movie to literally be split evenly in half for the two different scenarios which it presents. The first (and better) half showcases The Brothers as stowaways on a transatlantic cruise ship, a fact that makes them targeted by various members of the shipâs crew as they split up and scramble about desperately trying to find ways to fit in and hide in plain sight (with Groucho, Chico and Harpo dressed in their usual vaudeville clown costumes and Zeppo enjoying a distinct advantage wearing a suit and tie and looking much more presentable than they are). Groucho finds himself chasing Todd both in and out of her closet before her mobster husband shows up and offers Groucho a chance to be his hired gun to help him take out another gangster onboard the ship. Chico finds his way into the restaurant / lounge area where he gets his nails done and interferes with two old men engaged in a serious game of chess while always staying close to Harpo, who does his part by leading his pursuers into a Punch And Judy puppet show which he takes over (in front of a throng of cheering kids) before he and Chico impersonate the shipâs barber and sucker in a crew member (who doesnât recognize them) to sit in the barberâs chair as they carve down his long, thick handlebar mustache into an Adolf Hitler Special. As for Zeppo, he deftly hooks up with the first pretty girl he sees and (being dressed respectably and having a cute little escort at his side) does his best not to attract any attention. An irony that people donât realize today is that a lot of Zeppoâs rather muted roles in the films was due to the fact that on the stage he was actually Grouchoâs understudy (and was said to be just as quick witted and funny as Groucho was in front of an audience), possessing the ability to do up his hair and slap on the greasepaint moustache that Groucho was known for and NOBODY would know the difference between the two. But here, at least Zeppo gets to charm a girl and get a romantic thing going (except for when he tells her that âthe last thing in this world that I want to do is leave youâ before immediately jumping up and running away since a couple of the crew members have spotted him, leaving her sitting there by herself) which leads to the plot twist that the same girl is the daughter of the older, rival gangster that Toddâs husband who has conscripted Groucho to be a hired gun is looking to take out. In time, Zeppo joins Groucho as being âhired gunsâ for Toddâs husband while (in a strange twist of fate) the other gangster has somehow hired Chico and Harpo to be HIS bodyguards (a bad move since any little distraction causes Chico and Harpo to start following around somebody else instead until they finally realize that theyâre âguardingâ a complete and total stranger)! Eventually the ship arrives in New York City and The Brothers find a way off the ship (without passports) which sets up the second half of the film, a formal gathering being held by the father of Zeppoâs love interest (which Zeppo in a fancy tuxedo easily gets into) whereas Chico and Harpo are denied entry and have to sneak in while Groucho gets in through the back door where he hits on Todd some more, Chico gets to do one of his highly regarded piano numbers and Harpo (whenever he can be pulled away from chasing random women all over the place) does one of his big numbers on the harp (complete with a pet frog which heâs kept in his top hat the whole entire movie) before we get to the big climax where Toddâs husband kidnaps Zeppoâs love interest so that he can force her father to sign over his territories to him. This literally means that the ending involves The Marx Brothers having to come to somebodyâs rescue and actually be heroes, albeit through outsmarting the bad guys in their own clever way which includes having Chico and Harpo (having already subdued three goons) playing a âSpin The Wheelâ game which determines which of the three unconscious goons are going to sustain additional cheap shots from them and with which weapon. Meanwhile, Zeppo gets to be the action hero (of sorts), taking on Toddâs husband one on one in order to save his lady love all while Groucho situates himself in the rafters and engages in a mock play by play commentary of the fight as if he were calling an organized boxing match (complete with a break for a commercial plug). One can see why the country of Ireland outright banned this film (a ban that lasted all the way until 2000!) claiming that it promoted âanarchic tendenciesâ, surely a sign that The Brothers were doing something right with their style of humor, a style that can be broadly described as four crazed anarchists (each with their own look and type of personality) always finding ways to infiltrate the upper echelons of society perhaps knowing that theyâll never truly find a way to fit in or belong, but at least they are having a blast at the various stunned reactions of people (some being assholes, some not) to their insane (yet harmless) antics. But it is the fact that HERE they start the movie off as being a unified group and stay that way throughout the whole movie (and if the cast list is any indication, they are all playing themselves here and not any kind of specially named character whose very presence and purpose requires some kind of explanation) that might be the filmâs strongest quality, the fact that we have four subversively deranged figures (or not so subversively deranged in the case of Harpo) just raising hell and having a good time all while (even better) encountering certain types who think that they can play them as being either pawns or suckers (and getting more than they bargained for in the process) without actually deterring their âmissionâ of spreading their brand of lunacy to almost everybody that they meet (with varying results). THAT is what made The Marx Brothers special with special shame given to all comedy stars and performers in the future for never quite being able to recreate or at least bring the same kind of smooth style to these types of films in which the biggest secret ingredient to their success may actually be not putting too much thought into anything resembling a story or a plot and just letting your stars cut loose every chance they get to do basically whatever they feel like doing on camera. Thereâs a reason why by and large comedies donât win very many Oscars probably because of the fact that theyâre a completely different beast from the turgid dramas that are normally honored with the little gold statueâŚ
8/10