Director:Robert Florey, Joseph Santley

Screenwriters: George S. Kaufman (play), Morrie Ryskind

Produced by: Paramount Pictures

Starring: The Marx Brothers

Why Now? With all the unrest and problems in the world these days, we could all use a little bit of comedy in our lives to keep us going. For the month of July, I wanted to watch some classic pre-code comedies in the vein of The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy, and now seemed to be the perfect opportunity to delve into the films of The Marx Brothers.  I’ve now seen the other four Paramount Marx Brothers pictures, so it’s time to delve into the one that started them all.

Why The Cocoanuts? This is the first Paramount picture starring the Marx Brothers,

and ironically, the last one I have yet to watch. I’m interested to see how the Brothers are in their first feature film. It’s also cool to see how this story comes across audibly, as this is one of the first full length “talkies” to be made in Hollywood (The Jazz Singer only came out two years before).

What do I Know About the Marx Brothers (Now)? At the height of their residence at Paramount, Groucho was a roast master, Chico was a sly Italian, Harpo was an unpredictable force to be reckoned with, and Zeppo was the shy nice guy. But this is the first time they truly appeared on the silver screen, so have they fully settled into their roles yet?

Post-Screening Synopsis:

The manager (Groucho) of a Florida hotel tries to keep his establishment from bankruptcy while a couple of tramps (Chico and Harpo) attempt to rob guests; A femme fatale and her con man attempt to steal the diamond necklace of one of the only paying residents in the hotel by  seducing the woman’s young daughter, who dreams of going off with a young architect. 

Praise:

Just like Animal Crackers, this film is based on a stage play, which provides it with a strong narrative and musical foundation. This may have been one of the first talkies, as well as the first Marx Brothers film, but it shows a strong understanding of what it is and what it wants to be. It’s well executed.

Groucho, Chico, and Harpo are all still the brightest moments in these films, and while they are much more “muted” than later entries, each character already has the basic foundational aspects that will make them memorable. The biggest difference here is that they all look so young!

And similar to the other adaptation, this narrative features other characters who have their own arcs and interesting songs. The con man and his proto-femme fatale as especially memorable for me, their sly deviousness hilariously contrasting the zaniness of the different Marx brothers.

While the overall film-making wasn’t particularly memorable one sequence in particular stands out, featuring back-and-forth action taking place in two adjacent rooms. What’s really cool, especially for the time this film was made, is how they show the gag: the two rooms make up each half of the screen, with the middle wall that connects both –looking like a vertical black strip across the screen– also separating them. I know later films and TV series do this often to show what characters are doing in different locations at the same time, but it’s really interesting to see it done in a film from 1929.

Finally, I want to comment on how unique the 1920s era was to the film. From the style of musical numbers, the almost silent dance numbers, the flapper girls, and the well-organized parties, this movie stands apart from all the other Marx Brothers films, which were only released the following year, but had completely different mise-en-scenes, indicative of the 1930s. This film, more than the others, truly felt like a memento of a by gone time, a snapshot into an era that I have only read about (or seen recreated in later films). It’s cool.

Comments:

I thought Zeppo was barely in Animal Crackers, and he even less present in this one. He only appears in a couple of scenes as the sleepy hotel concierge and doesn’t have much to do. Good thing he had his chance to shine in Monkey Business a few years later.

This didn’t bother me, but I did notice how crudely-made this film was compared to the later films. Fitting with other films in this era during the infancy of cinema, it was not completely seamless and did not feature particularly strong cinematography, almost cutting some of the actors off-screen (the rooms scene stand out).

Verdict:

I liked this film! It’s not as memorable as Animal Crackers or Monkey Business, but it is still a fun film featuring the young brothers in a twisty pre-code story.