Director: Victor Heerman

Screenwriters: Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, George S. Kaufman, and 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 have already seen the group’s last three Paramount films, so logically this one was next.

Why Animal Crackers? I used to always eat animal crackers as a kid, so I’m interested to see why this film is titled like them (or is it the other way around?). This is also one of two films based off the Brothers’ Broadway shows, so I’m interested to see how it compares to the latter films.

What Do I Know About the Marx Brothers (Now)?  Funny guys. Pretty good.   I think there’s three of them. And a guy named Zeppo. He’s cool. A little bit more adult-oriented humor than those other stooges. Perfect for days like these.

Post-Screening Synopsis:

During an elaborate party held for Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding (Groucho), who recently returned from an exploration in Africa,  a valuable painting set to be unveiled is stolen, causing mayhem and confusion throughout the large mansion.

Praise:

I read after the screening that this film was based on a Broadway production that also starred the Marx Brothers. I think that showed in the construction of this film. It felt like all the aspects were well worked on, not hastily put together. This film felt like an adaptation of a musical play, down to the single, large mansion set that would work perfectly on stage.

There was the main plot, and while there were also some side gags, they all ended up relating to what happened with the stolen painting.  The music had a very Broadway feel to it, professionally sung and coming across with energy and wit, serving to accompany the story rather than slow it down.

And the side characters actually mattered! They almost had as much screen time as the three main Marx Brothers (sorry Zeppo), and characters like Arabella Rittenhouse (Lillian Roth) and John Parker (Hal Thompson) has story lines that were integral to the plot of the film. In a modern example, it’s like making Elizabeth Swann(Keira Knightley) and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) as important as the goofball Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. The whole picture benefits from it.

So how were the brothers this time around? 

They best they’ve been.

Groucho is a force of nature, a famed captain named Jeffrey Spaulding (he even has a song about him), revered for his explorations in Africa (any type of political correctness is thrown out the window, marking this a definitive pre-code film). A sly man and serial womanizer, the character commands every scene he’s in, each of his line feeding in to a new play-on-words or innuendo. And in a unique addition to this film, Spaulding has a few asides, directly addressing the audience in parodies of the words of Ernest Hemingway. It’s all very meta.

 Chico plays Signor Emanuel Ravelli, an Italian man hired to play music for the celebration, harboring a mysterious past as well. It’s a very similar character to his other ones, but it works well here, and features all of his signature bits, from the street-wise knowledge to the slightly criminalistic tendencies, and an extended, memorable session on the piano (to the point that the other characters comment on how long it is).

Harpo may be the most surprising in this film. His character, The Professor, is also admired, a person of distinguished social standing as opposed to Harpo’s more tramp-like roles. The Professor is really adept at playing the harp (is that where the name “Harpo” came from?), and contains a mischievous (and dangerously misogynistic) streak that goes way beyond other cinematic instances. He’s a different character for Harpo, but equally as memorable.

Comments:

I do wish Zeppo was more in this film. At first I expected him to be the true romantic interest for Arabella, but that role ended up staying with John Parker (who turned out to be a nice partner for her). Zeppo served as Spaulding’s secretary, Horatio Jamison, which meant that whenever he appeared on screen, which was only a handful of times, he was usually overshadowed by the captain. It didn’t ruin the film for me, but I think they could have done more with his character. At least he would go on to have expanded roles in the later films.

Verdict:

I love this film! It’s my favorite so far of this collection. Witty, tight, and just the right pace, this picture showed the brothers at the height of their abilities (in my opinion).