Monkey Business (1931)
Country: US
Technical: bw 81m
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo, Thelma Todd
Synopsis:
Four stowaways get involved in a feud between rival gangsters by becoming their bodyguards.
Review:
A restlessly inventive - if patchily effective - comedy, that showcases the brothers at the height of their youthful vigour, and in which the archness of the puns is so extreme as to border on the surreal. Groucho is friskier than usual, given the eye-catchingly gowned Miss Todd; Chico's piano tune from Animal Crackers gets a second airing, this time on the harp; and Harpo just runs after anything in a skirt. An agreeable romp, with much of the running time taking place aboard ship; it puts the brothers together from the start but ultimately runs out of ideas, and ends as abruptly as it begins. Which is entirely apt.
Country: US
Technical: bw 81m
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo, Thelma Todd
Synopsis:
Four stowaways get involved in a feud between rival gangsters by becoming their bodyguards.
Review:
A restlessly inventive - if patchily effective - comedy, that showcases the brothers at the height of their youthful vigour, and in which the archness of the puns is so extreme as to border on the surreal. Groucho is friskier than usual, given the eye-catchingly gowned Miss Todd; Chico's piano tune from Animal Crackers gets a second airing, this time on the harp; and Harpo just runs after anything in a skirt. An agreeable romp, with much of the running time taking place aboard ship; it puts the brothers together from the start but ultimately runs out of ideas, and ends as abruptly as it begins. Which is entirely apt.
Country: US
Technical: bw 81m
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo, Thelma Todd
Synopsis:
Four stowaways get involved in a feud between rival gangsters by becoming their bodyguards.
Review:
A restlessly inventive - if patchily effective - comedy, that showcases the brothers at the height of their youthful vigour, and in which the archness of the puns is so extreme as to border on the surreal. Groucho is friskier than usual, given the eye-catchingly gowned Miss Todd; Chico's piano tune from Animal Crackers gets a second airing, this time on the harp; and Harpo just runs after anything in a skirt. An agreeable romp, with much of the running time taking place aboard ship; it puts the brothers together from the start but ultimately runs out of ideas, and ends as abruptly as it begins. Which is entirely apt.