 Monkey Business
Chico Marx (left) and Groucho Marx (right) in Monkey Business. Introduction: For some reason, it's taken me this long to finally see The Marx Brothers' Monkey Business. It's even more surprising considering that this film is featured in Terry Gilliam's Twelve Monkeys, which I've seen countless times. (I could hear Brad Pitt chanting "No more monkey business! No more monkey business!" as I watched this.) But now that I have finally seen it, this is definitely not one of their films to miss. The gags are hilarious as usual. Plot Summary: The plots were never important in a Marx Brothers movie, because they always play second fiddle to the gags and the (usually groan-inducing) musical performances. The story involves the usual Marx Brothers crew (plus Zeppo) who are stowaways on a high class ocean liner. One of the crew knows there were four of them hiding in the cargo deck. How did he know there were four of them? Because they were singing a barbershop quartet tune. The search is on to capture them and lock them in the brig, but their chaos, confusion and hijinx gets them out of every situation! Commentary: It'd probably be bad form for me to divulge too many of the jokes here (not that I remember each and every one of them ... there's literally hundreds of them that are funny), but I can tell you that they are all very funny. The thing about The Marx Brothers in their prime was that they were apt to produce a joke-per-minute that still manages to work to this day. It's not the dated humor, but the well-timed slapstick, goofy puns and hilarious mayhem all done to the expense of anyone who happens to be around. This is also the film that marks the beginning of their 'cream of the crop' era. They still seemed like they were running up the hill in their previous film, Animal Crackers, but they seem very comfortable here and nearly every gag works. They would go onto make Horsefeathers, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races. They were absolutely unstoppable during this period (1931-1937) ... they reigned post-silent era comedy! It's tough to pick a favorite scene in here, but one that comes to mind is the part in which the brothers manage to snatch Maurice Chevalier's (not pictured) passport. They don't have their own passports, and they need one to get off the ship. One after another, all four try to fool customs with very poor Chevalier imitations! This is a very basic and textbook comedic principle of repetition, and it's brilliant! (Harpo comes close, but he's caught with a record player strapped to his back. But he still gets away because he throws papers in the air and goes crazy with one of the custom stamps.) I found out later that this was a sequence done in their stage show, which is what they were doing before talkies came about. Naturally, the film works because of the performances. Harpo's miming is always charming, and Chico is his always confused accomplice. It's no surprise that Groucho is the funniest of them all... he could do wordplay and slapstick masterfully. Zeppo, as you probably know, is the only 'straight' Brother, and he doesn't always come to mind when you think of the "Marx Brothers." He does end up playing a more pivotal role in this movie compared to the more minor ones he would play later, and his involvement in Monkey Business is in a comedic vein. He doesn't have too many of the jokes (as the straight character), but he does have one of the most memorable moments ... he speaks to a love interest about how he 'wants to stay with her forever,' but then danger comes and he immediately runs off! Concluding remarks I love the Marx Brothers, and the comedy has not dated with age whatsoever. OK, the humor isn't on the same level as Austin Powers in Goldmember, but that's a GOOD thing. This is real comedy, kiddos. Take a look. Date reviewed: April 2, 2007 FINAL SCORE: A-
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