1937 MGM
Warner Archive Blu-Ray Review
by Roy Frumkes
This is my favorite Marx Bros film from their MGM period. Of course all of them are worth owning – except ROOM SERVICE, which is stupefyingly terrible. A shame, since it co-starred Lucille Ball, who easily could have been the 4th Marx sibling, replacing Zeppo. But Harpo and Lucille did repair the damage somewhat when they performed the classic mirror routine from DUCK SOUP on an episode of I LOVE LUCY.
The quality of the new release is crisp and almost too sharp. On the other hand it’s also sexier than previous releases because you can (think you can) see a little more beneath Esther Muir‘s wardrobe, so I guess it’s a fair trade-off.
The Brothers whip up ensemble pieces galore. Groucho and Chico, Chico and Harpo, the four of them together. Stir in femme foil Margaret Dumont and you’re in for quite the treat. The silly MGM safety valve ‘B’ story line survives our wrath due to our generous acknowledgement that we paid a small price in the trade-off or we might not have gotten all the fun stuff. And while Chico’s ‘shooting the keys’ piano routines work quite well, Harpo’s harp solos do not. When I was a kid, those harp solos were like having to eat the green vegetables before moving on to the chocolate mousse.
Esther Muir’s femme-foil-fatale is somewhat overlooked. She has a large part and essays it with aplomb. I’ve included a series of four staged stills from one of their anarchic set-pieces which features her as well as the brothers. You can actually see it evolve. I stared at it for a long time, and I wasn’t done finding new delights when I was finally called away.
This digital release carries the now-familiar apology/explanation about using racial stereotypes. The ending of one scene where the brothers escape from the police in black-face has its moment of cringe-worthiness, but the big musical number stands the test of time as a well-cast, visually energized set-piece.
Comments