|
Monkey Business (1931)
In the Marx Brothers' third film - and their first
film made in Hollywood (and their first film from an original screenplay):
- the classic opening scene of the four stowaway brothers
(as Themselves) harmonizing and singing "Sweet Adeline" in
barrels located in the forward hatch of an Atlantic-crossing ocean
liner - labeled Kippered Herring ("This is the only way to
travel, boys. The only way"), but a crew member had earlier
reported: ("Sorry to have to report there are four stowaways
in the forward hatch....They were singing Sweet Adeline")
- the scene of Groucho's impersonation of the ship's
Captain Corcoran (Ben Taggart), and phoning for lunch (and dinner):
("Hello. Send up the captain's lunch... Send up his dinner,
too. Who am I? I'm the captain. You want to choose up sides? Oh,
engineer, will you tell them to stop the boat from rocking? I'm gonna
have lunch") because he hadn't eaten in three days (although
they had only been on the boat for two days): ("I didn't eat
yesterday. I didn't eat today, and I won't eat tomorrow. That makes
three days")
- Harpo's pretense of being a puppet and delighting
an audience of children during a Punch and Judy show
- the very funny barbershop scene when Chico and Harpo
impersonated the barber and shaved off ('snoop off') the entire long
handlebar mustache of one of the ocean liner's crew members, who
requested:
"Give me a once-over": (Chico: "We take care of you,
all right. We take the tonsils last. I think we work on the mustache
first. Give him a little snoop. This side's too long. Give him a little
snoop this side. Now this side is too short. It's too short. The other
side is too long. Snoop him up. That's better, but the side that was
too short now is too long and the side that was too long is too short.
I think you got to give him one more snoop. I think we better measure.
It's about a foot too much. No, the measure's a foot too much. Now
it looks much better. It can stand one more snoop in the middle, I
think. In the middle, one snoop. That's fine. That's very good. I think
it's a little bit rough right here. I fix that....One more snoop. That's
beautiful, eh? That's what you call a work of art. Hey, you know, I
think you give him one snoop too much")
Barbershop Scene
|
|
|
- the most famous scene after the ocean liner docked
in New York City - of all the Marx Brothers unconvincingly impersonating
(dressing with a straw-hat) and all using the stolen passport (by
Zeppo) of well-known French actor/singer Maurice Chevalier when
leaving the luxury ship and trying to evade customs, almost successfully
accomplished by Harpo with a Victrola on his back playing Chevalier's
hit You
Brought a New Kind of Love to Me
- Groucho's tango with bootlegging gangster "Alky" Briggs'
(Harry Woods) wife Lucille Briggs (Thelma Todd) (on board the ship
in her stateroom) when he offered to polish her frame and oil her
joints: ("Well, we can clean and tighten your brakes, polish
your frame and oil your joints, but you'll have to stay in the
garage all night")
- and later, his attempted flirtatious romancing of
her: ("Oh, I've dreamed of a night like this, I tell you. Now,
you tell me about some of your dreams....Oh, why can't we break away
from all this, just you and I, and lodge with my fleas in the hills?
I mean, flee to my lodge in the hills"); when she replied: "Oh,
no, I couldn't think of it," he tried to persuade her further:
("Don't be afraid. You can join this lodge for a few pennies.
And you won't even have to take a physical examination - unless you
insist on one"); he was encouraged when she told him that she
didn't trust her husband: ("What a swell home life I've got.
Why, I think I'd almost marry you to spite that double-crossing crook");
the scene was topped by Groucho's offer: ("Mrs. Briggs. I've
known and respected your husband Alky for many years, and what's
good enough for him is good enough for me")
|
Four Stowaway Brothers
Groucho Impersonating the Ship's Captain
Harpo in Puppet Show
Impersonating Maurice Chevalier
Groucho's Tango with Lucille
Further Romantic Flirtations with Lucille
|