Monkey Business (1931)

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod. Starring Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Thelma Todd, Zeppo, Harry Woods, Tom Kennedy, Rockliffe Fellowes, Ruth Hall, Cecil Cunningham.

Third Marx Brothers film, and first to be written directly for the screen (the work of several writers and contributors); story is thin even by their zany standards, very loosely involving rival gangsters, with Zeppo wooing the daughter (Hall) of one and Groucho hurling double entendres and come-ons at the wife (Todd) of the other. Sustained madhouse humor all the way to the last fifteen minutes; although the comic momentum ebbs down the home stretch, it’s still good fun throughout. Todd is an adequate stand-in for the “Margaret Dumont-type”, but the exasperation isn’t as inspired. Highlights include Maurice Chevalier impersonations; puppet show slapstick; “With a little study, you’ll go a long ways, and I wish you’d start now”; many more. Sam “Frenchie” Marx, seen in a brief cameo on a pier, is the comedy team’s father.

78/100