Discovering that Old Magic of the Marx Brothers (Tina Watts)
The old magic of the Marx Brothers was due to a lot of reasons, like time, place and the sheer genius of the team. Another reason that you might be surprised to find out about is the years of work the team went through, before they ever became popular on the big screen.
In 1923 the Marx Brothers had been performing all over the U.S. for 20 years. Some of them had staged shows by themselves while others had worked in groups. Their combined years on the road and the natural acting ability for slapstick and delivery of quick-witted lines, made audiences roar. It was a time of Vaudeville, where a lot of other later film stars got their start in show business. People like Bob Hope, and Milton Berle lit up the Vaudeville nights of the teens.
When Vaudeville was coming to an end because of the popularity of film, the Marx Brothers thought their career was finished too. Fortunately, that did not happen because theater owner Joseph Beury wanted to put on a stage show in Philadelphia. The show “I’ll Say she is” was a hit. Other hits included “The Cocoanuts” and “Animal Crackers” in 1928. Their talent and hard work allowed them to be able to work on movie production with “Cocoanuts” in the day, and “Animal Crackers” at night in the Vaudeville stage show. In 1929 when the stock market fell the financial fortunes of the brothers did as well.
The brother’s survival in the entertainment industry was because they were versatile in every sense of the word. Even though there were lots of changes over the years with theaters and writers, just to name a few, they became even more popular. A change over from the stage into movies was easy for them. Between 1929 until 1949 when their last picture “Love Happy” was made they made a total of 13 successful films. In fact even before their first hit in 1929 with “The Cocoanuts” they had a brief run in silent films with “Humor Risk”, but it wasn’t even released to the pubic to view.
The magic of their careers went on with TV too. Their primary work on it began after they ended their movie debut. All of the brothers appeared on a lot of different shows for TV, but Groucho was the one seen the most when the set was turned on. He appeared in the later years on talk shows, and worked on until 1976. During that time he hosted for 15 years a game show that a lot of people tuned into every week. Some of the tapes are still shown on TV specials even today.
Knowing the facts about the careers of the brothers, Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo doesn’t explain why they were so successful. It can only be understood by why they were popular, and endured in entertainment culture. Their little group gave a light to the difference in people’s personality, and did things in their slapstick routines that most of the audience really wanted to do to someone else. They took comedy and stretched it to go against social norms, and they made it funny.
Sadly, the Marx Brothers never got the attention they really deserved. At that time and for many years later they were viewed as risqué in Vaudeville, and later in films. By the time that Groucho appeared in the 1960s society was more excepting of his off color jokes, or implied antics. The pure comic genius was seen as funny only to a certain point, and never should it be practiced in polite society. All of the brothers played their part both onstage, film and TV. Groucho was the smart character, and the leader, but they knew how to use each personality to make a funny situation, even funnier. Harpo always had a way of making Groucho’s statements about a pretty girl hysterical by honking his horn.
Discovering the Marx Brother’s magic is really just finding your childhood, when statements were meant, and actions were intended. In the end enjoying their comedy is a return to the past, when things were clear, and comedy was real.
