Monkey Business

MONKEY BUSINESS was the first Marx Bros. film to be written directly for the screen and is outstanding.

This film is noticeably less stagy than their first 2 films which were in actuality just filmed versions of their hit Broadway plays. S.J. Perlman, one of the finest writers in America, was enlisted for the screenplay.

In this third film, the boys have stowed away on an ocean liner and have to race from stateroom to stateroom in order to keep from being clapped in the brig. Harpo gets involved with a Punch and Judy show and delights all of the kids on the vessel (as well as all the adults in the audience). The Marxes become embroiled with Fellowes and Woods, a pair of well-dressed and well-heeled gangsters.

Thelma Todd handles the female lead perfectly and many fans consider the stateroom scene between Thelma and Groucho to be the finest sequence in the Marx Bros. films. She also dances the tango well with Groucho.

In the finale, the daughter of one of the hoodlums is kidnapped and is being held in a barn. Zeppo goes after the tough hoodlum, while Groucho leaps from one bale of hay to another, offering one-liners as punctuation to the punches.

As with all Marx Bros. films, Chico tickles the ivories and Harpo plucks the harp and Groucho even gets in a guitar solo. All members of the supporting cast are as effective as they can be in the midst of the comedic cyclone.

Michael Heth

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