Transcript: Marx Brothers Blu-rays: A Christian Perspective on Classic Comedy

Greetings, Classic Cinema TV fans. Jason back with you once again, bringing you another Retro Drive-In podcast. And today we're talking about one of my favorite comedy teams of all time. Now, and I love a lot of good comedy teams. I love my Three Stooges. Oh yeah. I love Laurel and Hardy. I really enjoy the Abbott and Costello. I love the Abbott and the Stella monster movies, they're so much fun. But I love all these great comedy teams, but one of my favorites also are the Marx Brothers. So we're talking about four brand new releases here today on the Retro Drive-In Podcast, so stay tuned. Be sure to like, share, and subscribe. All right, as we said, we're talking about the Marx Brothers. Now, the Marx Brothers consisted of Harpo, Chico, Groucho, the best. Well, that's debatable. Some people like him, like others. But anyway, and then Zeppo. Pretty fancy Monica there. And Zeppo was more or less the straight man, if you will. but the Marx Brothers were just so off the wall crazy. They had some of the best lines in cinema history. Some of those lines, when you watch these old films, you sit and you go, how in the world did they get away with the censors with this? Were the censors asleep? Did they not get the joke? or did they think that the audience would not get the joke? I don't know, but they had some really, really risque jokes in their comedy, in their movies. Sometimes you sit there and you go, I don't see how they got that passed. How did they get that passed? But they were, I don't know, they were just amazing. And we're talking about four brand new releases from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment from the Marx Brothers. Marx Brothers were just amazing. I think what I loved about the Marx Brothers was no matter how many times you watch their films, you can always find something else because they're so fast, right? Especially Groucho. Groucho was so fast. He would be building joke upon joke upon joke upon joke. And you were sitting there just getting one, and he was on to the next one, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one. And you were sitting there trying to digest this whole thing. And so there's so much there. You get Chico and you get Harpo with their amazing comedy, but beyond that, their ability to play some of the most amazing music. uh chico uh had the amazing ability to play that piano like nobody in the world i mean it was amazing and you had harpo play that harp uh that uh he played by ear and it was amazing i mean just you you think about It just spectacular They were just so much fun Well we got four brand releases here from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and we're going to tell you a little bit about them. The first one is the Marx Brothers' Coconuts. The Coconuts. The legendary Marx Brothers make their motion pictures debut with this outrageously funny adaption of their Broadway play, The Coconuts. Groucho portrays the owner of Hotel de Coconut, who tries to fleece everyone from innocent bellboys and bellgirls to wealthy socialite matron, Miss Potter. Interesting. Uh, Chico and Harpo, uh, play resort hotel con men who arrive with empty suitcases. They plan to fill, uh, by robbing the guests. All right. Uh, really interesting, um, um, film. This is one of their best. It really is. Um, Groucho in this, it's, it's on the back and we'll just say it, but this is pretty interesting. Groucho in the coconuts says, three years ago, I came to Florida. without a nickel in my pocket. Now I have a nickel in my pocket. Hilarious. This new Blu-ray release is simply amazing. Love to see these old films on Blu-ray. It features a commentary with film scholar Anthony Slide, and it has a bonus documentary, The Marx Brothers, Hollywood's Kings of Chaos. So there are the coconuts on Blu-ray. That is so cool. The next one, the Marx Brothers in monkey business. So cool. Iconic Marx Brothers head to the high seas in this outrageously funny monkey business. While hiding from the authorities on a luxury cruise ship, A quartet of stowaways inadvertently find themselves posing as bodyguards for rival gangsters. Pretty awesome. Love that. All right. Again, this is on Blu-ray, and it features a commentary with Marx Brothers historian and author Robert S. Bedar. I'm hoping I'm pronouncing that right. If I'm not, I apologize. And Bill Marx, the son of Harpo Marx, which is really cool. And the same documentary is found on this one as the previous release, which is the Marx Brothers, Hollywood Kings of Chaos. In monkey business, Groucho says, you call this a party, the beer is warm and the women are cold, and I'm hot under the collar. So pretty cool. Next one, Marx Brothers, Horse Feathers. All right. In this one, president of Huxley College and the fun-loving professor Wagstaff, played by Groucho, attempts to help his son Zeppo finally graduate after 12 years of arranging to buy professional football players for the upcoming game against the rival Darwin University. Of course the plan takes an unexpected twist However when the bootleggers Chico and dog catcher Harpo are mistaken for the athletes and accidentally hired This is a hilarious film. And the football scene, unbelievable. So much fun. Commentary with film critic FX Feeney. And, again, the documentary, Marx Brothers, Hollywood, Kings of Chaos in this one as well. Horse Feathers, he says, I married your mother because I wanted children. Imagine my disappointment when you arrived. Daggone. It's terrible. Horse Feathers. All right. And then, finally, we have Duck Soup. All right. Duck Soup, one of their best. Actually, all of them are great. I don't know if I can actually tell you which one is the best because they're all amazing. But anyway, in this one, Duck Soup, often referred as the comedy legend's funniest, as I said. But after being appointed dictator of Fredonia, Rufus T. Firefly, played by Groucho, proceeds to bring the mythical nation to a halt by showing up late and insulting everyone at his inauguration, hoping to oust the new unfit leader. Two spies, Harpo and Chico, are sent from the neighboring Sylvania. Soon enough, war is declared between the two nations and outrageousness results. Okay. Recognized by AFI as part of the 100 years and 100 laughs. So that's pretty epic. On Duck Soup, Groucho, one of his lines is, I could dance with you till the cows come home. On second thought, I'd rather dance with the cows till you come home. What? So anyway, but that was what made the Marx Brothers so hilarious was that, especially Groucho, he had those one-liners that were just like insane. Every time you turn around, he was something else. And that's what I said earlier on. They would build jokes, joke after joke after joke after joke after joke. And Groucho had that way to keep building those jokes, and that's why you have to watch these films several times to get them all sometimes, because it's like rapid-fire jokes, and they're just so much fun. These were where the Marx Brothers really shined, was in their early films. The MGM films are a lot of fun, too. Don't get me wrong. They're a lot of fun. And they are. They're still classic. And they're still amazing, but I don't know. There's something special about the early films. I think it's because – I don't know if they had free reign or not, but they felt like they had more free reign to build those jokes and to do things. and where it felt more structured maybe is the word from the MGM releases like the big store. They feel more structured like they being told what to do where this is just anarchy is what it feels like and that where they shine so much is in that anarchy where they just going and doing and carrying on, and just boom, boom, boom, boom, and it's just like, and these jokes are just flying at you like rapid fire, that's where they're really at their best, in my opinion, so this is really cool to see these releases uh coming out um and uh i'm just excited about it so uh yeah there you go so there's a look at the brand new releases from um from uh universal pictures home entertainment coconuts duck soup horse feathers and of course monkey business pretty awesome uh love that so So, yeah, that's just a little thoughts about the Marx Brothers. I really enjoy them. I like it. I like it. Harpo, amazing that he made a career and is so iconic and never spoke a word. His only connection to the audience, really, was with his eyes when he would beep that horn all the time and playing that amazing harp. I mean, that was his connection to the audience, and yet he is beloved, and he never spoke a word. And then, of course, Groucho, you couldn't shut him up. So it was amazing. They're so cool. Chico had that horrible, horrible accent, but it was so much fun. And Zeppo, of course, being the straight man, you need a straight man with all the chaos. And he did a great job. Well, I suppose you're right in the way, Warren. Sure, I'm right. I'm loving it. I'm loving it. I'm so glad to see the Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo getting a chance to shine on Blu-ray. I think that's so cool. So what's your favorite Marx Brothers films? Is it one of the Universal films, the early films, or do you like the MGM releases? Let us know what your favorite Marx Brothers film is. Let us know in the comments. We'd love to hear your thoughts on Marx Brothers. We're going to have full written reviews about all of these releases coming up at Classic Cinema Plus. If they're not there by the time we release this, if they are, we'll put links below. So be sure to check that out in case we get these releases done and full written reviews released. Then we'll put them down below. But check them out. If not, go to Classic Cinema Plus and check them out there when they go up. Be sure to follow us on all social media accounts. We would appreciate it. Be sure to follow us here and like, share, and subscribe. We would appreciate it. And we want to thank you for joining me today. I thank you so much for coming along as we just talk about the Marx Brothers. Let us know what your thoughts are on your favorite, and leave us a comment. We would appreciate it. Until we see you next time with another retro driving podcast, this is Jason reminding you that if you want to see a great film, check out a classic, something like the Marx Brothers. Such good stuff. Until we see you next time, have a blessed one. Bye. Thank you.