BEFORE: I think it's pretty obvious where I've been heading, to movie #2,000, and if it's going to be a Marx Brothers film, that might as well be "Duck Soup", which is generally regarded as their best film, and is also on that list of "1,001 Movies to See Before You Die", as well as the AFI's list of the "Top 100 American Movies", and also Entertainment Weekly's list of the "100 All-Time Greatest Movies".
However, there's a big problem - I don't have a copy. Turner Classic Movies ran a bunch of Marx Brothers films on New Year's Day, but not all of them. They ran the later ones, and not the early Paramount films - why? Who knows, such decisions are above my pay grade. But I'd rather not circle back here again, so I figured I'd obtain the missing key films somehow.
First attempt: Amazon Prime. My wife's got a membership, so signing in as her gets me access to free movies, a tactic I've used four or five times during the course of this project. Except they're not offering the older Marx Brothers films on Instant Video, except for "Duck Soup", and that one's not for free. Second attempt: Amazon's offering a DVD collection, called the Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection, with the three films I need - but that would take two days to reach me, and that would slow me down.
Third attempt: Barnes & Noble. After striking out at Best Buy (now, why did I think Best Buy would be interested in selling old black + white comedies?) I found the same Silver Screen Collection that Amazon sells for $13 at Barnes & Noble, for the low low price of...$60? That's $12 per film, for films that are 85 years old, and possibly out of copyright! How the hell do these brick-and-mortar stores stay in business, overcharging people like that? Don't they realize that Amazon is dramatically under-cutting them?
Fourth attempt: iTunes. Same problem with Amazon Prime, they've got "Duck Soup" for sale there, but not the other two films I want to see, like "Monkey Business". I'm willing to pay a fair price to watch movies, but in order to do that, they need to be available. I don't support illegal downloading, either, but I've found today's film posted on-line, where I can view it for free. It's already there, so I don't feel guilty - after all, it's the responsibility of the film's distributor to make sure it's not online for free if it's not supposed to be, a service I carry out for my employer. Yes, I'm a YouTube hatchet-man.
Sure, I could have just moved on from the Marx Brothers to the next set of films, but that would leave some films unwatched, and again, I don't want to have to circle back this way with more follow-ups. And then I'd need to find another big film for Movie #2,000 - easily done, since the next topic is Laurence Olivier, and his version of "Hamlet" would qualify, but I'd still rather finish one chain before moving on to the next.
THE PLOT: On a transatlantic crossing, the Marx Brothers get up to their usual antics and manage to annoy just about everyone on board the ship.
AFTER: This is the second film with the Marx Brothers stowing away on an ocean liner, though "A Night at the Opera" came after this one, so this is really their first use of that plot point. Apparently it's very easy to stow away aboard a ship, but our mixed-up bunch then faces a more difficult problem - how do they get OFF the boat, without having passports or being on the passenger roll? By this point, they've caused enough trouble on board that the crew members all know them by sight, so they've got to get creative.
Before that, however, two of the brothers get hired as muscle for a gangster, and the other two brothers get hired to defend the gangster that the first gangster wants to bump off. Geez, I didn't realize so many gangsters took fancy cruises. This puts the brothers at odds with each other, but Groucho's character has an easy solution - instead of hiring four guys, one gangster should just pay his own bodyguards to beat himself up, thus saving money.
I'm finally starting to see how influential the Marx Brothers were - Harpo takes every opportunity during this film to chase women around, especially maids and nurses. This reminded me of all of those chase scenes on the "Benny Hill" show where he'd be chasing women in short skirts or maid outfits, before they'd lose said outfit with the help of a wayward tree branch or something. I can also see how many of their routines were lifted for Looney Tunes or Tom & Jerry cartoons - especially ones where Bugs Bunny or Tom played the piano. Of course, I never made the connection to Chico Marx when I was a kid. Come to think of it, nearly all of Bugs Bunny's mannerisms, including his accent, now seem like they came straight from Groucho - he just held a carrot instead of a cigar.
I have to say I'm disappointed there weren't any monkeys in the film - after all, there was an opera in "A Night at the Opera", and races in "A Day at the Races", and there was even a horse at the end of "Horse Feathers". So, where were all the monkeys? Couldn't they have had the climactic end fight scene in a zoo, instead of in a barn? Some writers just have no imagination.
Also starring Harry Woods (last seen in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"), Thelma Todd (also carrying over from "Horse Feathers"), Rockliffe Fellowes, Ruth Hall (last seen in "How to Marry a Millionaire"), Tom Kennedy (last seen in "She Done Him Wrong"), Ben Taggart (also last seen in "Horse Feathers"), Cecil Cunningham (last seen in "The Awful Truth").
RATING: 3 out of 10 pickle barrels
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