Animal Crackers (1930)

best movie i've ever seen.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Blistering performances.

Animal Crackers is a 1930 comedy film starring the Marx Brothers. The story begins with a lavish house party thrown by Mrs. Rittenhouse, a wealthy socialite. Included among those invited is Captain Spaulding, played by Groucho Marx, who is an explorer that has just returned from an African expedition and is the guest of honor. Also in attendance is a hired band, consisting of characters played by Harpo and Zeppo Marx. Chaos ensues as an expensive painting disappears and Captain Spaulding assists the police in solving the crime.This Marx Brothers film is hilarious at times, especially the first few scenes containing the Captain Spaulding character. Some of the comedic elements, such as the singing of the party guests when greeting Spaulding, are timeless. Each Marx brother is given an opportunity to show off their own style and talents. Masterful sleight-of-hand, musical ability, and mimery are all exhibited in this film.Unfortunately, not all of the jokes in Animal Crackers work. Some of the humor falls flat with a few bad puns, cringe-inducing slapstick, and a couple of back-and-forth quips that don't end soon enough. Spots of bad acting don't help the film, either. The movie is shot like a stage play, and the actors are acting as if they are in a play, usually facing forward. Most of the songs work well but a few don't, namely the butler's song. It would have been nice to see the music incorporated more into the comedy, as it was in the first act of the film. The introduction of Harpo's character is too chaotic and Looney Tunes-esque, not matching the tone of the rest of the film. Lastly, the movie suffers from a boring final act. The first act is great and the rest of the film declines afterward.Overall, Animal Crackers if a fun film. A couple of the songs, especially those involving the Captain Spaulding character, are great and memorable. The Marx Brothers really show off their talents throughout the story. This film is a good watch for any Marx Brothers fan, and there is still plenty of comedy that has aged well for everyone else.

The second Marx Brothers talkie film shares quite a few features with their first film: "Cocoanuts". Both were adaptations of recent Broadway shows starring the Marx Brothers. Both were filmed in Paramount's Astoria Studios, in Astoria, Queens, N.Y.. Subsequent films of the series would be filmed in Hollywood. Margaret Dumont plays a wealthy socialite in both films, and something very valuable is stolen either from her or in her house, and the remainder of the film is mostly about finding and recovering this item. In both, Harpo comes up with the missing valuable. In both, there is a young romantic couple, who sing at least one song, and are awaiting an opportunity for the man to prove himself in his profession before they can get married. To me, "Cocoanuts" is the more interesting film of these two and has a more coherent plot. Next to "Room Service", this is my least favorite of the brothers films. The disappearance and reappearance of the various copies of the painting gets very confused and highly contrived after a while. Also, a lot of the humor is rather lame.The new musical numbers were composed by the team of Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar, who composed the new music for several others of the brother's films. They were honored in the 1950 film "Three Little Words", starring Fred Astaire and Red Skelton.

The Marx Brothers' second movie is one of their funniest, despite suffering from some of the same limitations of the early sound era as their first film, The Cocoanuts. It's a great movie with the Marx Bros. at their zany best. Groucho is Captain Spaulding, Chico is Signor Emanuel Ravelli, Harpo is The Professor, and Zeppo is....well, who cares who Zeppo is? He actually gets a funny scene in this movie, taking dictation from Groucho. That's uncommon as he was usually just the straight man. The movie's plot, such as it is, revolves around a painting stolen at a party thrown by a rich dowager (Margaret Dumont) for famed explorer Capt. Spaulding. The guys are all funny and the movie's full of memorable sketches, songs, and one-liners. Lllian Roth is enjoyable as half of the obligatory romantic subplot. That's a rarity for the Marx Bros. movies, where typically the two young people shoehorned in for a romantic subplot are the worst part of the picture. Roth's charming presence makes it more bearable this time. Special mention to the amazing Margaret Dumont, who was a vital part of the success of the best Marx movies. Here she even gets to do some physical comedy in a hilarious scene with Harpo.I love the Marx Bros' Paramount films for their energy and eccentricities. From this movie until Duck Soup, the boys were at their best, in my opinion. Yes, they made some good ones after that but they were more polished and structured than the Paramount movies. Animal Crackers is a classic with many great jokes and routines, including "Hello I Must Be Going," breaking the fourth wall, the bridge scene, "elephant in my pajamas" and pretty much every line of dialogue Groucho has.

"One night, I saw 'Animal Crackers' in my pajamas ... how they got in my pajamas I don't know." Logically, the film would need one second viewing before the reviewing, there are so many elements to view and to review, but it doesn't matter, I just want to say that I liked what I viewed and now I review what I liked.This "Animal (Wise)Crackers" film delivered everything I expected from the Marx Brothers, no more, no less, and it was nice to see them all looking young, comfortably irreverent in their early forties, I'm talking physical, not mental age, of course. And what a delight to see the movie illuminated by the towering and exquisite presence of the divine Margaret Dumont, the straightest and funniest 'straight man' of comedy, even more than the not-so-funny-even-as-a-straight-man Zeppo Marx. With all due respect for the little bro, I've always thought he was less funny (even unintentionally) than the other unsung Marx, named Karl. And Margaret Dumont is one of the reasons, I love watching a Marx Brothers' comedy … yeah talk about a lousy pleonasm … "You mind if I'm serious a little bit, now?" There's something very touching in Margaret Dumont's eyes, here playing Mrs. Rittenhouse, a kind of inner kindness that I noticed in a few other actresses, among them, the late Patricia Neal. Mrs. Dumont is obviously a good-hearted woman, whose constant teasing by Groucho Marx, here as the unbearable Professor Spaulding makes the game look a little unfair. But she obviously doesn't get his wisecracking jokes (she never did for that matter) and I think this is what saves Groucho from being labeled as a verbal bully: his delivery is so fast, and his intentions so unclear, Mrs. Dumont never has time to get if he's making jokes or moves at her, who knows? Maybe he does have a fondness for her, after all. Anyway, the Groucho-Dumont interactions are the salt that gives the Marx Brothers' film their unique flavor, the pepper being served from the Zeppo-Chico duo … and boy, did I sneeze in this film! The slapstick humor involving the scenes with Chico and Harpo are unique in the history of cinema, the part where he's looking for a 'flash' is an endless succession of gags, and whenever I thought, they would run out of ideas, it's still goes on and on… and Harpo's suit is like a Pandora' box from which the mayhem that inhabits the film makes its unpredictable entrance. Not to mention the sumptuous "running gag" with the blonde girl that has probably been an inspiration for Benny Hill. Chico and Harpo are like the missing link between Groucho and Chaplin, between the comedic silent era and the precocious dawn of the impertinent wisecracking comedy that has inspired Bugs Bunny or Robin Williams. The movie is an explosive cocktail of slapstick, parody, verbal comedy, from beginning to end and it's so quotable; I could fill this whole review just by listing the lines I loved the most.But sometimes, the film loses its flavor … and it's my small, tiny, microscopic criticism, perhaps ... why do they feel the need to inject an artificial romance every time, except maybe for "A Night at the Opera", most of them were pretty dull, featuring very uncharismatic actors. Well it's not their fault, every actor would pale in comparison with the Marx brothers, except Margaret Dumont who had the honor to be Groucho's official foil and was –as I said- even more memorable than Zeppo Marx himself. But well, even acting-wise, the other actors are all very theatrical and so melodramatic that we can't wait for a Marx brother to come ... the Marxes were great actors, and Groucho is so fresh and modern, he's like a living anachronism. His entrance as the Professor Spaulding followed by the unforgettable "Hello, I Must be Going" song, the 'Hungadunga' dictation scene, the recitation of the African odyssey, featuring one of the most unforgettable comedic quotes, I don't know how many times they shot this scenes without having one of the audience bursting out laughing. For me, any Marx Brothers' film scene should feature one of them, and during the 'romantic' moments, I simply wanted to shout "Let me know, when you come near a gag!" And that's why, Duck Soup is probably considered the greatest, and happens to be my favorite Marx Brothers' film, a screwball comedy, from A like Amusing to Z like Zany, with no pause, no romantic subplot, not even these serious musical scenes ... I'm not talking about these catchy Broadway-type songs that reminded us that the Brothers' were also great musical writers, don't get me wrong, Chico at the piano, and Harpo at you-know-what, are always great moments and necessary pauses to recover your breath, and in the case of "Animal Crackers", the music was punctuated with Spaulding's hilarious comments anyway, but that's what the latest films lacked, when the musical scenes were just fillers as artificial as the romantic subplots … So, my little regret is that the best Marx Brothers' film I saw, was the first. I always compare them to "Duck Soup" and I'm afraid I will never have the same ecstatic reaction the film inspired me. Enthusiastic, yes, ecstatic, no ... "Animal Crackers" is now, my second favorite Marx Brothers film though and highly recommended for the fans of slapstick and irreverent comedy