http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022158/?ref_=nv_sr_2
The third Marx Brothers film is their best film yet. While the Paramount films are all billed "The Four Marx Brothers," MONKEY BUSINESS is the one film, more so than the others, where all four brothers, including Zeppo, are put to good use. The previous two films were a bit stage bound with static camera movement, but this film, with a script written for Hollywood and not the stage, plus being made in 1931 when sound films were rapidly advancing as far as their quick pacing goes, is a much better moving film, taking full advantage of the large ocean liner the brothers are on.
The opening scene cuts right to the chase, literally. All four brothers are stowaways on a ship and are hiding in barrels, only to be chased around the ship by the captain and his men. Again, I say all four brothers. The Marx Brothers in general don't usually all work together in scenes the way The The Three Stooges do, usually the comic scenes involve one brother or a combination of two. In MONKEY BUSINESS, all four brothers are in the barrel scene, all four are involved in the chase, all four get their own interpretation on Maurice Chevalier (a huge star of Paramount's at the time), and all four brothers are put to use in the barnyard finale.
Zeppo is given something to do as the romantic lead. He is not, thankfully, the stereotypical romantic lead. None of his scenes overstay their welcome, and he sings no distracting musical numbers. He also gets a few comic bits, something the average male lead would never get in these films. I'm referring to specifically him taking the handkerchief instead of giving it to his girl and him saying he'll never leave his girl, only to be whisked away seconds later. Zeppo is not the talent of his other three brothers for sure, but MONKEY BUSINESS proves he could have been more useful to the team if the writers gave him more of a chance. Imagine some of those later MGM's with a Zeppo like lead instead of what we actually got.
I did not watch the Marx Brothers much as a kid, but the one scene I do have memories of as a child is ironically the one where Harpo plays to children, and that would be the puppet scene. A truly classic bit of physical comedy where Harpo gets to make those great faces of his and work with future Stooge supporting player and Shemp partner Tom Kennedy. Add Harpo's complete breakdown in the Maurice Chevalier scene where he's ravaging through those papers like a lunatic and his reactions while accompanying that opera singer on the harp and this would have to be one of my favorite Harpo films.
One thing this film does not have is Margaret Dumont. Sounds bad so far, as she was very valuable to The Marx Brothers, but instead we go a different direction with Thelma Todd. She is equally as effective as Maragret Dumont, but in a different way. The differences are quite obvious. Margaret Dumont was a woman in her 50's and while attractive in her own way, it was a different kind of attraction than a twenty something "Hot Toddy" Thelma Todd. Ms. Dumont is somebody for Groucho to indulge his giggilo fantasies with, she's mature, worldly, and has money. Ms. Todd is somebody Groucho can indulge his physical desires for. You have eyes, I won't explain. Groucho invites Ms. Todd in the closet, cracks jokes of putting his hands all over her, and on two different occasions dances with her in a youthful manner that would not have worked with Ms. Dumont. Both female leads serve a different purpose the same way Symona Boniface and Christine McIntyre serves different purposes for The Three Stooges. Each team was better off having two different ladies to fill their respective roles.
A true comedy classic, 10/10 all the way. Paramount in general was the best comedy studio in the first half of the 30's if you throw in these Marx films, the W.C. Fields films, the Mae West films, and the more sophisticated Ernst Lubitsch stuff. Discover away if you haven't already.l
10/10
