I'm finished with Laurel and Hardy, and will now move on to the Marx Brothers! I had watched through all of their movies for the first time earlier this year, and found the Paramount period to be their best. The Cocoanuts is a stage adaptation of their Broadway play. Being an early talkie and being based on a play gives this movie a very stagey feel, though I am glad it was filmed so it can can be preserved. I only wish they also filmed I'll Say She Is. It's evident that the Marx Brothers were a team made for sound, as they have excellent verbal routines in this movie such as the why a duck scene. The opening scene in the hotel lobby is my favorite, and I can remember when I first watched it how much I liked Harpo. My favorite type of comedy is physical/slapstick, so Harpo is my favorite Marx. Then there's the auction scene where Chico is in on the job with Groucho, but messes up by making it so high that nobody will make a buy.
My main complaint of this movie was that Zeppo was hardly noticeable at all. What I think they should have done is just use him as the romantic lead, I mean most of their movies have romantic couples anyway, it would have been better if it was a Marx that was part of the story and not just some random actor. I don't think Zeppo would have wanted to just be the straight man, but he would have gotten more screen time if that was the case.
