Animal Crackers (1930)
NETFLIX SYNOPSIS: Groucho Marx plays African explorer Capt. Spaulding, who’s just returned to the states to inflict comic carnage on the highfalutin party of society matron Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont). Groucho regales the partygoers with tales of his adventures in the wild (“I shot an elephant in my pajamas; how he got there I’ll never know” and so on). Meanwhile, Harpo chases blondes, and Chico connives.
REVIEW: When one thinks of the Marx Brothers, many words come to mind, most notably “zany” and “madcap.” Unfortunately, one of the words isn’t necessarily “funny.” Although the Marx Brothers deserve credit for setting the bar for movie comedies for years to come, that bar has been far eclipsed in later years, to the point where some of the Marx Brothers routines (unlike those of Charlie Chaplin) are almost painfully awkward to watch. As the frontman of the Marx Brothers, Groucho always demands our attention, yet unfortunately there are many excruciatingly long scenes in this film (like the first MB feature film The Cocoanuts) with no Groucho, and therefore nothing to see.
The technical aspects of the film can be daunting as well — obviously there have been many advances in filmmaking over the years but there seems to be no excuse for the constantly out-of-focus cinematography. The camera is so jittery and constantly moving in some scenes that I just assumed the cameraman was drunk, or it seemed that way anyhow. My three stars comes from my respect for the groundbreaking comedic efforts of Groucho and his sidekicks, and for the terrific musical number “Hooray for Capt. Spauling” (most people will recognize the lyrics “Hello I must be going!”).
Three stars
HAWK
