VICTOR HEERMAN

Bil’s rating (out of 5):   BBBB

USA, 1930.  Paramount Pictures.  Screenplay by Morrie Ryskind, Continuity by Pierre Collings, based on the musical play by George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby.  Cinematography by George J. Folsey.  Music by Max Reese.  Production Design by Ernst Fegte.  

After a rough start in movies with The Cocoanuts, the fantastic Marx Brothers adapted another one of their popular plays and turned it into this rib-tickling comedy. Groucho plays a safari explorer who is honoured as the guest of a society matron (Margaret Dumont) when she hosts a weekend party for her friends. Meanwhile, the exhibition of a rare painting provides for the central activity when two forgers switch the original for a copy and then the copy gets switched for another copy. Chico and Harpo provide the antics, Zeppo provides the romance, and Groucho provides the incomparable wit that only he could pull off. The stuff would get even better with Horse Feathers and Duck Soup, but this is still a fantastic experience for Marx Brothers fans.