Remember, You're Fighting For This Woman's Honour, Which Is Probably More Than She Ever Did

Rating: 8/10 (14 February 2008)

The neighbouring countries of Freedonia and Sylvania are poised on the brink of war, but wealthy socialite Mrs Teasdale plans to stabilise the situation by appointing the popular Rufus T. Firefly as president. But is he really the right man for the job ...
This is one of the best films of the thirties, one of the greatest comedies ever made and my favourite Marx Brothers movie. It differs from their others in that it has no romantic leads, no piano/harp interludes or any other interruptions - it's just sixty-eight minutes of unfiltered lunacy and the gags, puns, pratfalls, one-liners and satire just keep coming. Some movies do not age well, but this oldie (seventy-five years at the time of writing) is timeless and hilarious; its mix of bizarre jokes and social dysfunction scenes anticipates post-modern comedy (e.g. Monty Python's Life Of Brian) and is a hoot from start to finish. Trust me, if you don't find this film funny (like my wife) you really need to stop taking life so seriously. Groucho is just the perfect joker here, with his non-stop nonsense monologues, razor-sharp cutbacks and charming whimsy ("Go, and never darken my towels again !"). Chico and Harpo are both wonderful as the Sylvanian spies, and Calhern is terrific as the stiff-backed, exasperated Ambassador Trentino. Perhaps the funniest performance of all however is Dumont; she is fabulous in almost all the Marx movies, but this is her best - she plays it just perfectly straight, a comic foil who feeds Groucho exactly what he needs, takes all his whiplash quips on the chin and comes up a trouper. Dumont always claimed she didn't know what was happening but if you really watch her here she's doing an actor's toughest job; selling comedy payoff and doing it with fabulous style. For sheer entertainment value this movie is hard to beat - it has great musical numbers, wall-to-wall laughs, a hysterical plot and some classic comedy sequences, like Harpo's incredible mirror gag. It's also a terrific potshot at every deserving institution of authority you could care to mention, which is what real comedy should always be about. Written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, with additional material by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin. There are too many to pick from, but I think my favourite line is, "Three men and one woman are trapped in a building. Send help at once. If you can't send help, send two more women.". Lunatic genius.