Laughing at us...

Rating: Null/10 (1 April 2010)

This concentrated dose of typically manic Marx lunacy is widely considered to be the high point of the brother's career, and it isn't difficult to see why. The daft (and incidental) storyline has Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) becoming ruler of Freedonia at the behest of Mrs. Gloria Teasdale (the redoubtable Margaret Dumont), who has been financially bailing out the principality for years and who has something of a soft spot for Firefly. The oily Ambassador Trentino of Sylvania (Louis Calhern), however, also has designs on Freedonia and Mrs. Teasdale, and before long the two nations are at war.
The Marx Brothers brand of comedy is something of an acquired taste, and this inspired lunacy is probably the best introduction possible to their work. Although poor Zeppo is still hanging around with nothing much to do (this was his last film), the musical numbers are short and kept to a minimum, and the pace never flags. Some of the sight gags perpetrated by Harpo and Chico – especially when tormenting the hapless Edgar Kennedy – are so fast that you are left as surprised as Kennedy is when he finds himself carrying Harpo's leg while trying to retain hold of his hat. I remember loving the Marx Brothers as a kid, but I was always a little wary of Harpo: those staring eyes and mute grins still put me in mind of a malevolent clown. In the real world his childish antics would earn him a swift beating, but in the world of the Marx Brothers he survives every (often mean-spirited) prank unscathed. While Harpo's abuse is physical, Groucho's is verbal. Both are relentless, and both leave their foils speechless with indignation. It's a routine that could quickly go stale were the quips and one-liners not so expertly written and delivered. And there never was a better foil than Margaret Dumont, with her pained reactions, and her unfailing ability to miss the fact that she is the butt of Groucho's jokes.
The film contains a wealth of classic moments, including the oft-copied mirror sequence in which Harpo, made up to look like Groucho, mimics his actions as he stands in a doorway and pretends to be a mirror reflection. The most sublime touch comes, not with each (mostly) well-timed mime, but when Harpo, copying Groucho, whips a white hat out from behind his back. Harpo points and laughs, but he's laughing at us as much as Groucho, because we saw that the hat was black when he originally walked into view and he knew we were expecting his ruse to be discovered when the hat was revealed. It's the subtle touches such as these, so far ahead of their time in the early thirties, which mark the Marx Brothers as one of moviedom's few acts of comedy genius.