His trademark glasses and mustache are symbols of irreverence and inspired lunacy. In 1984 the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History acquired one reel of home movies of Groucho and his family as part of a substantial collection of personal papers, photographs, scrapbooks, recordings, and kinescopes from the Groucho Marx estate. Thought to be filmed in part by Zeppo, the movies were made between 1929 and 1934, the period during which the Marx Brothers skyrocketed to fame.
Home movies offer an intimate look at history.
The points of view they offer are remarkably personal. Groucho playing football. Included are scenes of Groucho gardening, a beach party with the family, Groucho's wife and children, shots of Chico and Harpo, and even Groucho chatting with Gary Cooper at a lakeside resort. These home movies offer a private, at-home glimpse of the comedian who the public always saw with the mustache and glasses. Prompt preservation will help this film survive and be enjoyed at the National Museum of American History's Archives Center by generations of new Groucho fans and scholars.