Love Happy

Plot synopsis:
Private detective Sam Grunion (Groucho Marx) has been searching for the extremely valuable Royal Romanoff diamonds for eleven years, and his investigation leads him to a troupe of struggling performers, led by Mike Johnson (Paul Valentine), who are trying to put on a musical revue called Love Happy.
Grunion notes that the impoverished young dancers would starve were it not for the sweet, silent Harpo (Harpo Marx), at Herbert & Herbert, a gourmet food shop that also trafficks in stolen diamonds. Harpo kindly helps ladies with their shopping bags, all the while pilfering their groceries and stuffing them in the pockets of his long trench coat. When the elegant Madame Egelichi (Ilona Massey) arrives, store manager Lefty Throckmorton (Melville Cooper) tells her that "the sardines" have come in. Harpo sneaks into the basement and watches as Lefty lovingly unpacks a sardine can marked with a Maltese cross, and swipes the can from Lefty's pocket, replacing it with an unmarked one. Madame Egelichi, who has gone through eight husbands in three months in her quest for the Romanoff diamonds, is furious when Lefty produces the wrong can. When Lefty remembers seeing Harpo in the basement, she orders him to call the police and offer a $1,000 reward for his capture.
At the theater, meanwhile, unemployed entertainer Faustino the Great (Chico Marx) asks Mike for a job as a mind-reader, and when Faustino's clever improvisation stops the show's backer, Mr. Lyons (Leon Belasco), from repossessing the scenery, Mike gratefully hires him. Harpo, who is secretly in love with dancer Maggie Phillips (Vera-Ellen), Mike's girl friend, gives her the sardine can, and she says she will eat them tomorrow. A policeman sees Harpo inside the theater and brings him to Madame Egelichi, who turns Harpo over to her henchmen, Alphonse (Raymond Burr) and Hannibal (Bruce Gordon) Zoto. After three days of interrogation, Harpo still refuses to talk, and when he is left alone, he calls Faustino at the theater, using the bike horn he carries in his pocket to communicate. Madame Egelichi listens on the extension as Faustino declares that there are plenty of sardines at the theater, and she goes there at once.
Meanwhile, Mike has just finished telling the troupe that they do not have enough money to open when Madame Egelichi arrives and offers to finance the show. Mike cancels his plans to take Maggie out for her birthday so that he and his new backer can discuss the arrangements. In the alley outside the theater, Harpo, having escaped from Madame Egelichi's suite, finds the diamonds in the sardine can which had been set out for a cat, and puts them in his pocket. When he finds Maggie crying in her dressing room, Harpo takes her to Central Park, where he plays the harp for her and gives her the diamonds as a birthday gift.
On the opening night of the show, Grunion is visited by an agent of the Romanoff family, who threatens to kill him if he does not produce the diamonds in an hour. At the theater, Lefty and the Zoto brothers spy through a window as Maggie puts on the diamond necklace, but Mike asks her not to wear it, promising to buy her an engagement ring instead. As they kiss, Maggie removes the necklace and drops it on the piano strings. The curtain goes up, and when Harpo sees Lefty and the Zoto brothers menacing Maggie, he distracts them with a piece of costume jewelry and leads them up to the roof. Meanwhile, on stage, Faustino plays the piano, and when he strikes the keys forcefully, the diamond necklace flies into the air, drawing the attention of Madame Egelichi, who is watching from the audience. Faustino pockets the diamonds, then rushes to the roof to help Harpo. Madame Egelichi shows up with a gun and demands the necklace, but Faustino gives her the fake diamonds. After tying up Lefty and the Zotos and recovering the real diamonds, Harpo encounters Grunion, who has been hiding on the roof. Harpo drops the diamonds in Grunion's pocket, but then steals them back as Madame Egelichi begins to lead the detective away.
Later, in his office, Grunion comments that Harpo disappeared with the diamonds, never realizing their true value. Grunion interrupts his story to take a phone call from his wife, who turns out to be the former Madame Egelichi.

Tags: humor

Review:
Groucho was never supposed to be in this film, but the sponsors said that they wouldn't release it unless he was, so that they could bill it as a "Marx Brothers" picture.
Since most Marx fans are Groucho fans first, Chico/Harpo fans second, this setup comes as a slap in the face, and the film gets trashed.As such, if you watch the Marxes mainly to see Groucho's witty quips, this movie will bore you stiff.
However, if you--like me--love the others just as much as Groucho (for me, Chico will ALWAYS be the funniest Marx Brother!) you'll be surprised at how good Love Happy really is.
In short, to a Chico/Harpo fan, this movie is as good as (and often better than) At the Circus or A Night in Casablanca.
"Love Happy" is remembered, primarily, as the last "Official" Marx Brothers film (they would all appear in brief vignettes in "The Story of Mankind", seven years later, but not as a team), but if the film were a baseball statistic, it would have an asterik (*), because it truly isn't a showcase of the brothers, together, but a comedy starring Harpo, with Chico in a supporting role, and Groucho doing narration, and making brief appearances, occasionally (rather like the "General Electric Theater" TV episode the brothers would do, in 1959, where Harpo and Chico played crooks with hearts of gold, and Groucho would make a surprise appearance at the finale, as their lawyer).
As a comedy, "Love Happy" is so-so, with Harpo providing some genuine laughs, particularly during an interrogation scene with villains Raymond Burr, Ilona Massey, Eric Blore, and Bruce Gordon, and in the rooftop finale, with Harpo offering the same kind of outrageous physical humor that he had demonstrated in the classic MGM comedies.
But the rest of the plot, while mildly entertaining, is simply a musical variation of "Room Service", as an impoverished group of performers (headed by Paul Valentine and future star Vera-Ellen) struggle to put on a Broadway musical.The back story of the film is possibly more entertaining than the movie, itself; Harpo had wanted to make a solo film throughout the forties, and had tinkered on the script for several years, while soliciting financial backing for the project.
Chico, meanwhile, was running up huge gambling debts, as was often the case (while a brilliant card player, he was a notoriously bad gambler), and just as the Marxes had made "A Night in Casablanca", in 1946, to pay off his debts at that time, Harpo brought him into "Love Happy" to do the same.
Unfortunately, the end of the decade was a depressed time for film making (with television making inroads into the ticket-buying public), and backers would only fund the project if all three brothers would appear in the movie.Groucho, by now a genuine TV star, thanks to the "You Bet Your Life" quiz show, hated the script of "Love Happy", and had little desire to co-star in the film.
He could honestly say he helped 'discover' Marilyn Monroe, at an open audition (watching two other starlets walk across a stage, followed by Marilyn, when asked for his pick for a small role, he raised his eyebrows and quipped, "You're kidding, right?")Be warned: While "Love Happy" is not terrible, it certainly is no "Night at the Opera", or "Duck Soup"!.
i'm a big marx bros fan and love most of their films, especially the early paramounts and a day at the races and most of the others so thats pretty much all of them i guess.
Room service is the weakest of their output as far as i can tell..If I was mainly a Groucho fan, which most of the reviewers of Marx Brothers films seem to be, I'd be giving this movie between 1 & 3 stars.
His part is minimal, not very funny and is mainly famous for the scene with Marilyn Monroe in one of her first speaking roles (which lasts a few seconds)...I've just read a review for this film calling it unfunny.
I am completely fed up with reading the nonsense that's been written about this film by people who probably haven't even watched it...I'm a Harpo fan.........I really think he's a true screen genius, the greatest one of his kind.
Chico's and Groucho's appearance was an afterthought..Chico performs well and the scenes when he's with Harpo are great and are the equal to any other marx movie.
Harpo doesn't disappoint with so many great hilarious scenes that were mainly devised and performed by himself (he did most of his own stunts)...quite amazing considering he was in his early 60's at the time....The story revolves around a theatre production called 'love happy' and a missing diamond necklace in a sardine tin.
Chico does a great piano duet with a violinist and harpo plays the harp as beautifully as ever..If I was hoping to see and hear Groucho in his element, i'd be very disappointed with Love Happy.
Some production trivia mentioned in the Turner Classic Movies airing suggest that 'Love Happy' was intended to be a Harpo vehicle, but the backers weren't going to unless Groucho and Chico were also in.
"Love Happy" was the movie that marked the end of the Marx Brothers as a single comedy act.
The chase was a riot.For those who were saddened over this movie being the end of the Marx Brothers as a comedy act, this movie also marked the beginning of the Marx Brothers as individuals who would each enjoy his own level of success with Groucho being the most successful with his TV show "You Bet Your Life" in the 1950s and a comeback in the 1970s, touring the country.After "Love Happy", Harpo would make 9 appearances plus 15 as himself.
Harpo originally conceived "Love Happy" as a solo vehicle, but Chico wormed his way in because he needed money to pay gambling debts.
Groucho was written in at the last minute to secure more funding from backers who insisted on having all three brothers in the film.Harpo loves the beautiful dancer Maggie, who faces a collapsing career if the theater troupe fails.
Love Happy is the last movie where the Marx brothers appear together.Harpo is the biggest star of the movie.He gets in a trouble when he steals a sardine can that has Romanoff's diamond inside.Love Happy is good Marx movie.Groucho, Harpo and Chico are as good as they were in their younger days.And you can see Marilyn Monroe in a little part as Groucho's client.A must see for Marx fans, especially Harpo fans..
Groucho briefly shines with Marilyn Monroe in his brothers' Love Happy.
So, technically, this isn't really a "Marx Brothers" picture, just Harpo starring with Chico in support and Groucho in an extended cameo.
This last Marx Brothers film is NOT the right place to begin if you've never seen one of their movies before.
But as it stands, Harpo fans should find some things to chuckle about, on and off.That's the main problem with LOVE HAPPY - it's not consistent in entertaining you, and the funny bits come and go.
Love Happy is the final movie that features the three Marx brothers (Groucho Chico Harpo) in top billing and as the stars.
It's what he was made for as a performer, moments like this.The main problem for me is a major lack of the brothers interacting with one another - Groucho barely appears in the first half for Pete's sake, and only through limited 4th wall breaks - yet there are a lot of legitimately entertaining musical numbers (really, there isn't a dull one, including a number where a woman sings about being frustrated with motherhood).
Chico play much smaller role then usual and don't have nothing funny to do (there is a callback to the Ice-cream scene in "Day at the races" which came out like a poor attempt to get a chip laugh) and Groucho is for about 10 minutes all together, and you can tell his character was force into the script so it would had all three Marx brother.
Big mistake.If your a Marx Brother fan Its simply distracting and I think it would work way better as a Harpo solo movie (like "A girl in every port" was for Groucho), but at the same time I must admit it was entertaining and Harpo made me smile...
Only a life-long fan can see any redeeming qualities in "Love Happy".The Marx Brothers are "over-the-hill" and it shows.
And, of course, there is the very brief - yet unforgettable - walk on by Marilyn Monroe.A bit of trivia -Groucho was not slated to appear in this movie.
"Love Happy" has been classified as a Marx Brothers movie.
"Love Happy", the last official Marx Brothers film (unless you want to count "The Story Of Mankind"), is also usually listed as their worst, but I'm not sure I can agree with this evaluation.
There are numerous problems with it, to be sure: Groucho only appears about 4 times in total; Chico overdoes his Italian accent more than ever before, but his only truly funny scene is the pantomime game with Harpo; the piano and harp interludes are dull; the chase climax is weak.
And yet, there are lots of things to like in "Love Happy" as well: Harpo is joyful, expressive, tireless and sometimes even touching (the scene where they "search" him for the diamonds is hilarious); during his limited appearances, Groucho throws out all the funniest lines in the film (my favorite comes at the very start: "The FBI was baffled, the Scotland Yard was baffled.
They sent for me, and the case was solved immediately: I confessed!"); Ilona Massey milks the icy-hot bad girl role for all it's worth; the supporting cast is filled with lovely, leggy ladies; the musical numbers, although not exactly necessary, are quite entertaining in their own right; and let's face it, if you're a fan, every film the Marx Bros.
LOVE HAPPY (United Artists, 1949), a Mary Pickford presentation, directed by David Miller, became the 13th and final collaboration of Marx Brothers comedy team, this time with a few alterations, especially in featuring the silent one, Harpo, as the leading character, with Chico and Groucho taking on lesser responsibilities.
While this could have been simply a Harpo Marx comedy, following Groucho's solo effort in COPACABANA (1947), someone probably didn't think it possible to have Harpo carrying on 85 minutes of screen time without his brothers, in spite the fact that he's credited as author of the story.
The final result is a musical-comedy labeled the least liked of all the Marx Brothers movies.
Overlooking it's negative reputation, it be best to consider the possibilities of what the story has to offer, with some fine comedy material thrown in, that actually keeps this one from being a total disaster.The story opens in typical 1940s fashion, with Groucho as Detective Sam Grunion relating to the movie audience as to how he had spent eleven years investigating a million dollar theft of the Ramanoff diamonds, followed by his introduction of numerous characters, including Mike Johnson (Paul Valentine), both manager and leading man; Maggie Phillips (Vera-Ellen), his dancing partner; Bunny Dolan (Marion Hutton), a singer and Maggie's best friend; and finally Harpo (Harpo), a kindly hobo who happens to be love happy for Maggie.
And watch for the surprise ending.LOVE HAPPY is actually not an attempt to revive the Marx Brothers on screen, for that their best work was already behind them, yet it shows how far they have come, twenty years from their screen debut (1929).
Even Egilichi's attempt to vamp him nearly works, but Harpo uttering a word is totally impossible.On the musical program, there's "Love Happy" (sung during opening credits); "Mama Wants to Know," "Willow Weep for Me," "The Sadie Thompson Number," "Gypsy Love Song" (piano solo by Chico) by Franz Lehar; "Happy Birthday to You," "Swanee River" by Stephen Foster (Harpo on the harp) and "Love Happy" (reprise, closing credits).Paul Valentine, Raymond Burr and Marilyn Monroe receive special introductory billing during the opening credits.
Monroe's very brief scene with Groucho as a lady in distress constantly being followed by men is truly a highlight.So ends the movie careers of Groucho, Harpo and Chico as a team.
In spite of an odd mixture of gags, ranging from good, bad to disturbing, LOVE HAPPY has enough ingredients to satisfy any Marx Brothers fans.
"Love Happy" (1949) was the Marxs brothers final film.
Most Marxs brothers fans dismiss it, which is doing the movie a great wrong.
Of course, its not up to the standard of their other pictures but there are some really funny moments in the film such: The climatic chase across roofs, the villains trying to find out where the jewels are from Harpo and Groucho's virtual cameo has some good one-liners.
For their final film, the Marx Brothers are featured in Love Happy which while it has some flashes of brilliance, does not come any kind of close to what they were doing in the Thirties.
Dancing ingénue Vera-Ellen gets the valuable sardines though she doesn't know it and the necklace goes on quite an adventure.Harpo gets the best moments for the brothers in Love Happy.
If you watch this film as a Marx Brothers fan then there is some hope, but for the neutral it's a disjointed and disappointing effort that raises few laughs, has no plot to speak of and goes nowhere with no purpose.
Film buffs will tell you that the minute of the film in which a young Marilyn Monroe appears is worth the entrance fee (it's not) or that Raymond Burr as a vertical baddie is wonderful (it isn't) or that it's great to see so much of Harpo (give me strength) but this independent, though grumpy, soul thought it was a dog's breakfast of a film stitched together from mediocre musical numbers and half-hearted Marx Brother's cameos.
It was the last film the Marx Brothers made together, except for "The Story of Mankind" (1957), which they were all in but appeared separately.
Mostly the film is Harpo's - and he has some inspired moments, particularly his interaction with neon signs.There are other reasons to see this - there's Marilyn Monroe in a bit part (that gives Groucho his best moment), Raymond Burr as a heavy, Vera-Ellen dancing very well before MGM snapped her up for "On the Town", and that producer credit - Mary Pickford!
"Love Happy" is the last film to feature appearances from Groucho, Chico, and Harpo Marx, but it hardly stands as a Marx Brothers film.
Love Happy, the last Marx Brothers venture, a disappointment .
Love Happy, the last  Marx Brothers film, is a sincere disappointment.
In fact, the only scene in which Groucho appears with another Marx is toward the end of the film, where he shares a very few moments with Harpo.
Love Happy is not one of the first Marx Brothers pictures that you're going to want to watch.
Nah. I've seen every Marx Brothers movie a billion times.
Besides some sloppy TV and film editing of individual performances (i.e. GE Theatre: The Incredible Jewell Robbery, The Story of Mankind)) this was the the LAST Marx Brothers movie.
Although this movie is not one of the real Marx Brothers classics, it is a must-see for the fans of the biggest humor icons of all time.Harpo is the main character, and he is also the most amusing brother.
While Chico is weak and Groucho too brief, Harpo is just great.
Taken as the final Marx Brothers movie, then Love Happy can't help but disappoint.
I've reviewed three Marx Brothers movies on the IMDb over the last decade or so, and in some of them I've been pretty mean about Harpo's character.
And in an age of product placement, then the mark of the financial backers is even sent up, with Harpo amusingly using most of the advertising billboards during the climax as makeshift fairground rides.With all this in mind, it's a likable enough movie that features the final film performance of Harpo Marx, with a guest appearance from his brother.
This film marked the finale for the Marx Brothers glorious career in movies.
It almost appears the movie was a vehicle for Harpo Marx more than a collaboration of the trio that made us laugh.The plot is paper thin, but there are moments that work, like the chase sequence at the end and the "Kleptomaniacs" performance by Harpo as the film begins.
Vera Ellen, Eric Blore, Marion Hutton, Melville Cooper and Paul Valentine have featured roles.In spite of all its flaws, "Love Happy" is a must see for all Marx Brothers fans..
This is a very sad effort from the Marxes, as you can't help but wonder how much better the film would have been if they hadn't messed with an old formula and allowed the brothers to actually work together--Groucho is more the narrator and has no real involvement with Chico or Harpo.
By no means vintage Marx, but worth savoring for two reasons: The second is that it was the Brothers' last film (even if Groucho's role is smaller and he meets up only fleetingly with Harpo and has but two short scenes with Chico).
The comedy scenes and business are usually extended way beyond their capacity to amuse, and one of the "straight" plots - the struggling-to-Broadway-on-a-shoestring-players - has little interest), Love Happy was enormously popular, enjoying a second lease of life when Paramount re-issued their vintage Marx comedies in the mid-fifties.For a fuller account of Harpo's on-screen capers in this film - he wrote the story I would guess primarily to showcase Chico and even more particularly himself (Groucho's role reads like an afterthought) - I warmly recommend "The Marx Brothers: Their World of Comedy" by Allen Eyles, published by Tantivy Press, London, 1966.
Recently I watched LOVE HAPPY, the last Marx Brothers film, on Amazon Prime.