For Christmas I received the best gift ever: a collection of the Marx Brothers' first five films with Paramount pictures: The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, and Duck Soup. Of course, I was thrilled. I started watching them nearly right away. I had seen all the films before, but some had been a while. And now I could watch them whenever I wanted.
The Marx Brothers hold a very special place in my heart and in the world of cinema, too. I would watch the movies when they happened to be on or when my dad was watching, but it was never really planned. Sometimes when I was home sick from school I would try to find one as watching the zany antics nearly always made me feel better. But my love affair didn't really start until I was in college and actually started paying more attention to classic films, through film classes and just voraciously watching everything.
No other performers created a bridge between the world of vaudeville and the silver screen like the Marx Brothers did. Some of the earliest films are like watching their stage shows, which is amazing to think about--we have a window into the world of vaudeville through these films. A window into a wholly different culture and time, now almost 100 years ago. Wow.
My favorite of the first five films is Horse Feathers. I love it because of the music, especially, but also because of the fantastic lines and gags. Monkey Business is my second favorite, it is nostalgic for me and has some brilliant scenes. The others are all equally great, too, just for different reasons. I can't get enough of them and am so glad I have them in my collection now.
Rating: Q=6, P=6 / Average OJ
Scale 1=3, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=3
Animal Crackers
Rating: Q=6, P=6 / Average OJ
Scale 1=3, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=3
Monkey Business
Rating: Q=7, P=7 / Obsession
Scale 1=3, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=4
Horse Feathers
Rating: Q=7, P=8 / Obsession
Scale 1=3, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=4, Scale 4=4
Duck Soup
Rating: Q=7, P=7 / Obsession
Scale 1=3, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=4
