Marks To Marx

I was looking at my new favorite blog, The Marx Brothers Council Of Britain, hosted by Matthew Coniam--who's been kind enough to leave comments here at Pajama Guy--and there it was: his ranking of all thirteen "official" Marx Brothers' films.  Of course!  So simple, it's brilliant.  Why didn't I think of this?

For the record, here's his list:

1. Animal Crackers (1930)
2. The Cocoanuts (1929)
3. Horse Feathers (1932)
4. Monkey Business (1931)
5. A Night at the Opera (1935)
6. Duck Soup (1933)
7. Room Service (1938)
8. A Night in Casablanca (1946)
9. A Day at the Races (1937)
10. At The Circus (1939)
11. The Big Store (1941)
12. Love Happy (1949)
13. Go West (1940)

If you're a fan, you're aware of how radical this is.  He certainly knows, and notes the surprises:

1. Animal Crackers and The Cocoanuts at the top.
2. Duck Soup considerably beneath the other Paramounts.
3. A pretty low showing for Day at the Races, too.
4. Yet Room Service scores preposterously high!
5. Go West worse even than Love Happy?

He explains why he made these choices.  If you want to know, I suggest you check out his blog.

As soon as I saw the list, I knew I had to make my own.  I'm afraid, despite Coniam's excellent arguments for his point of view, my rankings will be distressingly conventional. Here goes:

1. Duck Soup
2. Horse Feathers
3. Animal Crackers
4. The Cocoanuts
5. A Night At The Opera
6. Monkey Business
7. A Day At The Races
8. Room Service
9. A Night In Casablanca
10. At The Circus
11. Go West
12. The Big Store
13. Love Happy

Now let me explain.

The first five Paramount films are, in general, the Marx Brothers at their purest, their most anarchistic. They're in charge here, they're not (by and large) supporting the lovers, or doing much more than nodding at the plot.  The Paramount films also have, needless to say, their best material.

Of the Paramounts, I prefer the film films, which were written directly for the screen, over the stage films, based on their Broadway hits, which are a bit stagebound (of course), featuring--especially Cocoanuts--somewhat stiffer performances, and more plot and other extraneous material not dealing with the Marxes.

Monkey Business is the weak sister (though still one of the funniest film ever made) because they were trying new territory and not classic old bits, and weren't quite yet sure how to come up with something wholly original.  But they figured it out by Horse Feathers, approximately 90% of which is classic comedy sequences.  Duck Soup is slightly better because they have the only great director they worked with, Leo McCarey, who made the film more unified (though he cut the musical specialties--I like them, even if some critics believe they're a tired holdover from Vaudeville) and added some touches of physical comedy which I'd describe as Laurel and Hardy adapted to the Marx Brothers' style. (This is probably my biggest disagreement with the British Council's view.)

After they left Paramount, they were still very funny, but no longer masters of their domain.  They were reduced to buffoons, often made pitiable objects in their own films.  Worse, they actually cared if the juvenile and the ingenue got together.  But you barely missed it in their first MGM hit, A Night At The Opera, since the comedy scenes are so brilliant (and the plot, to a point, works).  Their second MGM, partly made under the watchful eye of producer and protector Irving Thalberg, isn't quite so brilliant but has some wonderful routines.

After that, there's a pronounced drop in quality.  Room Service is hard to judge, since for the first and only time they're playing characters not created for them, but part of a hit Broadway farce. The movie is actually a hybrid, since the roles have been adapted, yet is enjoyable on its own terms.  All in all, an interesting and at least partially successful experiment.

A Night In Casablanca was their comeback several years after they quit MGM.  The boys have lost a step and the writing can't compare to their top films, but it's better than it has any right to be.

Then there are the three post-Thalberg MGM films, where all the bad ideas he brought to the team are still around, but the good parts (high quality production, top-notch writing) are missing.  While I know the Paramount films like the back of my hand (not that I get much enjoyment looking at the back of my hand), I have to admit the final three MGMs run together in my mind. I have the DVDs and should have watched them again to fairly make the list, but let's just say in essence they're tied.

Finally, there's Love Happy.  It's really a low-budget romp for Harpo, but is nevertheless considered part of the canon.  It's their last film and you feel they should have quit with Casablanca.  It's not like it's joyless--there are many fun parts-- but it's a hollow shell compared to what we've seen.  A friend told me I should just watch it as a film with a mute comedian and I'll enjoy it very much.  Perhaps, but I can't wipe out the memories.