Harpo and Chico
I remember when G3 was little, we used to watch a lot of movies, cartoons, music videos, you name it; and of course I love the Marx Brothers films and whenever he was in the mood for one and I asked him what he wanted to watch, he'd say, "Let's watch Harpo and Chico." Never Groucho. Just Harpo and Chico. I always thought that was funny and telling.
I wasn't introduced to the Marxes until I was well into my teens and so Groucho was always my favorite, but I can see how a 7 or 8 year old would prefer the other two. Harpo in particular has such a direct and childlike style of humor, kids will inevitably think he's the funniest, with his boundless energy and wild sight-gags. And Chico was pretty straightforward too, the good-natured but mischievous foil to Harpo more often than not.
They had so many great routines together over the course of their thirteen films together, it's hard to pick the best. But again, using G3 as a reference point, I remember a couple in particular that always made him laugh.
In 'Duck Soup,' Harpo and Chico play a couple of spies of dubious loyalty; their front is Chico's peanut stand outside of Groucho's office, where, before they switch sides, they have Groucho under surveillance of sorts. At one point, Harpo walks up and Chico wants a progress report. "Hey, come here," the faux Italian says. "What-a you find out about Firefly? You spy on him? You no spy on him? Why you no speak? All-a time I speak, you no speak. I..." By this point, Harpo has picked up a bag of peanuts and begins idly shoving them into Chico's mouth, which results in one of their famous fights, where Harpo feigns a punch and then kicks Chico in the rear.
The other scene, in 'Duck Soup' as well, finds the two of them making a report to their boss, who wants information too. Chico is a fund of useless information, telling their superior they spied on Groucho but he wasn't home, then they spied on the wrong person, then they went to a baseball game, etc. "But what about Firefly?" their boss finally asks him. "Did you bring me his record?"
Chico produces a phonograph record which the boss takes and throws high up into the air with the anguished cry, "No, no!"
And Harpo pulls a pistol from his pocket and blasts it to pieces, as though he was skeet-shooting.
Chico was usually overshadowed by his two more famous brothers, but he was the bridge between them. The wonderful chemistry among the three could not have happened without him. He was the straight-man for Harpo more often than not, but then Groucho was usually the straight-man for Chico, odd as it seems. And when he played the piano in his brash and unique manner, it is every bit as entertaining as the comedy scenes, partly because in addition to being musical interludes, they are comedy scenes as well. Chico may seem at times a standard-issue dialect comedian, but there's more to his character; he is so completely off into his own world, oblivious to criticism, absolutely unshakeable about what he says or thinks no matter how absurd it is that it makes him a hilarious and oddly endearing personality.
Harpo was the last of the great silent comedians. He has been overshadowed too; not by Groucho or Chico, but Charlie Chaplin, who set the standard. Being part of a team, Harpo couldn't hope to match Chaplin's celebrity, but he certainly matched that great comedian's talent. His recklessly inventive sight gags and his alternately impish and bizarre behavior really struck a chord with audiences, in ways that most would find hard to explain. No reaction of his is ever normal-sized; if he's happy, his expression is one of hyperbolic delight. If he's sad, he's like a kid who's been sent to bed without his supper AND lost his pet puppy. There is something immediate and basic about his actions that we can all relate to.
And aside from all that, they really make me laugh. Okay, I'm off to watch 'Horse Feathers' again.
I wasn't introduced to the Marxes until I was well into my teens and so Groucho was always my favorite, but I can see how a 7 or 8 year old would prefer the other two. Harpo in particular has such a direct and childlike style of humor, kids will inevitably think he's the funniest, with his boundless energy and wild sight-gags. And Chico was pretty straightforward too, the good-natured but mischievous foil to Harpo more often than not.
They had so many great routines together over the course of their thirteen films together, it's hard to pick the best. But again, using G3 as a reference point, I remember a couple in particular that always made him laugh.
In 'Duck Soup,' Harpo and Chico play a couple of spies of dubious loyalty; their front is Chico's peanut stand outside of Groucho's office, where, before they switch sides, they have Groucho under surveillance of sorts. At one point, Harpo walks up and Chico wants a progress report. "Hey, come here," the faux Italian says. "What-a you find out about Firefly? You spy on him? You no spy on him? Why you no speak? All-a time I speak, you no speak. I..." By this point, Harpo has picked up a bag of peanuts and begins idly shoving them into Chico's mouth, which results in one of their famous fights, where Harpo feigns a punch and then kicks Chico in the rear.
The other scene, in 'Duck Soup' as well, finds the two of them making a report to their boss, who wants information too. Chico is a fund of useless information, telling their superior they spied on Groucho but he wasn't home, then they spied on the wrong person, then they went to a baseball game, etc. "But what about Firefly?" their boss finally asks him. "Did you bring me his record?"
Chico produces a phonograph record which the boss takes and throws high up into the air with the anguished cry, "No, no!"
And Harpo pulls a pistol from his pocket and blasts it to pieces, as though he was skeet-shooting.
Chico was usually overshadowed by his two more famous brothers, but he was the bridge between them. The wonderful chemistry among the three could not have happened without him. He was the straight-man for Harpo more often than not, but then Groucho was usually the straight-man for Chico, odd as it seems. And when he played the piano in his brash and unique manner, it is every bit as entertaining as the comedy scenes, partly because in addition to being musical interludes, they are comedy scenes as well. Chico may seem at times a standard-issue dialect comedian, but there's more to his character; he is so completely off into his own world, oblivious to criticism, absolutely unshakeable about what he says or thinks no matter how absurd it is that it makes him a hilarious and oddly endearing personality.
Harpo was the last of the great silent comedians. He has been overshadowed too; not by Groucho or Chico, but Charlie Chaplin, who set the standard. Being part of a team, Harpo couldn't hope to match Chaplin's celebrity, but he certainly matched that great comedian's talent. His recklessly inventive sight gags and his alternately impish and bizarre behavior really struck a chord with audiences, in ways that most would find hard to explain. No reaction of his is ever normal-sized; if he's happy, his expression is one of hyperbolic delight. If he's sad, he's like a kid who's been sent to bed without his supper AND lost his pet puppy. There is something immediate and basic about his actions that we can all relate to.
And aside from all that, they really make me laugh. Okay, I'm off to watch 'Horse Feathers' again.
posted by gbj at 5:32 PM
2 Comments:
That's a terrific post. Makes me want to run out and rent some Marx Brothers!
Thanks... think I'll do another one about the various actors and actresses that appeared with them in their films. I don't think I've ever done that before, and what made me think of it specifically was the actress who appeared with them in 'Horse Feathers,' Thelma Todd. She was absolutely gorgeous and a very good comedienne. She was quite popular but died very young.
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