The first Marx Brothers film to be written directly for the screen (its authors included S. J. Perelman, Arthur Sheekman and Will B. Johnstone), Monkey Business is also the merry Marxes' first Hollywood production. Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo are brilliantly cast as four stowaways on an ocean liner, bound for New York. As our heroes endeavor to elude dimwitted First Mate Gibson (Tom Kennedy), each of the brothers gets involved in an adventure of his own. Groucho finds himself in a menage a trois with gangster Alky Briggs (Harry Briggs) and Briggs' sexy wife Lucille (Thelma Todd); Harpo joins a "Punch and Judy" puppet show, driving the ship's crew into a frenzy of confusion; Chico hires himself out as bodyguard to retired bootlegger Joe Helton (Rockliffe Fellowes); and Zeppo romances Joe's pretty daughter Mary (Ruth Hall). Once they've arrived in New York, the Marx boys head to Helton's Long Island mansion, where, after the obligatory harp-and-piano musical interludes, the fearsome foursome team up to rescue Mary from her kidnappers. There are far too many wonderful moments in Monkey Business to detail here, but highlights include Groucho's initial confrontation with Alky Briggs ("With a little study, you'll go a long way, and I wish you'd start now!") and his romantic tete-a-tetes with Lucille ("Come with me, and we'll lodge with my fleas in the hills -- er, flee to my lodge in the hills"); Harpo and Chico's attempts to shave a sleeping barbershop customer ("You know what, partner? I think we give-a him one snoop too much"); and the classic setpiece, "borrowed" from the team's early Broadway hit I'll Say She Is, in which all Four Marx Brothers try to slip past the customs officials by posing as Maurice Chevalier! Though not the best of their Paramount features, Monkey Business is still among the funniest Marx Brothers comedies ever made -- and one of the funniest comedies, period. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Until Monkey Business was filmed in 1931, the fabulous Marx Brothers had made only films adapted from their stage comedies. Noted humorist S. J. Perelman was the leading force among the writers who concocted this zany tale about four stowaways on an ocean liner. The title is a perfect one for a Marx movie even if the film doesn't have anything to do with monkeys. When the brothers are practicing their hijinks aboard the ship, the sight gags, pratfalls and quips are virtually non-stop. After they each imitate the actor Maurice Chevalier while going through customs, however, the jokes dissipate, and the second half of the movie, which takes place in a New York mansion, is not nearly as frenetic. Some consider this the best Marx Brothers movie, but many viewers and critics prefer Duck Soup. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Monkey Business (1931) is the third of the Marx Brothers' movies and the first not to be an adaptation of one of their Broadway shows. The film stars the four brothers: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, and Zeppo Marx, and screen comedienne Thelma Todd. It is directed by Norman Z. McLeod with screenplay by S. J. Perelman and Will B. Johnstone. The story takes place in large part on an ocean liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
While stowing away on a ship to America, the brothers get involuntarily pressed into service as toughs for a pair of feuding gangsters while trying desperately to evade the ship's crew.[1] After arriving stateside one of the gangsters kidnaps the other's daughter, leaving it up to the brothers to save the day.[2]
Two famous scenes include all four brothers trying to sneak through a passenger checkpoint by pretending to be Maurice Chevalier, and Harpo's attempt to hide from the authorities by posing as a puppet in a "Punch and Judy" children's show.[3]
The four Marx Brothers stowing away on an ocean vessel by hiding in barrels in this promotional still for Monkey Business.
Typical for many Marx Brothers films, production censors demanded changes in some lines with sexual innuendo.[4]Monkey Business was banned in some countries outside of the U.S.A, because censors feared it would encourage anarchic tendencies. This is the first Marx Brothers film not to feature Margaret Dumont, this time their female foil is comedienneThelma Todd, who would go on to star in the Marx Brothers' next film, Horse Feathers. A few years after the release of Horse Feathers, Todd would die in unexplained circumstances. A line of dialogue in Monkey Business coincidentally seems to foreshadow Todd's death. Alone with Todd in her cabin, Groucho Marx quips: "You're a woman who's been getting nothing but dirty breaks. Well, we can clean and tighten your brakes, but you'll have to stay in the garage all night"; she died in her car inside a garage, apparently from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.[5]
Early on in Monkey Business, the Brothers—playing stowaways concealed in barrels—harmonize unseen while performing the popular song "Sweet Adeline". It is a matter of debate whether Harpo joins in with the singing. If so, it would be one of the only times Harpo talked on-screen, as opposed to other vocalizations such as whistling or sneezing. At least one other possible on-screen utterance occurs in the film A Day at the Races (1937), in which Groucho, Chico, and Harpo are heard singing "Down by the Old Mill Stream" in three-part harmony.
Also of interest to Marx Brothers devotees is that, upon alighting from the ship, the Marx Brothers' real life father (Sam "Frenchie" Marx) is briefly seen in a cameo appearance, sitting on top of luggage behind the Brothers on the pier as they wave to the First Mate.
Songs
Chico performs two songs, "Pizzicata Polka" by Léo Delibes, which then morphs into the song "When I Take My Sugar to Tea" written by Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal and Pierre Norman, in his usual unique piano style. Harpo performs "I'm Daffy Over You" by Sol Violinsky and Chico. The most famous sequence from this film involves the four brothers attempting to get off the ship using a passport stolen from famous singer (and fellow Paramount star) Maurice Chevalier. Each brother impersonates Chevalier (complete with straw hat) and sings "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me" ("If a nightingale could sing like you ...") in turn. This poses a problem for Harpo, who never talks. Yet his rendition is nearly flawless. He is using a hidden phonograph playing a Chevalier record. When the turntable slows down and he has to rewind it, the ruse is uncovered.
"O Sole Mio" sung by opera singer Maxine Castle with harp accompaniment by Harpo
"I'm Daffy Over You"
"When I Take My Sugar to Tea"
Sequel
According to TCM's Robert Osborne, a sequel was planned for this film that would continue the mafia theme; but during the planning stage, famous aviator Charles Lindbergh's son was kidnapped and killed by gang members. The writers quickly shifted gears and instead began basing the Brothers' next film slightly on the Marx Brothers' earlier stage show Fun in Hi Skule,[6] which would eventually evolve into Horse Feathers.[7]
Reception and impact
Monkey Business was a phenomenal success,[5] and is, to this day, considered one of the Marx Brothers' greatest works[8] (along with Horse Feathers, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera, and A Day at the Races). The film was evidently based around two early routines the Marx Brothers did during their early days in vaudeville (Home Again and Mr. Green's Reception), along with a story idea from one of Groucho's friends, Bert Granet, called The Seas Are Wet.[5][7] The passport scene is a reworking of a stage sketch in which the brothers burst into a theatrical agent's office auditioning an impersonation of a current big star. It appeared in their stage shows On the Mezzanine Floor and I'll Say She Is. This skit was also done by the Marxes in the Paramount promotional film The House That Shadows Built.
The concept of the Marx Brothers being stowaways on a ship would be repeated in an episode of their 1933 radio series Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel in the episode "The False Roderick" and would also be recycled in their later MGM film A Night at the Opera.[9] Also, the essence of Groucho's joke, "Sure, I'm a doctor—where's the horse?" would serve as an integral element for their later MGM movie A Day at the Races. Also, the uproarious medical examination that Harpo and Chico give Madame Swempski (Cecil Cunningham) would later be repeated in A Day at the Races.
