Four goofy lowlifes stowaway on an Atlantic cruise-ship and get mixed up with two rival gangsters on board. Once they dock in New York, one of the hoodlums holds a big social bash for his daughter, and more mayhem ensues.
This is the third Marx Brothers movie, and whilst perhaps not quite as good as the preceding Animal Crackers, is still an all-out assault of inspired lunacy, hilariously deadpan breakneck dialogue, some of the best slapstick I've seen (Groucho and Todd's dancing is wonderful), musical madness and their uniquely cynical-yet-debonair happy- go-lucky sensibilities. In particular, Harpo is at his face-pulling, skirt-chasing, anarchic, violent best in this film - shaving moustaches, stealing chess-sets, beating up immigration clerks, attacking Chico, kissing cows, and of course playing the harp delightfully. There are so many nutty lines that unless you've had a complete sense of humour transplant, you'll be chuckling all the way through ("Tell me, has your grandfather's beard got any money ?" - "Money !? Why, it fell hair to a fortune !"). The only key ingredient missing is the inimitable Margaret Dumont, although the jaw-sockingly gorgeous and sharp-as-a-tack Todd (who was also in the subsequent Horse Feathers, and whose death, for those interested, is one of the great Hollywood mysteries of all time) is a fabulous sparring-partner for Groucho's lightning wit. A terrific comedy classic, brilliantly scripted by S.J. Perelman and Will B. Johnstone, and I bet Maurice Chevalier loved it !
This is the third Marx Brothers movie, and whilst perhaps not quite as good as the preceding Animal Crackers, is still an all-out assault of inspired lunacy, hilariously deadpan breakneck dialogue, some of the best slapstick I've seen (Groucho and Todd's dancing is wonderful), musical madness and their uniquely cynical-yet-debonair happy- go-lucky sensibilities. In particular, Harpo is at his face-pulling, skirt-chasing, anarchic, violent best in this film - shaving moustaches, stealing chess-sets, beating up immigration clerks, attacking Chico, kissing cows, and of course playing the harp delightfully. There are so many nutty lines that unless you've had a complete sense of humour transplant, you'll be chuckling all the way through ("Tell me, has your grandfather's beard got any money ?" - "Money !? Why, it fell hair to a fortune !"). The only key ingredient missing is the inimitable Margaret Dumont, although the jaw-sockingly gorgeous and sharp-as-a-tack Todd (who was also in the subsequent Horse Feathers, and whose death, for those interested, is one of the great Hollywood mysteries of all time) is a fabulous sparring-partner for Groucho's lightning wit. A terrific comedy classic, brilliantly scripted by S.J. Perelman and Will B. Johnstone, and I bet Maurice Chevalier loved it !