Inside the Marx Brothers

Rating:
Summary: Worth Checking Out
Review: A really shoddy piece of work. It's just filled with poor qualtity trailers and some mildly interesting newsreel footage. (And even that's in bad picture quality.) There are other better documentaries out there - avoid this or you'll be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Chase This Turkey!
Review: A really shoddy piece of work. It's just filled with poor qualtity trailers and some mildly interesting newsreel footage. (And even that's in bad picture quality.) There are other better documentaries out there - avoid this or you'll be sorry.

Rating:
Summary: Bare-Bones Documentary, Nothing to Write Home About!
Review: If you are an avid Marx Brothers collector, there might be some obscure film & home movie clips you might enjoy, but otherwise, pass on this piece of work. There have been several very good documentaries on the Marx Brothers, all much better than this one.

Each of the Marx Brothers was a fascinating personality, on screen and off, and we learn very little about the. Aside from the narration, there are very few interview sources, the prominent being one of Groucho's former personal assistants. Therefore, we learn a little about what made Groucho tick, and very little about Harpo, Chico, Zeppo, and Gummo.

The actual history of theie professional success comes off like cliff notes, very hurried, like somebody just wanted to wrap up the project quickly as possible.

The extras and rare clips are enjoyable, especially the audio clip where Harpo speaks. I know there are folks who are mixed on this one; some are anxious to hear his voice, some like to keep the mystique in place. To each his own. Harpo has been one of my personal heroes since I was a child, and much as I find his onscreen character so endearing, I was always eager to hear what he sounded like. Just a trivial little thing, and I enjoyed hearing him rattle off a few lines. Hearing him speak did not dampen the mystique for me; when I think of Harpo, I still hear him saying HONK!

Other than the fun tidbits that go with this DVD, there is not much there. There are some quality Marx Brothers documentaries out there on the market, and I would pick one of those. One that is not readily available (to the best of my knowledge) is an early 1990s documentary on Groucho that aired on TV called "The One, the Only...Groucho!" That particular documentary is worth going WAY out of your way to find; while it focuses primarily on Groucho, it also covers the lives and exploits other brothers warmly and with depth.

Rating:
Summary: WOW! What a show!
Review: There is a whole world inside the Marx Brothers that I had no idea about. This show goes into great detail, explaining how they started, what happened to them during their peak, and what happened after. This is a really good show. I highly recommend it for any fan of those crazy bastards, the Marx Brothers.

Rating:
Summary: WOW! What a show!
Review: There is a whole world inside the Marx Brothers that I had no idea about. This show goes into great detail, explaining how they started, what happened to them during their peak, and what happened after. This is a really good show. I highly recommend it for any fan of those crazy bastards, the Marx Brothers.

Rating:
Summary: Worth Checking Out
Review: This is a halfway decent complement to the other, better Marx documentaries (i.e. Nutshell). There's some interesting stuff here; infrequently seen newsreel clips and photos and home movies, an audio clip of Harpo speaking, insight from a few Marx insiders. It's not at all bad and is worth adding to the shelf of Marx shows.