The Cocoanuts

Rating:
Summary: The Marxes' first film is a winner!
Review: "The Cocoanuts" was the Marx Brothers first film, and one look at it shows you this is excellent. This was a big box-office grosser. "The Cocoanuts" was filmed on stage in the Paramount Studios in New York. That may be the reason why the sound seems like it echos. The sound is not the greatest, but what can you expect from a film that was made two years after the first talking picture "The Jazz Songer" was made. Grouch plays a hotel owner with Zeppo as his assistant. Groucho takes Chico and Harpo under his wing and watches them carefully. For instance when they first arrive, their suitcase breaks open and it's empty. Chico says, "That's all right. We'll fill it up when we leave." Soon Margaret Dumont's necklace becomes snatched by two unscrupulous theives, Penelope and Harvey Yates. They get on the case, find the necklace, and try to keep Polly Potter, Dumont's character's daughter, and hotel clerk Bob Adams together. This is a perfect Marx masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: The Marxes' first film is a winner!
Review: "The Cocoanuts" was the Marx Brothers first film, and one look at it shows you this is excellent. This was a big box-office grosser. "The Cocoanuts" was filmed on stage in the Paramount Studios in New York. That may be the reason why the sound seems like it echos. The sound is not the greatest, but what can you expect from a film that was made two years after the first talking picture "The Jazz Songer" was made. Grouch plays a hotel owner with Zeppo as his assistant. Groucho takes Chico and Harpo under his wing and watches them carefully. For instance when they first arrive, their suitcase breaks open and it's empty. Chico says, "That's all right. We'll fill it up when we leave." Soon Margaret Dumont's necklace becomes snatched by two unscrupulous theives, Penelope and Harvey Yates. They get on the case, find the necklace, and try to keep Polly Potter, Dumont's character's daughter, and hotel clerk Bob Adams together. This is a perfect Marx masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: The First Talking Film that is Still Fun to Watch!
Review: Although THE JAZZ SINGER was appeared in 1927, it took a while for talking films to truly get off the ground, and most THE COCOANUTS remains the only talking film made before 1930 that still is seen with any regularity. Technically, this is a very rough movie. The sound is truly rough, and at times it does diminish the enjoyment of the movie. But fortunately, enough of the anarchistic energy manages to shine through and makes this a thoroughly delightful film despite the limitations of the sound. The most famous onscreen evidence of the problems they had with sound at the time was the over sensitivity the microphones had to higher pitched sounds. As a result, all paper had to be soaked in water to prevent the microphones from picking up the crackling noises it made. In the famous Why a Duck? skit, Groucho has in his possession the most improbably droopy map one could ever imagine encountering.

The Marx Brothers were the last of the great vaudeville comic acts to make it to the silver screen. The reason is obvious: while many vaudevillians for whom the spoken word was important managed great silent screen careers, the Marx Brothers relied enormously on speech. Although Groucho was a fine physical comedian, his act was impossible without words; Harpo could easily dispense with sound, but even he whistled, honked, and played the Harp, and much of his humor was framed by the words of others, either friends or enemies; and Chico, who was the only one of the three main brothers who was ungifted in physical humor, would have been completely at sea without being able to speak his indecipherable concoction of Italian. The Brothers were seasoned veterans when THE COCOANUTS was filmed (Chico was 42, Harpo 41, and Groucho 39), and the film itself was an adaptation of a production they had performed on Broadway. Their act translated almost seamlessly onto film, with only a couple of exceptions. For instance, this is the only Marx Brother film in which Harpo wore the red wig that he had long worn in their act. The reason is that it ended up looking brownish instead of red. He switched to a blonde wig, and he wore that color.

The film was filmed in Long Island during their run of ANIMAL CRACKERS on Broadway. One of the better decisions was to have Margaret Dumont reprise her Broadway role as Groucho's comic foil in this film (she would appear in seven Marx Brothers films in all, including Mrs. Rittenhouse, whom she was portraying at the time in ANIMAL CRACKERS on Broadway). As great as the Brothers all are, there is no question that their films would have been greatly diminished without her and Groucho's classic "love scenes" (for want of a better description).

The film is still a delight to watch because the Marx Brothers have so many marvelous scenes. The auction scene, Groucho's surreal attempts at making love to Margaret Dumont ("Your eyes, your eyes, they shine like the pants of a blue serge suit. That's not a reflection on you - it's on the pants"), the first of Groucho and Chico's great conversations, Harpo's anarchy, all blend together to create the first great talking film. There is one moment I especially love. A woman is crying and Harpo slowly comes up to her, compassion welling up in his face. He reaches over and offers her a lollypop. She throws her arms around him and sobs. One of Harpo's nicest, if somewhat uncharacteristic, moments.

Rating:
Summary: A Strange Thing
Review: Although this movie has a bevy of funny moments and memorable lines and routines, I simply cannot stomach the 'broadway' elements of this movie. You know what i'm talking about: the spontaneous synchronized dancing girls, the crummy music, the singing....but otherwise I like the movie. There are more ugly people in this movie than all of the Marx movies combined, especially the male love interest, Oscar Shaw, who looks like a bloated Bela Lugosi, or as writer Simon Louvish wrote, "a young Richard Nixon". Whenever he or that pale blonde Mary Eaton are on screen, I hit the fast-forward button.
I'm glad that I didn't live in the 'boring' 20's. The dancing and the music alone, as evident by movies such as this, would have likely caused me to jump from a very tall building.
Groucho is consistantly funny, with plenty of wise-cracks and bitter commentary. Chico is funny in a dopey sort of way, the manner in which he twists the meaning and pronunciation of words is brilliant, and Harpo is ever the trouble-making tramp. The Chico piano solo was great, as were the harp solo by guess who, although the inferior sound quality does hamper things slightly. The film quality is generally acceptable, save for the auction scene, where everything seems to blur and sound like it was recorded in a small box. It was 1929, though, one of the first talkies, so i'm not bitter about it.
If not for the dancing, singing, ugly people, and the flappers, i'd give this movie 5 stars. However, a perfect movie would never have to be fast-forwarded. Oh, and another thing: avoid "The Monkey Doodle Doo" at all costs.

Rating:
Summary: A Rare First
Review: Although, one could argue "Duck Soup" as a superior flick (which, technically, it is)- though, when taken in context (a 1929 first film) "The Cocoanuts" was amazingly ahead of it's time. Consider this, a standard detective mystery, a musical (with stunning performances by Harpo, in particular)and a clever quick-witted comedy somehow interacting with each other. This was a "first" done to perfection by the amazing Marx Brothers. They certainly honed their film-making style by the time of "Duck Soup" - but NO ONE came close in 1929 to "The Cocoanuts".

Rating:
Summary: Marx Bros. first film is a smash
Review: Before "The Cocoanuts" was a film, it was a broadway hit, and established the Marx Bros. as legends in their own time. With the advent of "talkies", it was decided to make "The Cocoanuts" into a movie. And with this idea launched not only a highly successful series of Marx Bros. films, but a new brand of comedy which helped people forget about the depression they were living in, if only for an hour and a half.

Released in 1929, and distinguished as one of the first talking films, "The Cocoanuts" expounds upon the Florida land boom of the 1920's. Groucho, playing Mr. Hammer, is the proprietor of this establishment; Chico is a guest, of sorts, with no money whom groucho later uses at a land auction to help raise prices; Harpo is more of a transient than a guest, who steals at every opportunity; Zeppo, in a recurring role, plays Groucho's assistant; and Margaret Dumont is that ever proper lady of distinction who never seems to understand what the devil Groucho is saying to her.

One of the most memorable scenes from "The Cocoanuts" is "why a duck". In it, groucho is exlaining to Chico his plans to develop the land he is auctioning. The line begins: "Now here is a peninsula and here is a viaduct leading over to the mainland." And with this line ushers in comic genious, as Chico mistakes the word viaduct for why-a-duck.

Looking upon this movie today, many people may find the movie boring, and many may be put off by the certain areas which jump around and skip. However, we must remember that this movie was made in 1929, long before the importance of film preservation was considered. If we can get beyond these minor distractions, we will certainly enjoy this first Marx Bros. feature, and crave to see more.

Rating:
Summary: Cocoanuts-Funny if a little stagy
Review: Classic is the viaduct scene(one of the first of many film exchanges between Groucho and Chico that was to become standard Marx Bros. fare.), and Groucho responds to Zeppo when Zeppo asks who the telegram is from("Western Union, and they've got a lot of money!").Film has funny moments, but is quite stagy, which maybe is expected for this early talkie. Followed by Animal Crackers(which is better).

Rating:
Summary: The Marxes Unleashed
Review: Despite its technically inferior sound and variable print quality, "The Cocoanuts" (1929) remains a cinematic landmark. It was the first musical-comedy captured on film and, most importantly, introduced the Marx Brothers to the big screen. Though shot within the stage-bound confines of Paramount's Astoria studio, directors Robert Florey and Joseph Santley manage to incorporate stylish visual touches that complement the anarchic spirit of Groucho, Harpo, Chico and (briefly) Zeppo. As a result, "The Cocoanuts" lacks the stiffness and claustrophobia that plagued many 1929 talkies. Admittedly, there are a few slow stretches, since the filmmakers and performers hadn't quite mastered the pacing and timing of early sound comedy (notice the Groucho-Margaret Dumont exchanges). Still, the film moves at a pretty good clip (except for the forgettable musical interludes with Mary Eaton and Oscar Shaw) while showcasing some of the Marxes' best routines. Harpo, in particular, is brilliant and remarkably inventive throughout. Groucho has plenty of memorable dialogue, but his portrayal of Mr. Hammer is no match for Captain Spaulding or Rufus T. Firefly. Chico, of course, represents the ideal visual-verbal counterpart for Harpo and Groucho, even though his character is more belligerent than usual. And poor Zeppo would have better opportunities in his remaining film appearances. Flaws and all, "The Cocoanuts" survives as a fine introduction to Marxian madness.

Rating:
Summary: The Marxes Unleashed
Review: Despite its technically inferior sound and variable print quality, "The Cocoanuts" (1929) remains a cinematic landmark. It was the first musical-comedy captured on film and, most importantly, introduced the Marx Brothers to the big screen. Though shot within the stage-bound confines of Paramount's Astoria studio, directors Robert Florey and Joseph Santley manage to incorporate stylish visual touches that complement the anarchic spirit of Groucho, Harpo, Chico and (briefly) Zeppo. As a result, "The Cocoanuts" lacks the stiffness and claustrophobia that plagued many 1929 talkies. Admittedly, there are a few slow stretches, since the filmmakers and performers hadn't quite mastered the pacing and timing of early sound comedy (notice the Groucho-Margaret Dumont exchanges). Still, the film moves at a pretty good clip (except for the forgettable musical interludes with Mary Eaton and Oscar Shaw) while showcasing some of the Marxes' best routines. Harpo, in particular, is brilliant and remarkably inventive throughout. Groucho has plenty of memorable dialogue, but his portrayal of Mr. Hammer is no match for Captain Spaulding or Rufus T. Firefly. Chico, of course, represents the ideal visual-verbal counterpart for Harpo and Groucho, even though his character is more belligerent than usual. And poor Zeppo would have better opportunities in his remaining film appearances. Flaws and all, "The Cocoanuts" survives as a fine introduction to Marxian madness.

Rating:
Summary: How long still?
Review: Excuse me, dear Amazonian friends, but how long do we have to be subjected to that kind of abusive prices for used DVD's before you come up with the definitive Marx Brothers Complete DVD Collection? There are only 13 movies and scores of fans waiting for the remastered versions. Count me in for the first set.