Rating: 
Summary: Whatever It Is, I'm Against It - But Not "Horse Feathers"
Review: "Horse Feathers" released in 1932, is the Marx Bros. fourth film, and the second consecutive one without the illustrious Margaret Dumont. Thelma Todd reprises her role as a suductive vamp, as she had played in "Monkey Business". And all four Marx Bros. have a field day poking fun of higher education.In this film, Groucho plays Quincy Adams Wagstaff, newly elected president of Huxley College. The first indication we have that Groucho does not take the role seriously is when he lights a cigar, strictly against the rules of the college. He then breaks out in song, singing, "Whatever it is, I'm Against it". Groucho's interests lie with football, rather than education itself. Hearing that two really good football players are regulars at a speakeasy, Groucho visits the establishment, hoping to sign them on before the rival college, Darwin, beats him to the punch. Chico and Harpo happen to be there as well. Chico plays Baravelli, an ice man who sells liqour on the side. Harpo plays Pinky, a dog catcher. Groucho asks them if they are regulars in the bar, and if they play football. They go along with Groucho, assenting to each question. That's all Groucho needs to hear. He immediately enrolls them in Huxley College so they can play on the team. Groucho also has another purpose. Zeppo, playing Groucho's son in this film, Frank, has been neglecting his studies by pursuing interest in the college widow, Connie Bailey, played by Thelma Todd. She is working for the rival college, Darwin, and is using Zeppo to get the football signals. Groucho is determined to break the two apart, not because she is using him, of course, but to obtain her affection for himself. There are many hilarious highlights to "Horse Feather". One highlight is when Chico and Harpo attend a biology class, escorted by Groucho. "Have they started sawing the woman in half yet?" Groucho asks the teacher. Chico and Harpo leaves some fruit on the teachers desk before they take their seats, as though they were little children. Groucho soon takes over the class from the teacher, pointing to a chart with the human body. Harpo sneaks up and places a picture of a horse over the chart, and then a pin up calendar. After Groucho tells him he can't burn the candle at both ends, Harpro immediately produces, from his bottomless pocket, a candle that happens to be burnung at both ends. The scene ends with Chico and Harpo shooting peas at Groucho. Not wanting to be outdone, Groucho joins in, having his own pea shooter tucked away. Another highlight is when Groucho goes to Connie Bailey's room, attempting to persuade her to stop seeing his son. Before he knows it, he is sitting on her lap saying, "I could sit here all day if you didn't get up." Zeppo enters, and Groucho takes the offense, angry to see his son in a disgraceful postion. Zeppo leaves, and Harpo re-enters with a block of ice. The ice is used merely as a pass, or excuse, to gain enterance, and is quickly tossed out the window. When he leaves, Chico appears with a block of ice. They go back and forth, getting more ice so they may enter the room to "show their affection" to Connie, leaving Groucho with little time to make his own advances. Groucho's reply to this is, "This must be the main highway". The climax of the film is the football game, where the Marx Bros. perform more of their hilarous antics. Groucho, after realizing the two real football players he was intending to sign are playing for Darwin, plans for Chico and Harpo to kidnap them. But their scheme backfires, and it becomes Chico and Harpo who are the victims of kidnapping. The two must find a way to escape before the start of the football game. When they do, Harpo makes his grand enterance on the field riding a chariot, and throwing banana peels in front of players, who stumble over them. Even Groucho joins the team on the field. "Horse Feathers" follows a procession of what is considered the best and funniest of the Marx Bros. films. The material is still fresh and raw, unlike in later films. The Marx Bros. are allowed freedom to do as they please, without being constrained to remembering the correctness of their lines. Adlibs are frequent, which only seem to frustrate the director, producer and writers of the film. The audience, however, is delighted, and could care less. We are much happier to see the boys working off each other, rather than what the writers have written. And the finished product succeeds as a result.
Rating:
Summary: Whatever It Is, I'm Against It - But Not "Horse Feathers"
Review: "Horse Feathers" released in 1932, is the Marx Bros. fourth film, and the second consecutive one without the illustrious Margaret Dumont. Thelma Todd reprises her role as a suductive vamp, as she had played in "Monkey Business". And all four Marx Bros. have a field day poking fun of higher education. In this film, Groucho plays Quincy Adams Wagstaff, newly elected president of Huxley College. The first indication we have that Groucho does not take the role seriously is when he lights a cigar, strictly against the rules of the college. He then breaks out in song, singing, "Whatever it is, I'm Against it". Groucho's interests lie with football, rather than education itself. Hearing that two really good football players are regulars at a speakeasy, Groucho visits the establishment, hoping to sign them on before the rival college, Darwin, beats him to the punch. Chico and Harpo happen to be there as well. Chico plays Baravelli, an ice man who sells liqour on the side. Harpo plays Pinky, a dog catcher. Groucho asks them if they are regulars in the bar, and if they play football. They go along with Groucho, assenting to each question. That's all Groucho needs to hear. He immediately enrolls them in Huxley College so they can play on the team. Groucho also has another purpose. Zeppo, playing Groucho's son in this film, Frank, has been neglecting his studies by pursuing interest in the college widow, Connie Bailey, played by Thelma Todd. She is working for the rival college, Darwin, and is using Zeppo to get the football signals. Groucho is determined to break the two apart, not because she is using him, of course, but to obtain her affection for himself. There are many hilarious highlights to "Horse Feather". One highlight is when Chico and Harpo attend a biology class, escorted by Groucho. "Have they started sawing the woman in half yet?" Groucho asks the teacher. Chico and Harpo leaves some fruit on the teachers desk before they take their seats, as though they were little children. Groucho soon takes over the class from the teacher, pointing to a chart with the human body. Harpo sneaks up and places a picture of a horse over the chart, and then a pin up calendar. After Groucho tells him he can't burn the candle at both ends, Harpro immediately produces, from his bottomless pocket, a candle that happens to be burnung at both ends. The scene ends with Chico and Harpo shooting peas at Groucho. Not wanting to be outdone, Groucho joins in, having his own pea shooter tucked away. Another highlight is when Groucho goes to Connie Bailey's room, attempting to persuade her to stop seeing his son. Before he knows it, he is sitting on her lap saying, "I could sit here all day if you didn't get up." Zeppo enters, and Groucho takes the offense, angry to see his son in a disgraceful postion. Zeppo leaves, and Harpo re-enters with a block of ice. The ice is used merely as a pass, or excuse, to gain enterance, and is quickly tossed out the window. When he leaves, Chico appears with a block of ice. They go back and forth, getting more ice so they may enter the room to "show their affection" to Connie, leaving Groucho with little time to make his own advances. Groucho's reply to this is, "This must be the main highway". The climax of the film is the football game, where the Marx Bros. perform more of their hilarous antics. Groucho, after realizing the two real football players he was intending to sign are playing for Darwin, plans for Chico and Harpo to kidnap them. But their scheme backfires, and it becomes Chico and Harpo who are the victims of kidnapping. The two must find a way to escape before the start of the football game. When they do, Harpo makes his grand enterance on the field riding a chariot, and throwing banana peels in front of players, who stumble over them. Even Groucho joins the team on the field. "Horse Feathers" follows a procession of what is considered the best and funniest of the Marx Bros. films. The material is still fresh and raw, unlike in later films. The Marx Bros. are allowed freedom to do as they please, without being constrained to remembering the correctness of their lines. Adlibs are frequent, which only seem to frustrate the director, producer and writers of the film. The audience, however, is delighted, and could care less. We are much happier to see the boys working off each other, rather than what the writers have written. And the finished product succeeds as a result.
Rating:
Summary: Horse Feathers
Review: A great movie. One of the Marx Brothers best. Many funny scenes. The brothers are at college. The scene with Groucho as the teacher and Harpo and Chico as students is great. This may be Harpo's best movie. "SWORDFISH"
Rating:
Summary: What is a college widow anyway?
Review: A previous reviewer asked this question, and I must say it's something I've always wondered about myself. But it doesn't really matter. In this sublimely funny film Groucho is Professor Wagstaff, newly-appointed head of Huxley College. Zeppo is his son ("your mother and I wanted children. Imagine our disappointment when you arrived."), who tells his father that Huxley needs a better football team. So Groucho goes to a speakeasy to buy a couple of professional football players. Here he meets Chico and Harpo and mistakes them for the pros he's looking for,and engages them to play for Huxley. Soon all four of the Marx Brothers are romancing Connie Barnes, the College Widow,(ravishing Thelma Todd) whose gangster boyfriend wants the rival college Darwin to win the match.The whole film is packed with laughs. It includes my all-time favourite scene in any Marx Brothers comedy, when a tramp comes up to Harpo and says "can you help me out? I want to get a cup of coffee" and Harpo takes a steaming cup of coffee out of his pocket and gives it to him. And then there's the scene with the swordfish, and the bit with the seal, and the ice, and when Groucho and Thelma Todd go out in a boat, and all four marx Brothers singing 'everyone says I love you' to the widow, and the climatic scene at the football match, and - oh just take your pick, every scene is wonderful. I know 'Duck Soup' is considered to be the Marx Brothers' masterpiece, but this is my personal favourite.
Rating:
Summary: What is a college widow anyway?
Review: A previous reviewer asked this question, and I must say it's something I've always wondered about myself. But it doesn't really matter. In this sublimely funny film Groucho is Professor Wagstaff, newly-appointed head of Huxley College. Zeppo is his son ("your mother and I wanted children. Imagine our disappointment when you arrived."), who tells his father that Huxley needs a better football team. So Groucho goes to a speakeasy to buy a couple of professional football players. Here he meets Chico and Harpo and mistakes them for the pros he's looking for,and engages them to play for Huxley. Soon all four of the Marx Brothers are romancing Connie Barnes, the College Widow,(ravishing Thelma Todd) whose gangster boyfriend wants the rival college Darwin to win the match.The whole film is packed with laughs. It includes my all-time favourite scene in any Marx Brothers comedy, when a tramp comes up to Harpo and says "can you help me out? I want to get a cup of coffee" and Harpo takes a steaming cup of coffee out of his pocket and gives it to him. And then there's the scene with the swordfish, and the bit with the seal, and the ice, and when Groucho and Thelma Todd go out in a boat, and all four marx Brothers singing 'everyone says I love you' to the widow, and the climatic scene at the football match, and - oh just take your pick, every scene is wonderful. I know 'Duck Soup' is considered to be the Marx Brothers' masterpiece, but this is my personal favourite.
Rating:
Summary: Great film on an unfortunate dvd
Review: Although I can't give this film anything else than a perfect five, I am dissapointed. I shelled out a small fortune to buy this on ebay, and I am dissapointed. This is like vhs in every way. I would pay well over what the vhs is worth again, but all this dvd has to offer is the bare minimum dvd features: mush faster rewinding and fast forewarding, freeze frame, and non-deterioration. That is something that every dvd has, yet it is the highlight of this disc. I recently knocked tthe Duck Soup dvd, and this suffers, too. Artisan and Universal need to get their act together. The Marx Brohters made five films with them: The Cocoanuts, Monkey Business, Animal Crackers, Horse Feathers, and Duck Soup. I think that The Cocoanuts and Monkey Business could easily fit onto one disc, and Animal Crackers, Horse Feathers, and Duck Soup could fit easily, too, with spare room for extra features. Same with the Duck Soup dvd, the dvd is a slight difference and picture (over pixelated, and digitally grainy), and the audio is a distinct notch. That's not saying it's good. The picture is grainy and in serious need of restoration. The audio is even worse. Again, same as Duck Soup, although this is an old film, when the audio changes reels, its all cured. The film has lots of unintentional jump cuts (in the 30's, it wasn't considered an art, as it is today). Most noticeable is chapter 7, "Iceman Cometh and Goeth." You can tell that something needed to be cut out. I understand that Universal needs to cut out stuff for copyright or other reasons, but they could do that cleaner. This film is trimmed by about two minutes (the real cut is longer than Duck Soup; this version is shorter). Although I paid an arm and a leg for this disc, I am glad I have it. I runs like a vhs, though. Stick it in-it plays a copyright protection warning after a few seconds of blackness, it does the Universal couple second intro to the movie, then it plays the movie. There are scene selections, but you just press skip on your remote, since there is no concrete main menu. Universal doesn't have any plans to re-release this, but I really hope they do. Thank you for taking the time to read my review and God Bless America!
Rating: 
Summary: Every One Says I Love You
Review: Although not as biting as Duck Soup nor as outrageously ridiculous as Animal Crackers, Horse Feathers certainly presents the four Marx Brothers at their anarchy-laden best as Groucho takes the helm of a failing college, where he tries to boost enrollment with a winning football team. Groucho's opening address to the college, including the musical number "I Always Get My Man," is priceless, and each of the brothers takes a crack at seducing lucious "college widow" Thelma Todd (in one of her most charming performances) by seranading her with increasingly ludicrous versions of "Every One Says I Love You." Books are burned, papers get a seal on them, the team saves the day in one of the most ludicrous football games ever seen on screen--a real winner in every way!
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Marx Bros. Film!
Review: Among their 13 films, Marx Brothers play the best in this "Horse Feathers". Realizing that this film was made right before "Duck Soup", which is considered to be the Brothers' best one, we could think of "Horse Feathers" as their second best. What I like the most about this film is 4 different versions of the number, "Everyone Says I Love You" performed by 4 Marx Brothers respectively. Being a great fan of Harpo (in fact, my e-mail account is partially made up of the 5 letters of HARPO!), I like Harpo's harp playing so much that I cannot remember how many times I rewinded the tape to listen to it all again! Could you believe that the lengh of this film is under 120 minutes with full of laughing spots?? Well, everyone should check out this 67-year-old entertainng film!!
Rating:
Summary: My rating has nothing to do with the movie itself
Review: Before I am tarred and feathered, this definitely one of THE best Marx bros. movies!! With rapid-fire snappy one liners from Groucho, and a whirlwind of some of the best physical slapstick from Chico, and Harppo, it is a stand out. BUT, it appears the company who released this has done little to try and restore the sound or picture quality where this movie has apparently not been taken care of. The movie in points looks as if it got caught in a vegi-matic, and put back together by a 5 year old. One scene in particular, where Groucho first goes to Thelma Todd's house, is so choppy and jumpy, I about had a seizure trying to keep up with it. Classic brilliance from the Marx brothers, but be weary of this version. You've been warned.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best Marx Bro. pics I've seen
Review: Each brother sings (or whistles) his own version of the same song in this movie. I have to say Harpo's rendition was the best, although Chico's was deliciously catchy. Maybe they tie for best, I don't know. Anyway. I loved the part when Harpo rode away in a garbage bin like a Roman charioteer. Groucho of course got the lead. His ridiculous song about commenced it and being against it was stunning... if not stunning, aggravating. Gets into your head and sings itself over and over like a broken phonograph. The college widow was a weirdo. Wonder what Zeppo saw in her. Whatever is a college widow, anyway? Well, I'm off to review something a bit more dramatically stable. But see this movie anyway.
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