It was with fairly low expectations that I popped "Go West" into my DVD player this evening. After all, as Marx Bros. purists repeat ad nauseam, the Brothers' later pictures generally failed to live up to the high standards set by their earlier Paramount-era films. That may be so, but I found "Go West" to be hilarious all the same. Which is hardly surprising since nobody does mayhem like the Marx Bros.!
As always, Groucho has lots of great one-liners, Chico plays a charming con-man, and Harpo gets up to all kinds of anarchic antics. Encountering Groucho for the first time in the train station, Chico asks where the train is. Groucho replies, "It's out on the tracks; it seldom comes in here." In previous films, the Brothers' made fun of the circus and the opera; in this film, they play havoc with the conventions of the Old West. On observing a fatal shooting outside a saloon, Chico tells Harpo: "I don't like-a the West: all the people do is kill each other. I'd like-a the West better if it was in the East."
In contrast to some of their other films, especially "At the Circus," the musical numbers are delightful and catchy. That goes not only for the solos by Chico and Harpo, but also for the duets sung by the star-crossed lovers. This latter feature of the MGM films was often tedious and forgettable; happily, that is not the case in "Go West."
I thoroughly enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone who appreciates the madcap humour of the Marx Bros. The climactic train sequence alone makes the film a must-see.
As always, Groucho has lots of great one-liners, Chico plays a charming con-man, and Harpo gets up to all kinds of anarchic antics. Encountering Groucho for the first time in the train station, Chico asks where the train is. Groucho replies, "It's out on the tracks; it seldom comes in here." In previous films, the Brothers' made fun of the circus and the opera; in this film, they play havoc with the conventions of the Old West. On observing a fatal shooting outside a saloon, Chico tells Harpo: "I don't like-a the West: all the people do is kill each other. I'd like-a the West better if it was in the East."
In contrast to some of their other films, especially "At the Circus," the musical numbers are delightful and catchy. That goes not only for the solos by Chico and Harpo, but also for the duets sung by the star-crossed lovers. This latter feature of the MGM films was often tedious and forgettable; happily, that is not the case in "Go West."
I thoroughly enjoyed this film and would recommend it to anyone who appreciates the madcap humour of the Marx Bros. The climactic train sequence alone makes the film a must-see.