Jumping Butterballs, it's another Marx Brothers free for all! If you go by other reviewers' comments of the film here on IMDb, this is one you're probably not supposed to like but I didn't think it was so bad. Granted, when I place the picture in my list of Marx Brothers films and rank them by voter preference here on IMDb, it comes up near the bottom just ahead of "The Big Store". So maybe it's a matter of mining the picture for those little nuggets of gold that don't necessarily jump right out and hit you in the face.
For starters, there's Lucille Ball, who if I had been a betting man, would have lost on whether she ever appeared in a Marx Brothers flick. So that was surprise number one for this viewer. That hotel dinner scene where Miller (Groucho), Benelli (Chico) and Faker (Harpo) finally get to chow down with Leo Davis (Frank Albertson) is a pretty frantic affair, with good comedic timing as Chico gets his arm entangled in Harpo's staccato-like fork frenzy.
And say, right here with the Motion Picture Production Code in full effect, it appeared to me the film makers managed to sneak a doozy past the movie censors when the bamboozled Doctor Glass (Charles Halton) frustratingly denounces his description by Groucho's character as the house detective when he proclaims "I'm not a dick, I'm a doctor!" Looking on the bright side, I thought the line might have been an inspiration for Dr. McCoy on one of those future 'Star Trek' TV episodes.
Anyway, I think you can give this one a try even if you're not a die-hard Marx Brothers fan. My timing in catching the picture turned out to be an unusually well placed one. Having watched it yesterday, it was a rather unique and novel surprise to see my annual Thanksgiving Day turkey show up in a Marx Brothers flick.
For starters, there's Lucille Ball, who if I had been a betting man, would have lost on whether she ever appeared in a Marx Brothers flick. So that was surprise number one for this viewer. That hotel dinner scene where Miller (Groucho), Benelli (Chico) and Faker (Harpo) finally get to chow down with Leo Davis (Frank Albertson) is a pretty frantic affair, with good comedic timing as Chico gets his arm entangled in Harpo's staccato-like fork frenzy.
And say, right here with the Motion Picture Production Code in full effect, it appeared to me the film makers managed to sneak a doozy past the movie censors when the bamboozled Doctor Glass (Charles Halton) frustratingly denounces his description by Groucho's character as the house detective when he proclaims "I'm not a dick, I'm a doctor!" Looking on the bright side, I thought the line might have been an inspiration for Dr. McCoy on one of those future 'Star Trek' TV episodes.
Anyway, I think you can give this one a try even if you're not a die-hard Marx Brothers fan. My timing in catching the picture turned out to be an unusually well placed one. Having watched it yesterday, it was a rather unique and novel surprise to see my annual Thanksgiving Day turkey show up in a Marx Brothers flick.