Author Topic: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....  (Read 3760 times)

HaroldBlvd

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Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« on: September 08, 2010, 12:22:21 AM »
I was comparing Tom's need to move on or take a break to what John Lennon once said about the Beatles never going back together because he didn't want to be like the Marx Brothers in their later years just being trotted out for one unfunny picture after another. Sometimes it good to know when to walk away.
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Spitzer

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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #1 on: September 08, 2010, 01:05:19 AM »
what are you roasting cornish game hens?

HaroldBlvd

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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #2 on: September 08, 2010, 01:45:48 AM »
Corns, vat den?

DS1077

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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #3 on: September 08, 2010, 08:05:51 AM »
I was a little let down when Tom revealed that he was just kidding about the Marx Brothers - I thought I'd finally found someone reputable to back me up when I say that "Duck Soup" isn't all that great.  Like, it's not terrible, but I much prefer "Animal Crackers".

JonFromMaplewood

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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2010, 09:15:55 AM »
I had no idea that was you, Harold!  Great call and thanks for sticking to your guns.  Everything they did with Paramount was great.  And after that "A Day at the Races" had its moments too.

They really are the only old-timey comedy that can still make me laugh.
"I'm riding the silence like John Cage up in this piece." -Tom Scharpling

crumbum

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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #5 on: September 08, 2010, 08:55:28 PM »
I'm more of a W.C. Fields man myself.

Senator Gothman (D-OR)

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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2010, 12:26:10 AM »
I was just watching ZOTZ and Margaret Dumont was in a couple of scenes!

paaaaul

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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #7 on: September 10, 2010, 05:49:11 AM »
This coffee gag from Horse Feathers is my favourite joke in any film,ever

Coffee & Swordfish (Marx Brothers)

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jakewho

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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #8 on: September 24, 2010, 02:19:53 AM »
Harpo was brilliant.  Has anyone read his autobiography??  It's inspirational and ridiculously hilarious.  I would recommend it to anyone who's a fan of reading.

JonFromMaplewood

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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #9 on: September 24, 2010, 09:11:53 AM »
Harpo was brilliant.  Has anyone read his autobiography??  It's inspirational and ridiculously hilarious.  I would recommend it to anyone who's a fan of reading.

Is that "Harpo Speaks?"  I haven't read it, but from what I know of the Marx Brothers, he was the most level-headed of them all.  While Chico was busy gambling everything away and Groucho was busy divorcing everything in sight, Harpo was raising a family and being an all-around solid dude.

I'm unapologetic fan of the Marx Brothers. Their films loomed large in my youth.  Unlike Laurel & Hardy, Aboott & Costello, and many others who were on TV constantly, Marx Brothers films were only on once in a blue moon, usually on a weekend afternoon.  It was such a rare event that I would get excited about it the day before.  It could be 80 degrees and sunny out, but I would forgo that just to see Groucho insult Margaret Dumont only to follow it up by getting on one knee and saying to her "Can't you see what I'm trying to tell you? I LOVE you."
"I'm riding the silence like John Cage up in this piece." -Tom Scharpling

Christina

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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #10 on: September 24, 2010, 10:14:26 AM »

I'm unapologetic fan of the Marx Brothers.

Me too - Starting from being a kid all the way to now. Never liked L&H. Liked A&C as a kid, but that may have been b/c of the cartoon and not the movies.

I think it is Harpo Speaks, a book I've been meaning to check out for years. It's on my "if I find it at a used bookstore then I'll buy it" list i have in my head. I like to think of Harpo as the Charlie Watts of the Marx Brothers. Also, Chico had a bad case of satyriasis in addition to the gambling. What a winner.

I keep hearing, in that same way that band snobs will tell you some band you like used to be way better back whenever, that the Ritz Brothers were way funnier than the Marx Bros. I don't think there were any movies available on video at the time I heard this, or they may have been hard to track down. Can anyone confirm (whether they were even funny let alone funnier than the Marx Bros)?
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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #11 on: September 24, 2010, 10:28:59 AM »
Well, in The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929-1968, Andrew Sarris writes, "Look at Wheeler and Woolsey or the Ritz Brothers. They look even worse in retrospect than they did at the time."  One man's opinion, but I think it's the only mention I've ever heard of the Ritz Brothers.  I have a feeling those people who are telling you that are Irwin Chusid-ing you.
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Christina

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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #12 on: September 24, 2010, 10:38:59 AM »
Well, in The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929-1968, Andrew Sarris writes, "Look at Wheeler and Woolsey or the Ritz Brothers. They look even worse in retrospect than they did at the time."  One man's opinion, but I think it's the only mention I've ever heard of the Ritz Brothers.  I have a feeling those people who are telling you that are Irwin Chusid-ing you.

And I've never been a big fan of Andrew Sarris, so you see the problem! I have this heavily opinionated, hard to confirm opinion given by people who love to say polarizing shit.
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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #13 on: September 24, 2010, 10:55:34 AM »
Well, there are several Ritz Brothers clips on YouTube.  The ones I dipped into looked pretty feckless, but you could compile a lot of laugh-free moments from Marx Brothers movies too.  Look for the one where Bela Lugosi does a kickass judo flip on one of 'em.
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Christina

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Re: Tom teased me about the Marx Brothers....
« Reply #14 on: September 24, 2010, 11:03:42 AM »
Well, there are several Ritz Brothers clips on YouTube.  The ones I dipped into looked pretty feckless, but you could compile a lot of laugh-free moments from Marx Brothers movies too.  Look for the one where Bela Lugosi does a kickass judo flip on one of 'em.

Yeah, I think I went and found a clip or two, but I really wanted to find a movie. I haven't looked into this in some time so the landscape might be different and there's like a Ritz Bros Blu Ray box set now.
Remember how he couldn't stop his leg?