|
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
|
|
Miss Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont) plans a big social gathering to honour the
return of famous explorer Captain Spaulding (Groucho Marx) from the darkest
regions of Africa, an event that is to culminate in the unveiling of a
priceless painting, which is supplied by famous art collector Roscoe Chandler
(Louis Sorin).
But as if the arrival of the captain & the hiring of 2 inept musicians -
Rivelli (Chico Marx) & the Professor (Harpo Marx) - wouldn't guarantee
enough chaos, Miss Rittenhouse's daughter Arabella (Lilian Roth) comes up with
a rather stupid plan to promote her painter boyfriend Parker (Hal Thompson): to
exchange the famous painting with a copy Parker made. But to top it all,
society ladies Grace (Kathryn Reece) & Mrs Whitehead (Margaret Irving) also
plan to exchange the painting for a copy as a joke ...
The situation really gets out of hand when first Chandler is shocked about
the bad copy (done by Grace) at hte big unveiling, then all 3 pictures (the
original plus Parker's & Grace's copies) disappear. & when an inept
policeman (Edward Metcalf) as well as Spaulding & Rivelli lead some sort of
investigations, all of a sudden all clues lead to the Professor.
However, since he returns, the inspector decides to let him loose - &
Parker even gets a painting commissioned by Chandler because if his masterful
copy.
Granted this synopsis doesn't sound like much of a film, & yes, plotwise
it is just silly, not at all helped by some (but not many) musical interludes
& romantic scenes. But once Groucho, Harpo or Chico Marx make an entry they
dominate the screen anyway, doing their unpredictable crazy comedy or weird
dialogues (not Harpo, of course), making this one worthwhile after all.
Zeppo's scenes as Groucho's secretary are fortunately kept to a minimum.
|