Audio Commentary with Film Historian Jeffrey Vance.

Mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.Īvailable Only as Part of The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont Review Archive: # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main But it does perhaps ask the question if things of this nature should perhaps remain nostalgia, and should stay there for a reason - they’ve become somewhat too dated to fully work in today’s society.Animal Crackers: The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection (1930) The choice to have the orchestra not only on-stage, but part of the show, was a good one.Īs a piece of nostalgia, the show works.

The costumes (designed by Jenny Mannis) and the set (designed by Robin Vest) were gorgeous and perfect for the time period and the setting. His joke delivery was perfectly timed and there were occasions when it seemed he went off-book - but it was hard to tell if it was a scripted off-book, or a purposeful off-book, for laughs. He has the mannerisms and the vocal tics down. Joey Slotnick’s Groucho-as-Captain-Spaulding was stellar. Understand that it’s fitting, given the time frame, but it’s still a little off-putting to watch in 2013.) (There is quite a bit of that happening in this show. You have to go into it with a certain amount of understanding that women weren’t really considered much more than sexual jokes or objects to be mauled. There’s also the problem of it being somewhat dated. It seems to have been more of a vehicle for the Marx Brothers’ comedy and a little lighter on anything else happening on stage - and, well, if you were going to see a Marx Brothers’ movie (or musical), you probably didn’t care much for the other people in the movie. The show is, perhaps, not the most tightly plotted.

There’s a lot of slapstick, a lot of vaudeville stand-up, a lot of running around and chasing people and general tomfoolery. There are shenanigans involving a missing painting, a musician who shows up at the wrong time with his strange sidekick and won’t leave (Chico and Harpo Marx) and various romances afoot. Rittenhouse and her debutante daughter, Arabella. MORE INFO: (413) 597-3400, Vehicle for comedyįor anyone not familiar with the movie/musical: Captain Spaulding (Groucho Marx), a famous explorer, is invited to the Long Island mansion of Mrs. WHERE: Williamstown Theatre Festival, 1000 Main St., Williamstown, Mass.

Animal crackers marx brothers