| When
the four Marx Brothers became an overnight sensation on Broadway
in I'll Say She Is in 1924, they had already spent 20 years
in show business. Their uncle, character actor Al Shean (of
Gallagher and Shean), helped them get started in the business,
spurred on by their mother Minnie. The boys toured the vaudeville
circuits, first as singers and eventually as comedians, until
they slowly improved enough to make it to Broadway. Ultimately,
the Marx Brothers revolutionized American comedy with their
anarchistic, faster-than-lightning, anything-goes approach.
By the time of their first film, The Coconuts, in 1929, which
was a filmed version of their second Broadway hit, brother
Gummo ( Milton Marx, 1897-1977) had retired from the act and
been replaced by the baby, Zeppo (Herbert Marx, 1901-1979).
Ultimately, Zeppo retired from performing as well, leaving
the three Marx Brothers best known today: Chico (Leonard Marx,
1886-1961), Harpo (Adolph Arthur Marx, 1888-1964), and the
one and only Groucho (Julius Henry Marx, 1890-1977). Each
of these three had his own strong screen persona: Chico was
the Italian who mangled the English language and played the
piano; Harpo never spoke, chased blondes, created general
mayhem and played the harp; Groucho, with his greasepaint
mustache and tilted walk, was a fast-talker who cracked wise
and was often on the dubious side of the law or morality.
Off-screen the brothers could be just as wild as they were
on-screen, and tended to create chaos wherever they went.
Their first five films, all for Paramount, were particularly
anti-social and anti-establishment, which made them well suited
to the mood of the country in the early years of the Depression. |
