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Such a frustrating disappointment

So much average

Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

The Marx Brothers were responsible for crafting some of the greatest and funniest comedies of the 20th century, and "Animal Crackers" ranks high among the list of their finest work. "animal Crackers" embodies the absurd and occasionally nonsensical wit of the Marx Brothers' routine with near flawlessness.This is a masterpiece of the weird and wacky, an anarchic comedy spectacle in which rules are practically non existent; anything can happen in the maniacal comic landscape that the Marx Brothers inhabit. The fourth wall is constantly being broken, puns are being made left and right, insults and one liners are shot from Groucho's mouth at the speed of a bullet, Harpo's physical routines borderline complete madness, and it all culminates together to create one of the greatest and funniest movies of the 1930's. As always, Groucho's fearlessly witty sense of humor is the comedic highlight, while Harpo further proves that physical comedy CAN be done well, and Chico balances both physical and verbal humor in his own charming way (and Zeppo works well as a straight man that his manic brothers can play off of). Chico and Harpo also show off their mind boggling musical talent on the piano and harp. Although these performances do not match those in the cinematic masterwork "A Night at the Opera", they are still extraordinary and make me wish with all of my heart that I had a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of their relentless musical talent.The "plot" surrounding the Marx Brothers' often surreal chaos is hardly even utilized, and when it is the film remains quite entertaining. As always, the mere fragments of a storyline only work as set ups to more comic insanity, and there is nothing wrong with that!

The second Marx Brothers talkie film shares quite a few features with their first film: "Cocoanuts". Both were adaptations of recent Broadway shows starring the Marx Brothers. Both were filmed in Paramount's Astoria Studios, in Astoria, Queens, N.Y.. Subsequent films of the series would be filmed in Hollywood. Margaret Dumont plays a wealthy socialite in both films, and something very valuable is stolen either from her or in her house, and the remainder of the film is mostly about finding and recovering this item. In both, Harpo comes up with the missing valuable. In both, there is a young romantic couple, who sing at least one song, and are awaiting an opportunity for the man to prove himself in his profession before they can get married. To me, "Cocoanuts" is the more interesting film of these two and has a more coherent plot. Next to "Room Service", this is my least favorite of the brothers films. The disappearance and reappearance of the various copies of the painting gets very confused and highly contrived after a while. Also, a lot of the humor is rather lame.The new musical numbers were composed by the team of Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar, who composed the new music for several others of the brother's films. They were honored in the 1950 film "Three Little Words", starring Fred Astaire and Red Skelton.

The Marx Brothers were masters of comedy who entertained audiences for four decades in vaudeville, radio, films and television. Five of their films are on the American Film Institute's list of America's Funniest Movies. "Duck Soup" of 1933 is fifth on the list. "A Night at the Opera" of 1935 is number 12, and "A Day at the Races" of 1937 is number 59. Those are my favorites, and all three have zany plots. "Animal Crackers" was the second feature film the brothers made, when Zeppo was part of the acting team. In place of a plot it has a thin line of a story used just to string together dozens of vaudeville skits and bits. Some are very dated and of interest only to see what people laughed at a century ago in entertainment theaters. The filming appears stagy, as if it was done during live vaudeville acts. The performers often speak to the audience off stage. And it has a stage feel even to the point of an echo and sound reverberations as from a sound stage with poor acoustics.Some of the lines still are funny today. But the long list of routines hardly resembles a movie. It's somewhat interesting and entertaining, but it can't hold a candle to the later great comedies the Marx Brothers gave us.

Although I am slightly conflicted between this or a Night At the Opera this one wins every time. Its not restricted by plot or musical numbers or even having a conclusion. No instead the Marx brothers are exactly where they don't belong, high society, which is why it's the best place for them to be funny. The film beginnings with what later became Groucho Marx's anthem (Hooray for Captain Spaulding) and the Craziness goes from there. Whether it's Groucho insulting everyone in sight or whether its Harpo chasing every woman in close perimeter. No lovers leading the story, just the Marx Brothers doing what they do best, upsetting the high society establishment. The musical is even funny and is only contained to Chico playing two songs. The best scene I think that can sum up not only this movie but the great mix of wit and physical comedy can be found in the card playing scene with Margaret Dumont, Chico, and Harpo. At first, the scene is entirely physical comedy almost mimicking that of three stooges, but when they sit down to play cards the quick wit of the Marx Brothers is quickly shown and if you're not paying attention you will have to watch the scene several times to understand everything that's going on.