Animal Crackers

The puns are some of the most hilarious ever written. The only problem is the other hour that's not puns.

Too many throwaway jokes, too many boring musical interludes, and too much plot to be a really good Marx Bros movie. The jokes that do succeed are damned funny, but it's still somewhat of a chore to watch compared to Duck Soup or A Night at the Opera.

The highlights are great: Chico and Groucho bickering, some very good Groucho lines, Harpo and Chico bickering - generally I like the chemistry between the Marx brothers themselves, watching them ruffle crusty blue-bloods gets old pretty quick. The musical segments and the love story are pretty dull, and even Groucho's material is weak in places. If this were edited and cut by 30 minutes it might be as great as some of the Marx's best work.

"That's a fine letter, Jamison, that's an epic. That's dandy. Now, I want you to make two carbon copies of that letter and throw the original away. And when you get through with that, throw the carbon copies away. Just send a stamp, airmail, that's all. You may go, Jamison. I may go too."

Funny, the best bits coming, as per usual, from Groucho. The lines about his adventures in Africa were a highlight. I can understand, frankly, those who find the talented brothers' brand of humor lame - but they do amuse me.

Where's the flash? I bet the left-handed moths took it. I'd definitely live in the hypothetical house of Chico and Groucho, and not to forget the maid. Also features another 'Einstein' wisecrack.

I can't exactly tell with Groucho roles (they're just all so spectacular), but this seems like some of his best material. The brothers aren't far behind and the 4th wall breaking monologues put me to tears. It's good enough for me to ignore the awkward, stagey bits.

I give it a plus / star (based on a scale of negative, equals and plus). I can watch this movie over and over again, and I laugh out loud each time. It is so packed with jokes it makes comedies that are made today look like frauds masquerading as comedies. The songs are trite, and the story is ridiculous, but that is OK. It is a kind of variety show. I imagine seeing these guys do this on stage would be tops.

Didn't think that I'd find a movie that would annoy me more than Woody Allen's for using plot solely as a medium for one-liners, but here we go.

feels like watching a dire whodunnit that's been invaded by the Marx bros (their superior films had it the other way round and it worked better that way). Although there's comedy goodiness in this, you have to endure through the horrid musical numbers and by-the-numbers-for-the-'30s storyline to get to it, and it'd be better just to watch those moments on their own.

I'm not completely sure why, but the delivery just consistently falls flat. The tempo is off and every line is said to the audience. Also, I like puns, but this is pun overload. Still, it is rather funny.

not one of their classics, but one the brothers are on their game, they're as funny as ever.

"Pardon me Mrs. Rittenhouse, did you lose a fish?"

"Well, all the jokes can't be good. You've got to expect that once in a while." See, even Groucho admits it's weak. There are some jokes and sequences that work well, but the vast majority of them are throw-away gags made by a director with no sense of comedic timing. Also, let's not forget the part where Groucho literally compares Africans to monkeys.

Some really excellent scenes and great chemistry between the brothers but everything else in the film is uninteresting and dull. It's about 30 minutes too long and doesn't work as a whole, the good bits are seriously good though.

A clear improvement on Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers is still not prime Marx Brothers, even if it's a huge step in the right direction. There are some very funny moments, and the chemistry between the brothers has been more thoroughly capitalised on. The general staging of the gags remains relatively stilted though, robbing scenes of their full vitality, the supporting cast is weak and the film overstays its welcome, lacking the compactness of their next three outings, which are far superior.

Awkward Silences: The Movie. I don't think these guys are my bag.

The Marx Brothers doing what they did best, making sides split.

another unspectacular marx brothers movie that will easily blow the top off some people with laughter, yet cause chronic narcolepsy in others. i, interestingly, lie somewhere in the middle.

Better than "Coconuts," but still not a real movie. Some of the comic set-pieces are of course wonderful, but a lot of it is pretty stagey. And boring too.

The one with the explorer. This movie swings so wildly from hilarious to dud scene that it's hard to rate. I was distracted by the Victorian-era version of depiction of Africa depicted. What were those Zulu looking dudes doing there?

Interesting for being raunchier than other Marx Bros. films I've seen so far. Margaret Dumont looks like she's barely holding her giggles in the entire time, and there is generally a more theatrical air to this one, largely due to basic camera-work. Not all the humour sticks, but you certainly get your money's worth.

A play with a (shaky) camera pointed at it. Very primitive, but still usually funny. Groucho carries the film, Chico and Harpo weren't as good but the piano and harp skit was one of the best and Margaret Dumont seems too familiar with the material and makes for a dull foil (only this time, she's usually the sole redeeming straight). A nice intro, but it's a pretty trying movie.

Great stuff

Flat, stagey and without even the slightest hint of comedic timing, Animal Crackers is the Marx Brothers at their cringe worthy worst. I haven't seen the MGM films from the 40's, which I've been told are even worse. But of the Paramount films I've seen, this is rock bottom.

As in The Coconuts before it, the Marxes put on a hit play of theirs from a couple years earlier for the camera. This time, you get the feel of watching from a better seat, as the production, though still a smidge rough, works a bit better: much clearer sound, more closeups, smaller musical numbers they can pull off properly, etc. Which is nice, as Groucho's in great form, and there are some very fun bits in the mix.

Most of my problems with the Marx brothers are present in this. Harpo and Chico are annoying instead of funny, and downright creepy with all their harassments. Groucho's puns, tho most of them clever and funny, have no relations to the context of the scene and are delivered entirely to the public instead of an interaction with the cast.

Gets a two and not a one because of two reasons: a) Harpo Marx (The Professor)---very funny; carries the entire film b) The year it was made. Also I am going to have nightmares for the rest of my life reimagining Margaret Dumont's (Mrs. Rittenhouse's) expressions---no please.

While I've seen a few other Marx Brothers comedies, this one fell a little flat for me. Groucho is a little more integrated here, although he's still great at tossing out his non sequiturs. I was disappointed with Harpo's role, which, while funny at times, seemed more mean-spirited than usual.

this rating is more or less my baseline for marx brothers movies

There's far too many dead spots, lots of bad comic timing (i.e., works on the stage, not on the screen) and long stretches without good jokes.

Sometimes my second favorite Marx film, always in the top five. Maybe that's because it took me so long to get to see it, I think it wasn't on tv until 1980 or so. The love interest couple is actually decent, they even kept her NY/Long Island accent in all it's annoyance. It's the acting of some of the supporting group that get in the way in this one, but it's early in this talking business on flim.

This movie features my most used Marx line: Say, if you get near a song, play it.

Os Galhofeiros estreava há 90 anos nos EUA. Os jogos de linguagem aqui presentes são deliciosos, mas a gente sabe que quem brilha mesmo é a mudez do Harpo. Jesus, como amo o Harpo. Blu-ray rip RARBG.

Genius.

Some great scenes mixed in with lots of boring nonsense. Impressive piano skills by both Chico and Harpo.

"Did someone call me Snora?"

Hello I Must Be Going aka Hooray for Captain Spaulding is one for the history books

The plot involves Groucho being invited to a house party of some sort that Chico and Harpo also show up at (Zeppo is Groucho's secretary) and a bunch of people replace an expense painting with copies of the painting which are stolen. Really ... the plot doesn't matter. It's a thin excuse to let the Marx brothers sing and dance and caper and babble silly stuff at each other. All of their Paramount films are among the funniest things ever made.

When it's funny, it's hilarious.

Boring except when the Marxes are around

So many jokes, so few laughs

Margaret Dumont is an absolute disaster here.

Worth watching just to see Groucho strut his way through "Hooray for Captain Spaulding".