Animal Crackers

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Animal Crackers

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Recent Reviews

Animal Crackers Recent Reviews
  • PvtCaboose91
    May 13, 2008
    PvtCaboose91
    "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know."


    In the early days of full sound movies, The Marx Brothers made a name for themselves as one of the many gurus of the comedy genre at the time. Animal Crackers is the second

    ...( read more) outing of The Marx Brothers. I do not consider myself a massive fan; however I am slowly becoming even fonder of the trio (or foursome depending on what film you watch).


    With this film, Animal Crackers is of course thin on plot. The little plot development is an excuse for the brothers to showcase their many skills in the field of comedy. The film moves from scene to scene of classic Marx Brothers humour. In this film you'll find such great scenes as: cost of the musician, cost of a taxi, madman with a rifle, marrying two women, African lecture, card shark and so many more.


    Groucho Marx plays renowned explorer Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding (the 'T' stands for Edgar) who has just returned from the darkest parts of Africa. Upon arriving back home he is the house guest of a certain Mrs. Rittenhouse (Dumont). Then a very amusing plot emerges concerning the purchase of a valuable old oil painting. Two lovers staying at the estate want to get married but the man is only a poor artist with little reputation. They hatch a plan to switch the genuine oil painting with a copy the man had painted years earlier. Then there are some other people who have the same plan: to replace (what they think is) the original oil painting with a version they had made. At the same time there are to bumbling, clumsy thieves who want to steal the original painting. Thus paintings are stolen, with different versions surfacing all over the place.


    This synopsis does give away a bunch of the movie; however this will allow you to forgive the confusing plot and instead watch it for the laughs that The Marx Brothers are so famous for.


    There is no doubt that contemporary audiences will immediately overlook this film because of its age. Heck, even I didn't want to see it for that reason. I never would have thought that old 1930's humour could actually be funny! Thankfully in classic Marx Brothers style, the laughs begin soon into the movie and never cease.


    Groucho, as usual, carries the film. He is the central protagonist and easily gets laughs from his impeccable line deliveries. This is a very focused actor. Chico is another stand-out in the film. He plays a mute thief who aims to steal the oil painting. Because of a certain hearing problem there are several scenes that are downright hilarious with this joke that always resurfaces. The scene in the dark while looking for the flash light always makes me laugh no matter how many times I've viewed it.


    Animal Crackers is devilishly clever but unfortunately it has its flaws. For starters, it's painfully obvious that the whole thing was filmed on a low-quality set. It does the job; however I thought the atmosphere wasn't as genuine as it could have been. And of course the lack of anything really meaty in the plot is another downfall. This is always going to be expected when you consider the talent involved.


    So what is the real appeal of Animal Crackers? Well, it may be several decades old but its humour is fresh and original. The brothers are a talented bunch of people whose work would be hard to replicate even with the aid of contemporary film technology. We have a determined cast, a solid script and a cluster of stellar laughs.
  • clooneyfan
    October 14, 2007
    clooneyfan
    One of my husband's favorite movies but I'm not into this kind of humor.
  • webalina
    May 21, 2007
    webalina
    I LOVE the Marx Bros. and this is one of my favorites. Hooray for Captain Spaulding!
  • Drewbacca
    August 1, 2006
    Drewbacca
    A great classic. The Marx brothers forever.
  • smith44
    June 5, 2006
    smith44
    "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know."
  • paulanthonynelson
    November 16, 2009
    paulanthonynelson
    Classic Marx Brothers comedy, packed with stunning verbal & visual gags, but hamstrung by too many songs, too much non-Bros time & overlength.
  • ElCochran90
    September 20, 2009
    ElCochran90
    Animal Crackers is the FIRST really good movie by the Marx Brothers, made in 1930. Although it's definitely not their best, I recommend it a lot. Mayhem and slapstick comedy along with the typical genius one-liners ensue when a very valuable painting is stolen during a party hono...( read more)ring an African explorer Captain Spaulding, or is it?

    I want to make a very particular emphasis of this film. Animal Crackers, apart from being the first movie that makes a parody out of high-class society with more depth, has very coplicated scenes throughout. I noticed scenes of long duration that had no camera cuts, making the scenes being even harder to accomplish successfully. Of course if you're working with comedy geniuses then constructing such brilliant scenes couldn't be so hard, but then again Mr. Victor Heerman did a splendid job putting the effort he could in this film.

    80/100
  • potentcarmela
    June 23, 2009
    potentcarmela
    This is my personal favorite of all Marx Brothers Films. Capt. Spaulding (Groucho Marx) has just returned from his quest in the African Amazon and takes a much needed rest during a social gathering to unveil a prized painting, when the painting is stolen Groucho invites himself t...( read more)o solve the case along with his assistant (Zeppo Marx) and two freeloaders (Chico and Harpo Marx). Hilarious! A must-see from the Marx Brothers collection if you're a fan of random, fast-paced comedy.
  • Viriato
    June 15, 2009
    Viriato
    "Capt. Spaulding: [to Mrs. Rittenhouse and Mrs. Whitehead] Let's get married.
    Mrs. Whitehead: All of us?
    Capt. Spaulding: All of us.
    Mrs. Whitehead: Why, that's bigamy.
    Capt. Spaulding: Yes, and it's big of me too. "

    "Capt. Spaulding: You know, you two girls have every...( read more)thing. You're tall and short and slim and stout and blonde and brunette. And that's just the kind of a girl I crave."

    The caustic mood of The Marx Brothers always fascinated me. They satirized institutions like the high society and the human hypocrisy. The musical comedy ' Animal Crackers ' (second movie) evokes the past of the Broadway of the brothers with memorable numbers between Harpo, Chico and Groucho.
    He isn't one of my favorites, but I liked seeing it again...
  • JamesThePirate
    April 20, 2009
    JamesThePirate
    Seen It
    Review Coming Soon
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