WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.680 --> 00:00:03.359 Hello everybody, and welcome to a brand new episode of 2 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:06.839 Second Take Cinema, coming at you from the Glorious Impala 3 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:10.400 Film's headquarters in sunny South End on Sea. I'm your host, 4 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:13.640 Jamie Evans, joined as always by mister Rory Jocelyn. Yes, 5 00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:18.719 and today we are going back to the oldest film 6 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:22.000 we have ever reviewed on this show. It's a second 7 00:00:22.039 --> 00:01:25.840 take on nineteen thirty's Animal Crackers. Animal Crackers is a 8 00:01:25.959 --> 00:01:30.680 nineteen thirty American pre code comedy movie starring the Marx Brothers. 9 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:33.840 Directed by Victor Human. It is based on the nineteen 10 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:36.799 twenty eight musical Animal Crackers by George S. Kaufman and 11 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:41.959 Maury Reiskind, which also starred the Marx Brothers and Margaret Dumont. 12 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:44.480 This is the second feature film of the Marx Brothers, 13 00:01:44.519 --> 00:01:48.879 the previous one being The Coconuts. Coconuts, it says on here. 14 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:51.719 Yeah, yeah, so it's spelt weird, but it is it's stylized. 15 00:01:51.719 --> 00:01:56.000 I don't know it is coconuts. Yeah, sorry, I'm misread. Yeah, 16 00:01:56.200 --> 00:01:59.239 cow nuts on Rotten Tomorrow's. The movie has a ninety 17 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:05.799 seven and the initial response according to Wikipedia. The film 18 00:02:05.840 --> 00:02:09.039 was critically praised on its original release, with critic Mordaunt 19 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:12.000 Hall of The New York Times giving it a positive review, 20 00:02:12.039 --> 00:02:15.479 describing it as a further example of amusing nonsense. This 21 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:18.840 mad affair suits the principles, and its absurdities brought forth 22 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:22.479 gales of laughter yesterday afternoon. He added the caveat that 23 00:02:22.599 --> 00:02:24.680 it is, however, the sort of thing that will only 24 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:27.039 appeal to those who revel in the work of these 25 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:31.560 four brothers. Martin Dickstein of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle agreed, 26 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:34.800 calling it an improvement on The Coconuts in which the 27 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:38.719 brothers managed to reach the topmost heights of lunacy, concluding 28 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:41.280 it was just about the surest cure for the blues 29 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:45.479 that could ever be prescribed. Animal Crackers also received positive 30 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:49.319 coverage from trade publications. The Film Daily compared it favorably 31 00:02:49.319 --> 00:02:52.439 to The Coconuts, writing the four Marx brothers are back 32 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:55.639 in the Talkers, this time doing better than in their first. 33 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:58.800 Noting that there was not much plot, they observed that 34 00:02:59.080 --> 00:03:02.120 whilst most of the partey is nonsense, it gets the 35 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:06.360 laughs and that's what counts. The Film Spectator gave a 36 00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:13.879 dissenting negative review, writing I'm sorry I saw it. Sam 37 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:17.840 Silverman in Variety offered a favorable review, commenting on its 38 00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:21.919 financial success and implications for the film industry in adapting 39 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:25.800 stage comedy to the screen. Perhaps a little trade stuff 40 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:28.240 here might serve better than a waste of words to 41 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:31.080 tell about a Doe film that's already in. 42 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:35.759 It a Doe film. Maybe they had more relevance because 43 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:38.039 there was quite a few things in the film and 44 00:03:38.120 --> 00:03:41.400 I think probably will have then come up in reviews 45 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:44.879 where they'd be referring to vaudeville, because Vaudeville would have 46 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:46.439 been huge at the time, and obviously that's where the 47 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:48.759 Marx Brothers came from and what they were known for. 48 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:51.719 He predicted that the public would stop going to see 49 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:55.360 touring stage shows, opting instead to wait for the release 50 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:56.199 of the film. 51 00:03:56.439 --> 00:03:58.080 Well other than musical is He's not wrong? 52 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:02.479 No, giving paramount extreme credit for reproducing animal Crackers intact 53 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:05.599 from the stage. That is of such benefit. It asks 54 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:09.039 why animal Crackers on stage at five dollars fifty when 55 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:11.759 even the rawer lights No, they will see it later 56 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:15.080 on the screen for fifty or seventy five cents. Critics 57 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:18.319 and filmmakers recognized the film's significance in the decades following 58 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:21.240 its initial release. In his nineteen fifty four review, French 59 00:04:21.319 --> 00:04:25.040 New Wave director Francois Truffaux called the Marx Brothers the 60 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:29.120 greatest American comedians of the pre war decade, ranking Animal 61 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:32.319 Crackers alongside A Night at the Opera as their best work. 62 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:36.639 Truffaux further noted that the film had enduring appeal, writing 63 00:04:36.680 --> 00:04:39.240 that one laughs with this movie as much as one 64 00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:42.800 did twenty years ago. The nineteen seventy four re release 65 00:04:42.839 --> 00:04:45.879 of Animal Crackers also prompted critics to reassess the film. 66 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:48.160 In a review for the Los Angeles Free Press, critic 67 00:04:48.279 --> 00:04:52.040 Dick Locked wrote, with a Marx Brothers movie, success becomes 68 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:55.399 largely a matter of routines, and Animal Crackers provide some 69 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:58.959 of their best. David Sterritt of the Christian Science Monitor 70 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:02.360 noted that even though the film's production was dated, animal 71 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:05.639 Crackers is a peach. John J. O'Connor's review in The 72 00:05:05.639 --> 00:05:08.519 New York Times from the nineteen seventy nine CBS television 73 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:12.879 broadcast described the Marx Brothers' routines as uneven, but still 74 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:15.680 found them funny. At one point, Groucho turns towards the 75 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:18.240 camera and explains all the jokes can't be good. You've 76 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:21.759 got to expect that once in a while. In Animal Crackers, however, 77 00:05:22.120 --> 00:05:26.000 the good ones are very very good. The film continues 78 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.040 to receive plaudits from reviewers and filmmakers, with director Jim 79 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:32.240 Jarmush listing the Marx Brothers in an article describing his 80 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:37.199 guilty pleasures, specifically citing Animal Crackers. Actor and director Stanley 81 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:39.920 Tucci featured the film in a curated selection of work 82 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:43.160 for Time magazine, calling it one of the greatest movies 83 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:47.240 ever made. Comedian and actor Keegan Michael Key cited The 84 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:50.759 Marx Brothers as an influence on his work, expressing his 85 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:54.959 preference for Animal Crackers over Duck Soup Man. 86 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:59.680 I love Keegan Michael Key as Jamie Knows, I love 87 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:02.759 Keep Peel the Sketch Show, and there's quite a bit 88 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:05.120 of it. It's very different, but there's quite a bit 89 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:07.480 of it where there's a lot of wordplay that would 90 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:10.600 then connect to the Marx Brothers and Grat Show in particular, 91 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:13.920 but also Chico somewhat. And then there's also quite a 92 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:16.560 little bit of slapstick that would be very similar to Harpo. 93 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:19.040 So I can see the influence in the work of 94 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:21.360 Key and Peele, and also specifically in the work of 95 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:24.759 Keegan Michael Key, because he's obviously done stuff outside of 96 00:06:24.839 --> 00:06:27.680 Kean Peele being in multiple films. There's one. There's what 97 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:30.399 he's did with John Cena, which I haven't watched yet, 98 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:33.519 but I've seen the outtake where he's crying and it 99 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:37.079 keeps making John Cena corpse right. I don't know if 100 00:06:37.079 --> 00:06:39.759 you've seen that, but it's hilarious. It's just the way 101 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:41.920 he goes full at it at the crag, but it's 102 00:06:41.959 --> 00:06:47.519 like it's comedy craying, so you're just like ah, and 103 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:50.879 it's like the way he's going at it, just John 104 00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:52.240 Cena can't code. 105 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:56.120 I saw when he did the comedy speech with President Obama. Yes, 106 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:59.560 that was quite fun. Yeah. So Rory, you added Animal 107 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:02.439 Crackers through the list of movies that needed a second take. 108 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:04.279 So why don't you tell the audience a little bit 109 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:07.600 about your earliest memory of Animal Crackers. 110 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.120 So I do not know when I first watched this film, 111 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:12.360 because I've been watching it since I was probably about 112 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:15.560 two years old, maybe earlier, so I won't have any 113 00:07:15.560 --> 00:07:18.560 memory of that. I grew up with the Marx Brothers. 114 00:07:19.319 --> 00:07:21.480 My dad was a big fan of Marx Brothers and 115 00:07:21.800 --> 00:07:26.120 as such it became kind of a regular staple in 116 00:07:26.199 --> 00:07:29.160 my house. Sorry, Jamie just put his glasses on upside 117 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:32.040 down to prove that he is a wacky boy as well, 118 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:36.680 but basically, yeah, my dad would always put it on. 119 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:39.720 All the various Marx Brothers films, I've seen almost all 120 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:41.519 of them. I've seen all of the ones that they're 121 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:44.839 together in. There's a couple that there's one I think 122 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:47.000 I've not seen yet, which is Groucho Marx a girl 123 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:49.079 in every port. That's the only one I've not seen. 124 00:07:49.120 --> 00:07:51.560 That's just him on his own though from nineteen fifty two. 125 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:54.040 But all the others I've seen, and I've seen lots 126 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:57.079 of documentary films and stuff about the Marx Brothers. I'm 127 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:00.920 fascinated by them. And as Jamie may Or may not 128 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:04.519 pull about, and certainly is evident in our sister show VGMP, 129 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:07.519 a lot of the pun work, a lot of wordplay, 130 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:10.800 a lot of you know, me being an annoying bastard 131 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:17.399 comes from youth spent imitating and admiring the Marx Brothers work. 132 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:21.120 So as far as Animal Crackers is concerned, specifically, I 133 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:23.680 don't know when I first watched it. I've always enjoyed 134 00:08:23.720 --> 00:08:27.240 this film. I hadn't. It's the first one of their 135 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:29.639 films that I've watched from a young age. Coconuts I 136 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:33.039 only really saw when I was older, and it isn't 137 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:36.399 as good. And the main issue with using Coconuts first, 138 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:39.399 because Coconuts has I'll say one thing for Coconuts the 139 00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:43.399 makeup is really stage to the point where when you're 140 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:47.320 watching it you're like, everyone looks like way too made up. 141 00:08:47.559 --> 00:08:50.360 The women's faces are like super white where they've got 142 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:53.720 like thick white stage makeup on and then like really 143 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:57.279 dark eyebrows and stuff drawn on, because that's how you'd 144 00:08:57.279 --> 00:08:59.159 need to see them from the back of a theater. 145 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:02.559 Because they've got close ups and stuff in the movie, 146 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:06.879 you're like, yeah, you could have, yeah, dial that ship back. 147 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:09.480 In this they have dialed it back, so everything looks 148 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:13.200 a little bit more naturalistic. But also the other problem 149 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:15.639 with the Coconuts and the reason I didn't start with it, 150 00:09:15.639 --> 00:09:17.600 A hadn't watched it from a very young age, and 151 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:21.480 B the sound quality is the worst thing in the Coconuts. 152 00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:25.600 It's quite muffled, even on the blu ray right and 153 00:09:25.639 --> 00:09:29.480 it's it's because it's because of decay. I'm fairly certain 154 00:09:29.480 --> 00:09:32.159 it's either because of early mic recordings not being that great, 155 00:09:32.759 --> 00:09:35.320 or it might be decay or a mixture of the two. 156 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:38.039 Because we are talking about some of the earliest talkies. 157 00:09:38.279 --> 00:09:42.759 Animal Crackers has in comparison, relatively clear sound, as well 158 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:45.879 as the you know, some interesting visuals which we'll get to. 159 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:48.639 Did they ever do any silent films, the Marx Brothers. 160 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:51.399 Or were they they were talkies? Only the only one 161 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:54.000 really that would have worked in silent is Harpo, The 162 00:09:54.279 --> 00:09:58.120 you know, Groucho is all about quick, witten, sharp, you know, 163 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:01.519 attacking conversation. Yeah, And the main thing with Chico is 164 00:10:01.559 --> 00:10:04.600 that he's so dumb. He can confuse Graucho by being 165 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:08.159 too dumb for the wordplay to work, whereas I can't 166 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:09.799 really do maybe. 167 00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:11.480 Our Chico at Heart. But a lot of this word 168 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:14.840 plate doesn't work. A lot of it's really forced. 169 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.480 A couple of bits are forced, like mouse and Yes, 170 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:20.399 there are there are some jokes that are forced, but 171 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:22.799 there are some that are really good. 172 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:24.559 I guess Mouse and Moose works if you have a 173 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:25.480 Scottish accent. 174 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:32.399 Yeah, but doesn't Chico doesn't. Notch Gracho Gratcho doesn't. 175 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:33.919 I'm the one who's been drinking all day. 176 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:38.639 Wrong. Yeah, this is my favorite fucking comedy trio. And 177 00:10:38.679 --> 00:10:39.080 I can't. 178 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:42.559 You're gonna be all right driving home? 179 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:47.720 No? But yeah, So I added this because I I 180 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:49.799 the premise of stc Is. I wanted to, you know, 181 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:52.279 have a look at various different stuff I've I've brought 182 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:54.960 in a couple of other comedies before that are more 183 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:58.840 modern but of a similar style, like Airplane, which has 184 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:00.519 a lot of word play and stuff like that, but 185 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:03.200 is obviously a lot more modern than this. And this 186 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:05.919 is very much my jam when it comes to comedy. However, 187 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:09.600 as we discovered with Airplane, this type of comedy isn't 188 00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:10.879 so much your jam. 189 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:15.519 So can you believe we're only a few years away, 190 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:18.600 four years away from this being one hundred years old. 191 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:20.799 It's nearly hit its centenary. And you know what, for me, 192 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:25.240 not this film as much, but a lot of this 193 00:11:25.360 --> 00:11:28.480 still works. There is quite a bit of it that's aged. 194 00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:29.919 And I don't just mean in the fact that it's 195 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:32.679 black and white, but there are certain jokes that rely 196 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:39.000 on you knowing either the sensibilities of the era some 197 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:40.759 of the jokes require that, and some of the other 198 00:11:40.840 --> 00:11:42.720 jokes require you to know, and some of these I 199 00:11:42.720 --> 00:11:45.879 don't even I still don't get require you to know 200 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:49.360 about people of the era. There was one joke that 201 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:51.639 I even looked up and even Google was like, I 202 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:53.440 don't fucking know where. 203 00:11:53.879 --> 00:11:57.960 I fucking about. You don't know, I don't know, babe. 204 00:11:58.200 --> 00:12:01.080 Yeah, there's one where Chico there's a aracter called Roscoe 205 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:03.879 and he goes this. He says, I think I see 206 00:12:03.879 --> 00:12:07.080 you somewhere before he goes, well, the papers will run 207 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:10.759 my photo and he goes, oh, you're Abe Cabibble and 208 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:13.559 he goes, I'm not decabilians. Well, if not Abe Cabibel, 209 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:16.120 who are you? I don't know who Abe Cabibble is. 210 00:12:16.519 --> 00:12:19.000 So I looked it up and Google was just like, 211 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:23.960 what the closest I got was Adiola Caboli or something, 212 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:27.120 and he was an American baseball star but he was 213 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:30.480 like twenty no, sorry was he was a baseball star 214 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:33.480 from three years after this film was made. And he's 215 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:34.639 still not Abe Cabibel. 216 00:12:34.759 --> 00:12:37.799 So let's see if Google can help us. Now, Hey, Google, 217 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:43.840 who was Abe Cabible? So Abe Cabible? So he's fictional oh. 218 00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:47.000 Abe Cabibble was the main character in the popular early 219 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:50.240 American comic strip Abe the Agent. 220 00:12:50.679 --> 00:12:54.360 Oh oh, that might explain the Abe the Fishman joke, 221 00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:55.720 then that they say afterwards. 222 00:12:55.759 --> 00:13:00.600 He's inspired by the Yiddish slang phrase ish cabible, which 223 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:04.519 means I don't care or so what. The phrase itself, 224 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:07.799 popularized in the nineteen tens, led to the comic strip 225 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:12.240 and later to the stage name of musician Merwyn Bogue, 226 00:13:12.600 --> 00:13:17.039 who went by Ish Kabibl in k Kaiser's band, making 227 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:18.600 the name widespread. 228 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.799 But that had explained why. He then says, the papers 229 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:23.879 will run my picture, and he goes, you don't look 230 00:13:23.919 --> 00:13:27.799 like Abe Kabibbel because it's a comic strip. And then 231 00:13:27.960 --> 00:13:30.799 when he calls him Abe the Fishman, that he says, 232 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:33.200 you look like But then he says he was the fishman. 233 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.639 So maybe he was a phishmonger or a fishman, but 234 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:39.639 maybe he wasn't called Abe and the aby bit was 235 00:13:39.679 --> 00:13:42.480 taken from the Abe Kabibble I think so. Yeah, that's 236 00:13:42.519 --> 00:13:44.120 interesting though, So. 237 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:46.159 In terms of my own experience with the Marx Brothers, 238 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:48.519 I was pretty much only aware of them from pop 239 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:51.879 culture references and not from the best of Saucers, largely 240 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:53.879 from interviews with Alice Cooper where he talks about his 241 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.799 friendship with Grouchow and from the movie The Devil's Rejects 242 00:13:56.840 --> 00:13:59.159 that we will be covering later on. This season of 243 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:02.720 the show has a weird gimmick. I guess rob Zombie 244 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:05.480 liked The Marx Brothers. Where the serial killers in that 245 00:14:05.919 --> 00:14:09.759 film keep using names from the Marx Brothers. 246 00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:12.080 Well, the main one is called Captain, the clown is 247 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:14.840 called Captain. Is the name of Groucho in this film? 248 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:17.440 Yeah? So you have Otis be Driftwood. 249 00:14:17.559 --> 00:14:19.960 Yep, that's from Duck Soup. 250 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:24.120 Captain's boulding from this one. Yep. You have RJ Flywheel. 251 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:28.200 That was a radio drama, a radio comedy show that 252 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:30.480 he did. R J Flywheel wasn't in the films. That's 253 00:14:30.519 --> 00:14:33.200 a that's a deep cut for robs On begs. 254 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:36.600 Yeah, you have his baby Firefly. Is that from them 255 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:39.200 or the Firefly family in general? Is that from the Yeah? 256 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:44.720 So he was, Yeah, his name was Firefly in that 257 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:48.120 was in Duck Soup as well. Yeah. Yeah, rufous T 258 00:14:48.279 --> 00:14:49.639 Firefly was his name in Duck Soup. 259 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:52.320 Yeah, there's a rufous T fight yeah. So other than 260 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:55.399 those pop culture references, the only other experience I had 261 00:14:55.440 --> 00:14:58.000 with the Marx Brothers is you showed me duck Soup 262 00:14:58.039 --> 00:14:59.960 one time, yes, and. 263 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:02.080 I thought you'd find it funny for it. 264 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:06.480 And you said, hey, let's try Animal Crackers, so fair play. Well. 265 00:15:06.519 --> 00:15:09.279 I was going to suggest duck Soup again, but because 266 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:11.639 we both watched it, but I remember you didn't like it, 267 00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:14.519 so I thought i'd try something else. Realistically, thinking back, 268 00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:17.559 I should have gone with Night at the Opera simply 269 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:19.879 because Night of the Opera follows the three act structure 270 00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:23.279 a lot better and is considered by some to be 271 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:28.559 their best movie. Generally, people like either Duck. Usually, if 272 00:15:28.919 --> 00:15:31.600 a Marx Brother's favorite is either Duck Soup or Night 273 00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:34.120 at the Opera, Duck Soup is better if you prefer 274 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:37.120 the chaotic nature of the Marx Brothers. Night of the 275 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:39.919 Opera is better if you prefer that chaos to be 276 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:44.519 trapped into a storyline that is a lot more refined. 277 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:49.799 It plays like a proper movie, whereas all of like 278 00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:54.039 Duck Soup and certainly Animal Crackers, plays like there's a 279 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:57.399 play going on, but the Marx Brothers are basically injecting 280 00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:01.799 themselves and destroying it. So it's a very different vibe. 281 00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:05.679 One is way more wild, one is almost controlled chaos. 282 00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:08.279 I was happy to watch it though, because I like 283 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:13.840 studying the history of film. This is the second oldest 284 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:18.399 movie I've ever seen, not counting so I'm talking there 285 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:21.320 about actual like feature movies. 286 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:21.919 Yeah. 287 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:25.440 Obviously I've seen some of the very early film stuff 288 00:16:25.759 --> 00:16:29.039 where it's like a minute long and it's like the 289 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:31.759 first thing that was ever shot on a camera type thing. 290 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:35.879 And I've seen the famous staircase sequence from Battleship for 291 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:39.679 Tempkin as well, which is where continuity editing was like invented. 292 00:16:39.879 --> 00:16:41.799 Wow. No, I haven't seen that one myself, So. 293 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:45.399 Yeah, that's a Russian film. Ye. But now the oldest 294 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.919 feature I have ever seen predates this by a decade. 295 00:16:49.360 --> 00:16:53.519 It is nineteen twenty's The Cabinet of Doctor Kaligari, Wow, 296 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:57.440 which is a German expressionist film. It is the one 297 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:00.440 you are you familiar with Robert Zombies Living Dead Girl 298 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:01.120 music video. 299 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:03.720 Yes, that music video is based. 300 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:07.400 On the Cabinet of Dr Calgary. It's very very tim 301 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:09.480 Burtonish now obviously. 302 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:11.240 Very Asian. 303 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:14.400 Dr Kaligary is, but it's. 304 00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:16.319 It's surprising that he hasn't remade it, but maybe he 305 00:17:16.359 --> 00:17:16.880 doesn't want to. 306 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:19.799 I think he tried at one point and then couldn't. 307 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:22.160 Someone else got the rights and made a version that's 308 00:17:22.200 --> 00:17:25.519 apparently terrible, and everyone's just kind of protect agreed to 309 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:30.400 pretend it doesn't exist. But it's the sets are very stagy, 310 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:34.079 but that's kind of they're not attempting to make them 311 00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:37.400 look real, Like all of the trees are really like zig. 312 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:41.039 Zaggy, and yeah, that's it's stylized more than it is naturalist. 313 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.799 Yeah, but this is definitely the oldest comedy movie I've 314 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:47.440 ever seen. Before this, probably the oldest I've ever seen 315 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:48.400 was probably some. 316 00:17:48.559 --> 00:17:50.720 Like It Hot, So yeah, it would be the general 317 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:53.880 with Buster Keaton is the oldest comedy movie I've seen. 318 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:57.599 That's a really good film, but that is a silent film, 319 00:17:57.680 --> 00:18:00.000 whereas this is not. And I've also seen Metropolis, which 320 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:02.519 older than this, but that's not a comedy. And I've 321 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:05.200 also seen the original Sferratu, which is older than this, 322 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:06.960 but is also again not a comedy. 323 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:09.559 Metropolis is the same year as this, and next nineteen thirteen. 324 00:18:09.559 --> 00:18:10.839 In Metropolis No. 325 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:13.559 Nineteen twenty eight, I think, oh, Wow. Yeah, Metropolis is 326 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:15.440 still in the twenties and it was one of the 327 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:17.720 most expensive films ever made at the time. I've also 328 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:20.079 seen the two thousand and one anime remake by the 329 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:22.839 guy who did a Kira and actually, you know what, 330 00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:26.440 it's not the same film really, It's got a lot 331 00:18:26.440 --> 00:18:28.799 of the same premise. But the two thousand one Metropolis 332 00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:30.160 is actually a pretty down good time. 333 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:31.480 Oh really, yeah. 334 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:33.559 I actually I have actually have praise for that. One 335 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:34.799 of the things that I do have praised for it 336 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:36.400 as well is the soundtrack, but we'll get to that 337 00:18:36.440 --> 00:18:38.519 when we cover it, if we ever cover it. But yeah, 338 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:41.039 I just wanted to say, usually remakes you're like, what 339 00:18:41.160 --> 00:18:44.359 the hell, But actually anime Metropolis is actually quite good. 340 00:18:44.599 --> 00:18:47.920 Okay, fantastic so on too, animal Crackers, And the first 341 00:18:47.960 --> 00:18:50.599 few things that jump out at me is, obviously, if 342 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.240 you're going to go back and watch this movie as 343 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:54.160 a model on it, she's gotta be prepared for the 344 00:18:54.200 --> 00:18:56.279 ways in which it is aged. Obviously it's all in 345 00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:59.680 black and white. The sound also has a little bit 346 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:01.880 of an shoe not in the same way that it 347 00:19:01.880 --> 00:19:04.119 sounds like the coconuts hand where it's really muffled. That 348 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:07.440 sounds not great. This has a thing that you get 349 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.839 with a lot of these early studio pictures, which is 350 00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:13.839 when they're on the bigger sets, there is a bit 351 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:17.519 of echo because the mics are not nearly close enough 352 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:19.839 to the actors not to eliminate that, because they used 353 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:21.839 to do it stage style where the mics were in 354 00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:25.119 the ceiling and they're just picking them up from that distance. 355 00:19:25.240 --> 00:19:27.599 The other thing as well is there's not many close ups. 356 00:19:27.799 --> 00:19:29.720 We're used to close ups in films, and it actually 357 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:32.319 looks really weird to watch a film without close ups now, 358 00:19:32.519 --> 00:19:34.559 because you're like, well, of course I want to get 359 00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:36.559 and the benefit of the closeups is you could then 360 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:39.519 get the micing close. Yeah, but they because it's all 361 00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:44.079 kind of mid shots on massive sets. As you say, 362 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:45.440 the microphones are miles away. 363 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:49.519 Yeah. And as we've alluded to already, this isn't really 364 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:53.640 written in a way that a modern audience we're very, 365 00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:58.480 very familiar with three acts structure. Now. This feels more like, 366 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:02.480 as you say, a vaudeville show that has a very 367 00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:05.839 loose plot put in it to a point where there 368 00:20:05.880 --> 00:20:09.799 are multiple times For those who don't know, because I 369 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:13.000 don't know what the age of our listeners are. Vaudeville 370 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:15.559 was kind of a variety act thing that was really 371 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:19.960 popular back in the nineteen tens, nineteen twenties, nineteen thirties, 372 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:22.920 so you'd have a whole variety of different acts. This 373 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:26.440 is kind of the same thing, which is very cool 374 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:30.920 from that perspective, but to a modern audience it would 375 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:36.359 feel odd because this film thinks nothing of just full 376 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:39.640 on stopping everything that's happening to do a ten minute 377 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:42.400 sequence where a guy sits and plays the harp, and 378 00:20:42.440 --> 00:20:44.960 I literally mean that's all that happens. He just sits there, 379 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:47.640 plays the harp. And there's another bit where a guy 380 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:50.240 just sits there and plays the piano, and this film 381 00:20:50.279 --> 00:20:53.720 thinks nothing of doing that because it's got that variety 382 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:58.240 show aspect in mind, whereas in a modern film, you 383 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:00.519 imagine going to a studio and going, yes, so there's 384 00:21:00.519 --> 00:21:04.640 this ten minute sequence where we're going to we're going 385 00:21:04.680 --> 00:21:07.880 to sit and play the harp, and that studio would 386 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:11.160 be like fired, Yeah, we're going to go and get 387 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:14.279 generic director number twenty off of the lot and he 388 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:16.000 will do everything we say. 389 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.759 Yeah, crack, or even if even if the director indulged 390 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:21.960 themselves and filmed it in the and try to keep 391 00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:23.400 it in the edit that you be like. 392 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:26.720 No, that's what director's cuts. 393 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:29.119 So for Yeah, so they'd probably slice it out and 394 00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:31.359 they go, we look, it's great. Put it as a 395 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:33.279 deleted scene on the DVD. 396 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:36.240 We could use it to justify selling the four K 397 00:21:36.359 --> 00:21:37.400 Blu ray collection. 398 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:41.880 Yeah. Yeah. The thing is though, actually, actually, to be fair, 399 00:21:42.039 --> 00:21:44.880 to try and bring it into a modern twenty twenty 400 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:49.839 six ideal, would it not be kind of like it well, 401 00:21:49.839 --> 00:21:51.880