TCM Schedule for Friday, August 14, 2015 -- Summer Under The Stars - Groucho Marx

[Staph]

Today's Star is the one, the only, Groucho Marx, born Julius Henry Marx, on October 2, 1890, in New York City. He died on August 19, 1977, three days after Elvis Presley. Unfortunately, due to the furor over the former's death, the media paid little attention to the passing of this comic genius. I've never forgiven Elvis. Enjoy!


6:00 AM -- Sunday Night at the Trocadero (1937)
In this short film, Reginald Denny introduces various singing and dancing acts.
Dir: George Sidney
Cast: Connee Boswell, Gaylord Carter, Groucho Marx
BW-20 mins,


6:30 AM -- Double Dynamite (1951)
A bank teller reaps the rewards of saving a gangster's life, but can't reveal where he got the money.
Dir: Irving Cummings
Cast: Jane Russell, Groucho Marx, Frank Sinatra
BW-80 mins, CC,

Using the picture's original title, "It's Only Money," Jule Styne (music) and Sammy Cahn (lyrics) provided a comical song for Frank Sinatra and Groucho Marx (a duet) plus Jane Russell (a trio reprise).


8:00 AM -- A Girl In Every Port (1952)
Two sailors invest in a racehorse.
Dir: Chester Erskine
Cast: Groucho Marx, Marie Wilson, William Bendix
BW-87 mins, CC,

Groucho performs My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean with William Bendix.


9:30 AM -- Room Service (1938)
Three zany producers try to extend their hotel credit until they can get a play mounted.
Dir: William A. Seiter
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
BW-79 mins, CC,

The only film The Marx Brothers made at RKO. During salary negotiations with the studio, erstwhile member Zeppo Marx represented The Marx Brothers, threatening to rejoin the group if their demands weren't met. This is also the only The Marx Brothers movie based on material not specially created for them.


11:00 AM -- At The Circus (1939)
The Marx Bros. team up to keep a circus from going bankrupt.
Dir: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
BW-87 mins, CC,

For Groucho Marx's performance of "'Lydia, the Tattooed Lady", additional lyrics were written by lyricist E.Y. Harburg exclusively for screenings of the film for Allied servicemen in European war zones. The special lyrics included the line "When she stands the world grows littler; When she sits, she sits on Hitler.' The version of the song featuring the special lyrics was filmed, and included in prints of the film distributed in Great Britain and France. The version of the song containing the special lyrics was greeted with marked enthusiasm during screenings in those countries.


12:30 PM -- Go West (1940)
Three zanies tackle outlaws and Indians when they head westward.
Dir: Edward Buzzell
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
BW-80 mins, CC,

The name of Groucho Marx's character, "S. Quentin Quayle", caused a stir when the film was first released due to the subtle but clear joke: the use of the term "San Quentin quail", which means "jail bait".


2:00 PM -- The Big Store (1941)
A detective and his zany pals take over a failing department store.
Dir: Charles Riesner
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
BW-83 mins, CC,

"The Big Store" is American con artists' jargon for a facility used by con artists in a "Big Con", i.e., one that requires multiple days to pull off, with a realistic setting, characters, etc. Essentially, it's a full-on drama put on for the benefit of the mark. The Big Store itself exists to be dressed up as, for example, a brokerage or gambling house, depending on the con. A well-managed Big Store can go from an empty set of rooms to a bustling office with activity in all directions--and back again--in a matter of a few hours. Not seen very much these days, the Big Store had its golden age en the 1930s and 1940s, around about the time this movie was made. A well-known film example of a "Big Store" con is the one played on Robert Shaw by Robert Redford and Paul Newman in The Sting (1973).


3:30 PM -- The Dick Cavett Show: Groucho Marx (1969)
Groucho Marx appears on The Dick Cavett Show in an interview that originally aired June 13, 1969.
C-51 mins, CC,

Groucho talks about his childhood, vaudeville, censorship, his brothers, Irving Thalberg, Margaret Dumont, and sings one of his signature songs, 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady', along with 'Everybody Works But Father' and 'Father's Day'.


4:30 PM -- The Cocoanuts (1929)
While running a hotel in Florida, three clowns get caught up in the search for stolen jewels.
Dir: Joseph Santley
Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx
BW-93 mins,

All paper used as props is soaking wet. This was done to prevent overloading the early sound equipment with paper-crinkling noise. Filmed on a stage in New York City. Sound films were still so new that soundproofing was not installed, so the film had to be shot in the early hours of the morning to reduce outside traffic noise.


6:15 PM -- Animal Crackers (1930)
Three zanies try to recover a stolen painting during a madcap house party.
Dir: Victor Heerman
Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx
BW-97 mins, CC,

Zeppo Marx, the youngest of the five brothers, was very skilled at impersonating his older siblings and occasionally performed in their place when one of them was ill or unavailable. The blackout that occurs when Chico and Harpo are attempting to steal the painting was contrived so that Zeppo could play Captain Spaulding on a day that Groucho was not on the set. (Zeppo played Spaulding several times during the show's live run; Groucho stated, "he was so good as Captain Spaulding that I would have let him play the part indefinitely, if they had allowed me to smoke in the audience.&quot



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: SUMMER UNDER THE STARS: GROUCHO MARX



8:00 PM -- Monkey Business (1931)
Four stowaways get mixed up with gangsters while running riot on an ocean liner.
Dir: Norman McLeod
Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx
BW-78 mins, CC,

In the movie, Groucho Marx tells Thelma Todd, "You're a woman who's been getting nothing but dirty breaks. Well, we can clean and tighten your brakes, but you'll have to stay in the garage all night." Four years after making this movie, Thelma Todd died under mysterious circumstances. She was found dead in her car inside her backyard garage with the engine running. It is not known if her death from carbon monoxide poisoning was accidental, a murder, or suicide.


9:30 PM -- Horse Feathers (1932)
In an effort to beef up his school's football team, a college president mistakenly recruits two loonies.
Dir: Norman McLeod
Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx
BW-67 mins, CC,

Professor Wagstaff's exclamation, "Jumpin' anaconda!" is actually a reference to a company, Anaconda Copper, whom Groucho Marx had invested in heavily. When the stock market crash of 1929 occurred, Marx lost several hundred thousand dollars, hence the curse word in the movie.


10:45 PM -- Duck Soup (1933)
When he's named dictator of Freedonia, a con artist declares war on the neighboring kingdom.
Dir: Leo McCarey
Cast: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx
BW-69 mins, CC,

Groucho Marx offered the following explanation for the movie's title: "Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you'll duck soup the rest of your life."


12:00 AM -- A Night at the Opera (1935)
Three zanies turn an operatic performance into chaos in their efforts to promote their protege's romance with the leading lady.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
BW-91 mins, CC,

Producer Irving Thalberg would often call people in for meetings, and then keep them waiting in his office for hours while he attended other meetings on the MGM lot. One day, during pre-production for this picture, Thalberg kept The Marx Brothers waiting for several hours in his secretary's office while he was in his own office making phone calls. When Thalberg's secretary went home for the day, the brothers decided they'd had enough. They pushed the office file cabinets against Thalberg's door, trapping the producer in his office. Afterwards, Thalberg kept his appointments with the Marx Brothers, but would often interrupt his meetings with them and step out to attend other meetings--again keeping the brothers waiting for hours. One day Thalberg came back from another meeting to find Groucho Marx, Chico Marx and Harpo Marx sitting in his office completely naked, and roasting potatoes on sticks in his office fireplace. Thalberg sat down with them, had a potato and never missed or interrupted another meeting with the Marx Brothers.


2:00 AM -- A Day At The Races (1937)
A group of zanies tries to save a pretty girl's sanitarium.
Dir: Sam Wood
Cast: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
BW-109 mins, CC,

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Dance Direction -- Dave Gould for "All God's Children Got Rhythm"

Groucho Marx's character was initially to have been named Dr. Quackenbush, which he and everyone else thought was too silly a name to offend anyone. However, MGM's legal department discovered at least a dozen legitimate U.S. doctors named Quackenbush, so for legal reasons the name was changed to Hackenbush. Although initially dismayed by the name change, Groucho later came to like it. He cited "Dr. Hackenbush" as his favorite character from his films, and even occasionally signed letters to friends using that name.


4:00 AM -- The Story of Mankind (1957)
Satan and the spirit of mankind contend for the future of humanity.
Dir: Irwin Allen
Cast: Ronald Colman, Hedy Lamarr, Groucho Marx
C-100 mins, CC,

This was the first time that the Marx Brothers appeared in a color film, but it was their final film and they never appear together.

[longship]

1. Oh my. A day with the Marx Brothers.

Essentials.

Animal Crackers -- Hooray for Captain Spaulding! (Never shoot an elephant in your pajamas.) and the only example of a humorous bridge game on film.

Duck Soup -- political satire at its finest. A real gem.

A Night at the Opera -- probably the best overall Marx Bros work. "You can't fool me there is no sanity clause." The New York hotel scene -- the Marx Bros vs the hotel detective! Kitty Carlisle! And a lot of silliness at the opera. Plus, the best scene ever, in Groucho's stateroom.

A Day at the Races -- oh my! Dr. Hackenbush. One phone call to the Florida medical board can make a movie. Oh! I almost forgot. That and a physical examination of Margaret Dumont. And don't forget to not get Tuttsi Fruitsied at the race track.

The Marx's were genius humor.

[Auggie]

2. My DVR will be very busy

[CBHagman]

3. No fair! You got Groucho.

[Staph]

4. I've had a Groucho theme in my life!

I went to a Halloween party in college dressed as Harpo, with my boyfriend dressed as Groucho (he had a great mustache, but that was his best characteristic!).

Later I made a needlepoint picture, based on the album cover of An Evening With Groucho.




I adore his sense of humor! Smart is the new sexy!