Monkey Business (1931)

Comedy. No MPAA Rating.

Contains some violence, sexual content, and a bit of alcohol and tobacco use.

The Marx Brothers are as funny in the 21st century as they were at the beginning of the 20th century.

There were five brothers all told and they began their act in Vaudeville (singing, then comedy), progressing to black and white "pictures", color films, and finally TV. In the 21st century, they can also be found on DVD and the podcasts of cult fan based pages. The theater production of Minnie's Boys shows how their mother Minnie encouraged them into show business and how they found their trademark characters in old trunks of old clothing from the old country.

It is these unique characters that followed the four brothers into the movies. Their uncle, Minnie's brother, was in the comedy team of Vaudeville's and films' Gallagher and Shean. He was Shean, and a more striking resemblance of Groucho, I've never seen.

The Marx Brothers made several black and white feature films, and their third, in 1931, is about business - MONKEY BUSINESS.

In Monkey Business, we have as stars Groucho, Zeppo, Chico, and Harpp (Gummo was their agent or manager). The movies scenes are comedic sketches connected up on film. In this film, they are a barbershop quartet of sorts.

The boys stow away on a ship bound for American, hiding in barrels and signing. The ship's crew hear them signing in the barrels. The foursome escape the barrels and go off among the passengers, thinking they can fade into the scenery, or at least the entertainment. .

The brothers take on the personas of a puppeteer, a barber, and a group of musicians and attract too much attention to themselves.

When they quietly break into a stateroom, Groucho and Zeppo run up on a gangster, Alky Briggs (actor Harry Woods). The crook forces the brothers to work for him as hit men, of all things. This is illegal business with plenty of monkey buinsess attached. Groucho and Zeppo are to hit Alky's major opposition, Joe Helton (actor Rockliffe Fellows).

Groucho, Zeppo, and Alky, brothers Chico and Harpo have run into a Hilton Hotel. Nabbing them, Alky makes them bodyguards, another odd assignment bound to go wrong.

Groucho, always flirting with any woman, flirts with Alky's wife (Thelma Todd), and Zeppo discovers the pretty young woman (Ruth Hall) he has been pursuing is the opposition's, Helton's, daughter. A fine kettle of fish. Pandemonium ensues, but the Marx Brothers escape with their lives, while no one is snuffed in this film..

Groucho smokes a lot of cigars in this film, or hold them as if he has been smoking them and he lets loose with a lot of lot of elementary sexual innuendo, but even children will likely see this all as foolish and laughable. There are plenty of gangsters, guns and kidnapping; but, no one really gets hurt. It is all bumbling.

Harpo plays the harp and Chico plays piano, so there is some music and culture added to the monkey business. Zeppo wins over Joe's daughter and Groucho confuses everyone. It is entirely a funny film, sometimes slapstick, sometimes witty, sometimes goofy. It is all fun. For example, the foursome cannot get ashore in America, so they steal the passport of Maurice Chevalier, and try to impersonate him - a famous French singer and actor. This is some of the funniest work in the movie.

The film was directed by Norman Z. McLeod and written by Arthur Sheekman, William B. Johnstone, S. J. Perelman.

Quote from Groucho in the film:

Afraid, me? A man who's licked his weight in wild caterpillars? Afraid? You bet I'm afraid.