Animal Crackers

Overview

Animal Crackers, like The Cocoanuts before is an all-but-literal translation to film of a smash-hit Marx Brothers Broadway musical. The aristocratic Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont) holds a weekend party at her Long Island Estate. Her guest of honor is famed (but likely fraudulent) African explorer Geoffrey T. Spaulding (Groucho Marx). Also showing up are renegade musician Signor Emmanuel Ravelli (Chico Marx), the mute, girl-chasing "Professor" (Harpo Marx) and Spaulding's faithful secretary Horatio Jamison (Zeppo Marx). The film, revolving around a stolen painting, finds Groucho lecturing on his most recent safari ("One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know"), Harpo and Chico unabashedly cheating at bridge, Groucho dictating a wildly nonsequitur letter to the firm of Hungerdunger, Hungerdunger, Hungerdunger and McCormick, and Groucho and Chico drawing up plans to build a house.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/07/2011
UPC:	0025192084706
Original Release:	1930
Rating:	G
Source:	STUDIO DISTRIBUTION SERVS LLC
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:37:00
Sales rank:	43,823

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Groucho Marx	Capt. Jeffrey Spaulding,The Professor,Signor Emanuel Ravelli,Horatio Jamison
Louis Sorin	Roscoe W. Chandler
Lillian Roth	Arabella Rittenhouse,Girl
Margaret Dumont	Mrs. Rittenhouse
Hal Thompson	John Parker
Margaret Irving	Mrs. Whitehead
Kathryn Reece	Grace Carpenter
Robert Greig	Hives, the Butler
Edward Metcalf	Inspector Hennessey
Donald MacBride	Bit Part
Marx Brothers	Actor
Harry Ruby	Composer
Bert Kalmar	Composer

Technical Credits

Morrie Ryskind

Morris Ryskind

Victor Heerman	Director
Morrie Ryskind	Screenwriter,Playwright
George S. Kaufman	Playwright
Morris Ryskind	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Anarchy has rarely been so enjoyable. Though many critics rank 1933's Duck Soup as the funniest Marx Brothers movie, others may prefer Animal Crackers, released in 1930. Based on the hit Broadway play by George S. Kaufman and Morris Ryskind, Animal Crackers features Groucho Marx as explorer Captain Spaulding, who is the guest of honor at a party hosted by wealthy matron Mrs. Rittenhouse (Groucho's favorite foil Margaret Dumont). The plot is a flimsy excuse for Groucho, Chico, and Harpo to run amok, with Zeppo playing his customary straight-man role. Director Victor Heerman is basically a bystander as the brothers take over, treating film as an extension of vaudeville. Animal Crackers was funnier and a bigger success than its predecessor, The Cocoanuts, and it marked the true beginning of the Marx Brothers' long and successful film careers, establishing their unique blend of physical and verbal mayhem. It has probably more memorable lines than any other Marx Brothers film. The most famous is Groucho's: "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know." There are also the customary zingers that Groucho directs at Dumont, such as: "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, which doesn't say much for you."