I love the classic slapstick and comedy of The Marx Brothers so when I got the news that a box is being released by Arrow Films this year I was over the moon.
Back in the day before we had “talking pictures”, The Marx Brothers Chico, Groucho, Harpo and Zeppo were a tour-de-force and when the movies developed sound, the brothers signed on the dotted line with Paramount Pictures and brought their craziness from the stage to the big screen for cinema audiences across the world to enjoy.
From 1929 – 1933 they made five films that still have people laughing at today, one of which is the very much loved Duck Soup from 1933. This new box set from Arrow Films not only features Duck Soup but also The Cocoanuts (1929), Animal Crackers (1930), Monkey Business (1931) and Horse Feathers (1932).
The Marx Brothers Box Set from Arrow Films
The Paramount era represents the Marx Brothers at their absolute finest, retaining all of the energy and controlled chaos of their stage shows. Plots are unimportant – it’s the gags, set-pieces and one-liners that matter: “Why a duck?”, “Hello, I Must Be Going”, “Hooray for Captain Spaulding”, “That’s the bunk!”, Horse Feathers’ “Swordfish” scene and classic mirror sequence in Duck Soup.
Grouch Marx in Duck Soup (Courtesy Arrow Films)
The movies are directed by Robert Florey, Joseph Santley, Victor Heerman, Norman Z McLeod and Leo McCarey, starring The Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont and Thelma Todd.
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of all five features, transferred from original film elements by Universal
- Original 1.0 mono audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
- Commentary on The Cocoanuts by film scholar Anthony Slide
- Commentary on Animal Crackers by film historian Jeffrey Vance
- Commentary on Monkey Business by Marx Brothers historian Robert S Bader and Bill Marx, son of Harpo Marx
- Commentary on Horse Feathers by film critic FX Feeney
- Commentary on Duck Soup by Bader and film critic Leonard Maltin
- The Marx Brothers: Hollywood’s Kings of Chaos, a feature-length documentary containing interviews with Leonard Maltin, Dick Cavett and others
- Three excerpts from NBC’s The Today Show featuring interviews with Harpo Marx, Groucho Marx and Bill Marx
- Reversible sleeve featuring two pieces based on artwork from the films’ original release
The first pressing only: Perfect-bound book featuring new and archival writing on the films.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
