The best comedy is anarchic. It defies rules and
conventions. If it’s truly superb, it creates new ones. The Marx Brothers were
just such a comedy team. Their best films date from the early years of sound.
Their act depended on, in addition to great sight gags, spoken dialogue and
quips. Groucho, whose visage of a thick painted-on mustache and eyebrows and
those signature glasses is one of the most famous in the history of movies, rivaling
only Chaplin’s Tramp, provides the great zingers. His performance depends on
his flawless delivery of double entendres and bawdy comments. Chico had the
persona of an Italian immigrant, speaking quickly in a thick accent. Harpo was,
of course, silent, except when he played the harp in some films. They started
as a vaudeville troupe, performing music, dance, and comedy numbers on stages
across America. The advent of synchronized sound in motion pictures brought
them the lucrative contract with Paramount to make movies as well as the chance
to reach an even wider audience.
