As the policeman shakes Harpo’s hand, you can hear pieces of silver that Harpo has stolen fall out of his clothes. In one movie, a kind policeman tries to give him some advice to stay away from bad people. He made funny sounds with horns and whistles to express his thoughts and feelings. He could make people laugh without saying a word. Instead, he acted out what he wanted to say. He never said a word in any of the movies. Harpo Marx had curly yellow hair, but it was not really his hair. Chico did to music what he did to the English language. We shadow him all day.ĬHICO: It was Shadowday (Saturday)! That’s some joke, eh, Boss!))Ĭhico also played the piano in a funny way. We listened to it over the radio.ĬHICO: Oh, sure, we shadow Firefly. Thursday was a double-header, nobody show up. Wednesday, he go to the ballgame, but we fool him. Tuesday we go to the ballgame, but he fool us. MAN: I want a full, detailed report of your investigation.ĬHICO: All right. And in one hour, even less than one hour, we lose the fix. ((CHICO: Well, you remember you gave us a picture of this man and said follow him?ĬHICO: Well, we get on the job right away. To “shadow” someone is to secretly follow that person. Chico reports his progress to the man who asked him to spy on Firefly. Chico is supposed to spy on someone called Rufus T. He talked about things that were so untrue or unreasonable that they were funny. She says “I have a falsetto voice.” Chico then says, “Well, my last student had a false set of teeth.”Ĭhico also was known for performing what was called the comedy of the absurd.
MARX BROTHERS SHIRT MOVIE
For example, in one movie a woman sings with a very high falsetto voice. Chico also made funny jokes about words and expressions that sound alike but have different meanings. They were making fun of themselves and other immigrants who did not speak English well. Many other funny men spoke as though they came from other countries. Imagine my disappointment when you arrived!))Ĭhico Marx talked as if he was born in Italy. Isn’t it “anything father, further”? The idea! I married your mother because I wanted children. GROUCHO: Anything further, father? That can’t be right. You know you can’t leave a schoolroom without raising your hand, no matter where you’re going. Just when I tell you to go, you leave me. GROUCHO: So that’s what they taught you in college. Leave your name and address for the girl outside and if anything turns up, we’ll get in touch with you. I’d have horsewhipped you if I had a horse. GROUCHO: My boy, you took the words right out of my mouth. He even insulted his son, played in this example by Zeppo. He made fun of doctors, college officials, opera singers, diplomats and government officials. He often insulted or made fun of rich or important people. Groucho was not a very nice person in the movies. He played people with funny names, like Rufus T. He had large black eyebrows and a hairy mustache. He did not play a funny man like the other three. Another brother, Herbert, appeared in the first five Marx Brothers movies. Julius, Leonard and Adolph Marx began making funny movies in nineteen twenty-nine. Along with their two brothers, they performed in stage shows called vaudeville in New York. Julius, Leonard and Adolph started performing when they were children. Their mother wanted them to become performers. They were born in New York City between eighteen eighty-six and eighteen-ninety. The most famous were Julius, Leonard and Adolph. They made many funny movies in the nineteen-thirties and nineteen-forties that are still popular today. And I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA.