The Marx Brothers are stowaways on an ocean liner, where Groucho and Zeppo (on the one hand) and Chico and Harpo (on the other) get involved with rival gangs and a kidnapping. This 1931 comedy was the first of their films to be written for the screen (
The Cocoanuts and
Animal Crackers had been successful Marx vehicles onstage), and the first of two with contributions by S.J. Perelman. A bit disorganized, it carries hints of surrealism (especially in Harpo's extraordinary performance) that later flowered in
Duck Soup.
By
Don Druker