Animal Crackers (1930)

 "Well, not all the jokes can be good. You have to expect that once in a while."

After forty-eight years on the planet, most of them having a vague idea of the Marx brothers, especially Grouch, I've finally seen one of their films and... I liked it.

That said, it's a strange beast for one experiencing the Marx Brothers for the first time, ninety-five years on. Apparently this is adapted from a hit Broadway play and, well, it shows. The film is also a semi-musical with some of the musical numbers not being comedic at all, which gives it a feel, to this Brit, of semi-variety or music hall.

I have to say that, of the four brothers, Groucho stands out hugely for me, with his gloriously absurd and vaguely cynical one liners. Harpo's physical comedy is, perhaps, not for me. Yet I adored the overall absurd plot, such as there is one, with the famous explorer and the absurd farce surrounding a valuable painting.

Interestingly, the verbal humour, contemporary references aside, hasn't really dated. And the fact that it hasn't, as well as the occasional pre-code risqué line, helps to bridge the cultural gap between now and then. Yet this is an age where there's still a social "season", there's a casual reference to "Abyssinia", and some of the musical numbers feel as though they might be there to show off the fact that sound is now normal for cinema, but it's still very new... hence, perhaps, the need to film a stage play so it's easier for the sound recording.

Old though this may be, fascinatingly so in places, the humour nonetheless feels very modern and the film is genuinely very funny. Well worth a watch.