'GROUCHO, HARPO, CHICO AND SOMETIMES ZEPPO: CELEBRATION OF THE MARX BROTHERS'

by Joseph Adamson

hardcover

Genres: Biography, Film, Nonfiction, Humor, Comedy, History, Media Tie In

464 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Matthew Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up with this book, and have read it countless times. Like Oscar Wilde, the Marx Brothers, it could be argued, never produced anything as interesting as they were (Oscar Wilde fans might disagree with me on that point).

Sadly, there are many who, not knowing better, equate the Marx Brothers with some of the least inventive and puerile slapstick which the 1940s dredged up. This book successfully challenges and dispels this misunderstanding.

It is an extraordinary ride through theatre and film history, and filled to the brim with hysterical stories. In addition to being exceptionally funny, it is also extremely well-researched; even the end-notes are both comprehensive and entertaining. Filled with photographs and excerpts from their films, it is, at times, almost a laugh a line. And it is fascinating to read about how the Marx Brothers' movies actually came about. And some of the stories are even believable. Adamson's book is a magnificent example of how to write wittily and well, while constantly keeping the reader's attention.

The effect of quoting great writers throughout history for the various sections of the book is to point out what should be obvious - that humourous writing, like serious writing, deserves to be recognised as an art form in itself.

As the Marx Brothers' films become worse throughout time, the book actually becomes funnier. For example, Adamson states:

"Once the Dell Publishing Company got their hands on a great character like Bugs Bunny, they turned him into a suburban homeowner, and the chief concerns of his life became parking his car and getting his driveway shoveled. In the same way, the deathless, mythical clowns of 'Horsefeathers' and 'Night at the Opera' are hereby pummeled and subdued into a pack of sniveling, chiseling nitwits who get in the way and mess things up a lot."

Recommended without reservation for anyone who likes film history, the Marx Brothers, or just wants a hilariously funny read.

[Persephone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Marx Brothers and I have loved this book for years, returning to it time and again for healthy doses of disrespect.
Don't get me wrong; this guy is a fan. However, he's not a my-Marx-Brothers-right-or-wrong kind of fan. This is someone who writes lyrical recountings of what they got right, bewildered and funny analyses of what didn't work (the Marx Brothers could miss, big time), and the rest of the time, he is as bemused as the rest of us in a resigned, parent-of-teenagers way.
A painless guide for the uninitiated, and an essential tool for the hard core Marx aficionado.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever had more fun with a Hollywood book. Adamson's sharp wit serves his subjects well. There have been a lot of Marx Brothers books written since this one, but I can't imagine any of them being any better or written with such personality.

[RoseMerrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This same review appears on Amazon:

The man who wrote this book is an unfunny man who thinks his writing is rather funny. He must also think that he is more credible if he doesn't laud the team, but launches an "attack" (he writes poorly) on the Marx Brothers. He seems to think that by pointing out their flaws, he must be comedically superior to them.

This book is supposed to be factual and informative. This man has done some research, but writes of his personal feelings. Adamson knows very little of Chico, and, in my opinion, he writes him off as part of the comedy team. There is an incredible amount of nit-picking in this book, and in the case of Chico, Adamson has to prove that the line "It's better to have loft and lost than to never have loft at all" is a poor pun. He looks over the bigger picture which includes in this scene a crazy man yelling and throwing things from a hay loft and that Chico is very reluctant to get any nearer to this guy. At this point Chico's eager to employ any excuse to leave, and he actually delivers the line superbly.

Most unforgivable is Adamson's failure to recognize "I'm Daffy Over You" as an original composition of Chico's, first appearing in Animal Crackers. He associates Chico with "Sugar In the Morning". That song was published in 1957 and was written by men who weren't even alive when Chico first played his piece. I wouldn't be surprised if he pronounced Chico's name "Cheeko" instead of "Chick-o".

In an attempt at humor, Adamson explains that logic is illogical. Anything that is a certainty will only be contradicted by another certainty and that his statement isn't a certainty or it would contradict itself. I think that deserves a nomination for the most idiotic and inane string of words in the English language. What a pointless half a page! And there are plenty of these...

He includes at the beginning of the book a quote about how people who write about comedy are rarely funny. His statement holds true, so thanks for providing the insult, Adamson.

His work is by no means a "Celebration of the Marx Brothers" or a comprehensive guide to their works. It comes across more as a diary entry rather than a product of research, though he does provide some good information here and there. It has probably as many facts as either Groucho's or Harpo's authobiography, and I don't have to tell you if Adamson's book or one of the Marx Brothers is better, but I don't see anyone searching libraries for information on the life or comedic career of Joe Adamson.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

When this book came out in 1973 I was in college, and practically every dorm room had Marx Brothers (and W.C. Fields) posters on the wall. The college showed their movies in a lecture hall on movie nights and books about them were in every bookstore. Students loved the Marx Brothers-probably because of their wild, hysterical, and irreverent attitude and seemingly anti-establishment stance. I saw the Brothers films countless times, still watch them, and had just finished watching the Paramount films (I have always thought they were their best films), when I thought that it has been a very long while since I read anything about the Brothers.
I picked the Adamson book because it had been written at the time they were at their popularity peak and I thought it would be the best choice. I had read it way back then, but didn't remember much of it at all. I came away from reading it rather disappointed though.
The book has very little biographical material about the Brothers (which was what I was really looking for) and not really much in the way of movie synopsis's or descriptions. It seems more to me like I was sitting at a table chatting with someone about Marx Brothers anecdotes and bits about their films. The author also tries to inject his own humor into the book, which doesn't really work at all. The best parts of the book are the chapters about their pre-film stage work in vaudeville and on Broadway, probably because the author (young at the time of book publication) had to rely on interviews and histories rather than personal viewing. On the cover of the book it reads "A celebration of the Marx Brothers", and maybe that was the authors intention, not a history of the Brothers or their films.
I will have to dig around for a more recent and updated bio of the Brothers, most of my books about them are older and more about their films alone.

And on a personal note: Adamson calls Zeppo one of the "9 worst things about the Brothers". Look, he was obviously more of the straight Brother, but he WAS a Marx Brother. And as I said above, I consider the Paramount movies with Zeppo much better than any others..."Duck Soup" may be the funniest film ever made (perhaps tied with W.C. Fields "It's a Gift")...

[Jeff Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. The Marx Brothers book a Marx Brother could have written, if he'd wanted to be honest. An assessment of their work and their lives told intelligently and with amazing humor. The funniest non-fiction book I've ever read, and one I can re-read regularly, and often do. I wish I'd written it, but then, I never would have had the chance to read it.

[David]

This book has its wonderfully funny moments. Unfortunately, the author really wants to be Joe-o (to tell the truth, he really wants to be Groucho) and sometimes he’s just too pleased with his own admittedly entertaining style. My high points for this book, and why I keep returning to it every so many years, are the number of excerpts it features from screenplays for the Marx Brothers that were never filmed, and a vast photo archive, many of which are drawn from Harpo’s collection. Like just about everyone else writing in admiration of the Marxes, Adamson gets a few things wrong--like Chico being a cornet player in Animal Crackers--but, given the size and detail of the work, Adamson seems to be the least error-prone of the many biographers.

[Gareth Howells · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading dozens of books about or by the Marx Brothers, this is the best objective account of their career. It features some excellent biographical stuff, as well as some insightful and honest opinions about their career.
Definitely one to seek out for Marx Brothers fans.

[Padraic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adamson tries to be funny alongside the Brothers, a dangerous gambit, and succeeds at times. The book's format becomes a fifth brother (well, all right, a fourth - Zeppo was the biggest stiff on stage since Curly Joe). We learn all we need to know about them. We learn a little about what "funny" is. We watch it all fizzle away under TV lights.

Most importantly, we learn this verse of D.H. Lawrence's "Song of a Man Who Has Come Through:"

"What is the knocking?
What is the knocking at the door in the night?
It is somebody wants to do us harm.

No, no, it is the three strange angels.
Admit them, admit them."

Extra star for sheer audacity.

[Rozonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was written in 1973, a year after my birth, and it remains surprisingly young and entertaining. Adamson is a Marx Brothers fan but one who does not hesitate to point out their artistic flaws, their failures and also their shortenings as human beings, all this in an affectionate, humorous tone. The wonderful photos included in the book also help.

These days it's hard to find a biography that gives detailed information and at the same time remains readable, amusing and entertaining, and can be easily read even if you're not a fan. Adamson's book is one of those (complete with a large section of notes). A great introduction to the Brothers.

[Patrick Meehan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if this book is a vehicle for the author to delve into and explain to a general audience a passion of his or for him to exhibit his partisan cleverness and snark. He certainly writes his snark in such a way that the reader stays engaged. His formula for presenting and then dissecting each major Marx Brother's film gets rather ponderous towards the end. The end arrives with an unsatisfying thud.

Heavily researched with essential primary source material (including many personal interviews), this tome lends itself well to interesting a true Marx Brothers fan or a cinephile who might like the tangential history of Hollywood that a narrative like this requires as context.

[Samantha Magnan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a huge fan of the Marx brothers this book was incredibly interesting and I certainly learned a lot about the content of the movies.

However, Anderson seemed to talk more about the writing of the plays and movies than the Marx brothers themselves. There was a lot of one sided banter about how this writing pair or trio or sometimes a single would write a script only to have it thrown out. Having said that, I still very much enjoyed learning what the process behind the movies were as they were probably among the most uniquely created films ever made.

[EF · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tracked this book down after reading a recommendation for it on the DorothyL mystery-writers' listserv. It's an excellent, nutty study of the Marx Brothers phenomenon, with a style all its own, packed full of studio anecdotes and details on everything from rehearsals to writing to filming. If you're a writer interested in humor (or working in humor), do yourself a favor and find a copy.

[Dan Lalande · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published at the height of the Marxist renaissance (1973), this analytical biography of the stage and screen oeuvre of the Marx Brothers remains the best. It's written in faux Groucho (Grouch-fo?) as much bad puns, dead-end logic, and verbal assaults as it is intellectual dissection. It's a bold - and yes, often trying - approach but it succeeds in reflecting the free, feisty spirit of the team.

[Keith Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great backstage history of the Marx Brothers, focusing mostly on their great early films and not so much on their not so great later films. The author clearly knows his subjects and the book is funny in its own right, not just for the Marx anecdotes and quotes.

[Harry Hood · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating is ⭐️⭐️ 1/2 - Mostly a recap of all the plays and films the brothers have done, with not much content about the brothers themselves. I found it a boring read, although the author tries too hard to be funny... Not too compelling. Beautiful photos though...

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing accomplishment, given the source materials and often flighty nature of many anecdotes surrounding the Brothers Marx. And there are jokes in the footnotes. The footnotes! Truly a book to be celebrated.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on the Marx Brothers I've ever read.
Full of history and humor.

[James M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on the Marx Brothers and their movies. If you are a fan, it is a must read.

[Francie Shoemaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loads of fun and the author is funny too.

[Paul Cool · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best analysis of their career I've read. Includes many excerpts from their most brilliant (and funny) routines. Insane!

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the Marxist details.
Got really tired of the author's attempts at humor.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Marx Brother's book published in 1973. It is not a group biography or a deep look at their private lives. Adamson focuses on how the movies got made and why they do or do not work. He is a tremendous fan of the Brothers. His basic position is that the good parts of their movies was when they were doing Marx Brothers stuff and the weak parts where the plots, music, subplots, and non-Marx Brothers characters pushed onto them by the Hollywood producers and studios who were paying to make the movies.

The book is great fun. Adamson give us liberal bits of the movie dialogue. When you read it, you automatically hear Groucho. Like this bit from his lecture as a medical professor;

"The blood rushes from the heart down to the feet, gets a look at those feet and rushes back to the head again. This is known as auction pinochle. Now in studying your basic metabolism, we first listen to your heartbeat; and if your heart beats anything but diamonds and clubs, it's because your partner is cheating, or your wife..."

And on and on, at a speed where you can't catch all of the gags as they fly by.

The first fifty pages get us to their first talking movie, "Cocoanuts", in 1929. He takes deep dives into the next six movies, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Fethers, Duck Soup, A Night at the Opera. and A Day at the Races. He rushes through the last six. He dismisses them as hackwork.

For each of the featured movies he tells the story of the struggles to make the movie. The Brothers were very difficult/impossible to deal with or control. Every movie project was a struggle between them, the writers, the director and the producer. Adamson also has interesting analyses of the movies. He highlights the great scenes and gives quotes. He calls out the plot holes and stuff that doesn't work.

Adamson writes in a personal relaxed style. He drops in Marxian puns and jokes as he goes. He has some good lines. For example, "To any who thinks the matter over, the whole idea of Marx Brother purists is palpable anathema; you start getting pure about the Marx Brothers and it is all over"

He also loves lists. He starts his discussion of the 1941 Marx Brothers movie "The Big Store" with a page long list of movies with "Big" in the title. We also get a list of showbiz names ending in "O", a list of over one hundred comic writers in the 1920s, and Adamson quotes a long list by S. J. Perelman of the bad things about Los Angeles.

Adamson is also not afraid to digress when the mood hits him. There is eight pages on the connection between the Marx Brothers and surrealism. He starts by saying that a rational analysis leads to "the inescapable conclusion that Marxism and surrealism simply aren't in the same category." After a few pages he announces that "this is why I enjoy putting surrealism and the Marx Brothers in the same category" He then has a fascinating five of six pages on Dali and Ionesco's dealing with the Marx Brothers and finally concludes the discussion by declaring , "Now, it is my firm opinion that you've got to watch people who call Marx Brothers comedy surrealistic. They can't be trusted". This is a clever guy having fun.

At times the plot summaries of early drafts that were never used get a bit much. His running gag about how little Zeppo contributed gets old at times. The foot notes are worth reading to get a sense of how he comes to his conclusions.

Overall, great fun and in the spirit of its subject.

Groucho bonus material.

Friends dragged him to a spiritualist seance. When she asked if anyone had questions for the spirits, Groucho asked "What is the capital of North Dakota?"

He was touring an Army base in 1942 as part of a USO performance. A phone on a desk rang. He picked it up and said in a high-pitched secretary's voice "World War Two-oo"

A "You Bet Your Life" contestant had 13 children. He asked her why. She said, "I love my husband." Groucho answered, "I love my cigar, but I take it out once in a while."

And the classic line from his story about exploring Africa, "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know."

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally. WHAT a schlog it was to get through this. I remain a fan of the Marx Brothers. I am not a fan of Joe Adamson. He has the nerve to call this a celebration of the Marx Brothers?

I approached this book with respect, because other authors have cited Adamson as a knowledgeable source. To me, he comes across as a petulant brat, mad because the Marx Brothers never invited him to join them. It's easy to find words of praise for the Marx Brothers' early films, and easy to heap approbation on the later ones, because that's what Marx Brothers critics do. Adamson takes issue with critics contemporary with the various films' release dates because they say the films will be good for Marx Brothers fans. He treats this attitude as if it were some sort of crime against art. I have watched and enjoyed the Brothers' films for over five decades now, and they never fail to slay me. I do not believe that a film in which the Marx Brothers tried to play straight characters would work at all. I don't watch their catalog of films to see them play characters. I watch them to see them play themselves. Maybe they reused some old material in the later films, but what Adamson (and, to be fair, sometimes the Brothers themselves) fails to understand is that to most fans, some things are funny solely because the Marx Brothers are saying them (or honking them, in Harpo's case). Even in what Adamson considers their worst moments, they're still brilliantly funny as far as I'm concerned.

Adamson reminds me of a few people whom I have encountered in my years as an amateur actor. (STRICTLY amateur. I was smart enough never to quit my day job.) He sounds like the parents of high school performers who go to a show and deride other people's kids. Worse yet, his tone echoes that of classical music critics. They treat people who are indifferent to classical music as brutish louts who would never understand. His weary attempts at drollery serve little purpose except to spoil everyone else's innocent fun. The opportunity to rest a moment and enjoy a Marx Brothers' film is a real celebration. Too bad for Joe that he doesn't see it the same way.

[Slow_reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book about the Marx Bros, tracing their careers from vaudeville, to Broadway, to movies and finally television. Features interesting history behind all their work, and in-depth analysis of each of their 13 films. Very funny and engaging to read, if a bit too caustic at times.

[Michael Patton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Late in the seventies, I saw "Duck Soup" and immediately became fixated on the Marx Bros. I guess they expressed the rebellion I felt. This book is aptly titled: "a celebration". Written with a humor that I think the brothers could appreciate.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book's subtitle says it's a "celebration," but it reads like a criticism. Still, informative.

[Vincenzo Ridente · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well researched inside chronicle of the career of The Marx Brothers I would definitely recommend it

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an in depth analysis of the making of the The Marx Brothers movies rather than a biography of the brothers. Found it rather dry.

[Ken K · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good balanced story of the brothers