The Cocoanuts

Contrary to popular belief, Cocoanuts was not the first Marx Brothers movie. That honor belongs to Humorisk, a silent film which no longer exists. It was greeted with such hostility that one master reel was burned, and the other deteriorated in a producer's closet. It is difficult to imagine Chico and Groucho in a silent film, and while one might envision Harpo as the ultimate silent comedian, his whistling and horn-honking formed an essential part of his act.

By 1929, however, sound was here to stay, and many silent comics suddenly found themselves out of work. In fact, the only two comedians to successfully make the transition from silent to sound were Laurel and Hardy (Chaplin didn't make his first sound movie until 1940, and was never comfortable with sound). Comedy teams like Stan and Ollie and the Marx Brothers needed dialog; even Harpo communicated with his brothers using broad gestures and the aforementioned honks and whistles.

The biggest story of 1929 (besides the stock market crash) was the Florida land boom. Mr. Hammer (Groucho) is the manager of a struggling hotel, trying to lure customers so that he can sell them Florida lots. Of course, Astoria, Long Island, where this movie was filmed, is not exactly the Sunshine State, and the opening tribute to "sunny Florida" shows us some sand poured on a sound stage to simulate a beach and a painted backdrop of palm trees and coconut. Groucho pursues the rich Mrs. Potter (Margaret Dumont), whose daughter Polly (Mary Eaton) is in love with Bob Adams (Oscar Shaw). Also interested in Polly (or rather, her mother's money) is Harvey Yates (Cyril Ring). Together with his parter Penelope (Kay Francis), they decide to steal Mrs. Potter's expensive necklace and blame it on Bob, easing the way for Yates to marry Polly.

The highlight of the film is the famous "Why a duck?" routine. It's Chico versus the English language, and guess who wins? When Groucho tells Chico that there's going to be an auction, he replies: "I come from Italy on the Atlantic Auction." When Groucho talks about levees, Chico thinks that's the Jewish neighborhood. When he asks him what a radius is, Chico responds that it's WJZ, at that time a popular New York radio station. And when it comes to the word "viaduct" he is totally lost.

Groucho: "Here's a little peninsula and here is a viaduct leading over to the mainland."

Chico: "OK, why a duck? Waya no chicken?" Having been told by Groucho to keep the bidding high during the auction, Chico, in a very funny scene, takes over the whole show, refusing to let anyone else in on the action.

As far as the music is concerned, it is difficult to imagine Irving Berlin writing such drivel as "When My Dreams Come True" and "Monkey Doodle-Do." The former is sung in a duet between Mary Eaton and Oscar Shaw (whom Groucho described as "strictly no-talent"). Indeed it's hard to determine which is worse-Shaw's acting or his singing.

There was a song written for "Cocoanuts," however, that was rejected because it made the show too long. It became one of Berlin's greatest hits. The song was "Always."

The print quality varies from good to fair. It appears that Universal spliced together scenes from several different prints to make one entire movie.

I've been told it's the first musical comedy to have been made. God only knows what that makes The Jazz Singer then - heavyweight drama, I suppose.

The first problem you're going to have if you want to see it is actually seeing it. The film has been very hard to find on DVD. A copy is now available on the recently released version of the UK box set of their early films but as yet has not been released on it's own. I believe this situation varies elsewhere in the world.

The second problem you'll have if you want to see it is actually seeing it. Beware cheap copies from distant lands. The film has fallen into disrepair due to neglect. This has meant that some copies of the film are almost totally unwatchable. I remember being given a copy of the film that was released in Australia where parts of the picture had been almost completely washed away while the soundtrack could barely be heard of the crackles of the tape.

Still, if you do find a good copy it is well worth watching. The filming is very static and the acting wooden in comparison to their later movies. However, given that this was their first release and based upon their second successful Broadway run, I think that can be forgiven.

The characters are already clearly drawn out and some of the sketches are as funny as anything they did later on in their career. The 'Why a Duck' sketch can rate along side the 'tootsie-frootsie' sketch as one of the best sketches between Groucho and Chico.

The music is forgettable, the plot wafer thin, but you'll laugh out loud more than the majority of the films you'll ever see.

Entertaining, but not much of a movie. This first effort from the Marx Brothers seems more like a variety show than a narrative film. The brothers, themselves, are hilarious, especially when playing off each other, but they are forced to share the screen with too many other attractions. There is the singing, romantic lead, his girl, the villainess, her cohort, the surly old cop (who also sings) and even a chorus line of dancing girls thrown in for apparently no other reason than to have dancing girls in the film. The story is flimsy and the supporting cast is awful, but that is to be expected. On the upside, the movie is incredibly funny, and that, of course, is its only real aim. Groucho, Harpo and Chico make the film fly whenever they are given the chance. It just seems like the filmmakers didn't quite yet know what to do with them.

"The Coconuts", being the Marx Brothers' first film, is bound to be a little creaky. This does not mean you should miss it, however! Groucho delivers some of his most scathing one-liners, Harpo provides a perfect blend of devilry and sympathy, and Chico struts like a peacock. Even the fabulous Margaret Dumont gets in on the action, telling her warbling daughter to "stop singing on the beach at all hours" after one truly atrocious song. What brings this film down is bad editing and the godawful songs--Mary Eaton singing "Do the Monkey Doodle Do"--say WHAT!?!? The dancing is,as Groucho states, "A little entertainment--very little." And Harpo's harp solo was really just pasted in there. Stay away from the fast-forward button, though--the songs are just as laughable as the jokes(for all the wrong reasons, of course), as is Kay Francis's drag queen-esque performance. And don't miss the show-stopper "I want my shirt!" My sister and I were rolling on the ground laughing. The love couple is truly nauseating, but a touching moment is provided when the childlike Harpo comforts a heartbroken Mary Eaton. Full of vaudevillian jokes and biting one-liners, this is definitely a film no Marx Brothers fan should miss!

A lot of people don't find The Cocoanuts to be as entertaining as some of the later Marx Brothers films. Maybe not, but it definitely comes close. Personally, I thought this was the Marx Brothers' fifth best film. It's not that it's bad, because it great, but it's just not as good as some of the others, that's all.

As several other people have said, it really doesn't stand up technically as well as most of the others, but that has nothing to do with the quality of the script, which is just great. I truly believe that if I had seen this in 1929, I would have been as hooked on the Marxes as I am now.

There are many great bits in this movie, including the first scene between Groucho and Chico, the Auction, the connected bedroom thing, and the first time we ever see Groucho do his thing with Margaret Dumont. But the only scene in this movie to make my personal Ten Best Marx Scenes is the Why-A-Duck routine. Genius, it's just pure genius. That's my only word for it.

Harpo really doesn't have a lot of good stuff in this movie. He's great in what he doesn't have, but he really shines in Monkey Business and Duck Soup. Those are his two best performances, if you ask me. If you are looking for classic Harpo, I'd suggest watching either of those. Also, Zeppo, obviously, has nothing to do. But then, what did you expect?

This movie has a few actually rather unfunny spots in it, but you can blame that on the fact that this is the brothers' first movie, and they are still getting used to the camera. But it has a lot more comedy than non-comedy and is still a whole lot better than most of the "comedies" that are coming out nowadays.

This may sound a little strange, but if you have never seen a Marx Brothers movie, I suggest watching this one first. It's a lot more enjoyable if you aren't expecting it to be equal to Duck Soup or Animal Crackers. Because it's not. But, as I can not stress enough, it is still worth checkout, and better than than anything they did post-A Night at the Opera.

Well, it's the Marx Brothers best movie of the 20's, anyway.

8/10