Loucos de Amor

"Final" Marx Bros. Film is mostly a vehicle for Harpo with musical numbers and romantic subplot featuring Vera-Ellen and Paul Valentine. Groucho narrates the whole thing as a detective. The film cuts away to him several times before he joins the main story late in the picture. He's funny as expected, although most of his stuff feels tacked-on. Chico has a smaller part but still gets a couple of funny bits including a piano scene. The brothers share no scenes together as a trio but Harpo gets short bits with each separately. Marilyn Monroe appears with Groucho in one memorable scene. It's an entertaining movie. Don't go into it with the expectation that it's going to be a proper Marx Bros. Movie like their 30s classics. Just take it on its own terms and you might enjoy it. Vera-Ellen has a great dance number, Ilona Massey has amazing cleavage, and the supporting cast includes several fun characters. By the way, I watched this on blu-ray and while the picture quality is amazing, HD does the brothers no favors in hiding their age.

Love Happy is the final movie that features the three Marx brothers (Groucho Chico Harpo) in top billing and as the stars. Once again they do the occasional musical performances. This time Frank Tashlin co-writes the script (bringing, I'd imagine, some pure cartoonish brilliance to it, in fits and starts). And it's OK... ish. Actually Harpo is better than OK, but when isn't he? This isn't even his premier work and he's delightful to watch in scenes that should be rote like when the actress asks Harpo to be his manager and he mimes becoming a "big shot" with his feet up on a can of rubbish in a park, miming as well being on the phone with many agents. It's what he was made for as a performer, moments like this.

The main problem for me is a major lack of the brothers interacting with one another - Groucho barely appears in the first half for Pete's sake, and only through limited 4th wall breaks - yet there are a lot of legitimately entertaining musical numbers (really, there isn't a dull one, including a number where a woman sings about being frustrated with motherhood). There's once again another loony but half-baked crime plot, here involving stolen diamonds in a can of... sardines I think, Chico on piano, and a musical that is on thin ice as far as being produced. Objectively this isn't as good a movie as I'm rating it, but I'm being generous because when these guys do click in their scenes they are just that funny. In other words it's better than Room Service (oddly enough this has the storyline that it's closest to), but not by much.

It's also uncanny seeing Groucho without his grease-paint mustache as a movie character with the brothers.

Love Happy is the last movie where the Marx brothers appear together.Harpo is the biggest star of the movie.He gets in a trouble when he steals a sardine can that has Romanoff's diamond inside.Love Happy is good Marx movie.Groucho, Harpo and Chico are as good as they were in their younger days.And you can see Marilyn Monroe in a little part as Groucho's client.A must see for Marx fans, especially Harpo fans.

I've been a die-hard Marxist for several years now. After I watched their first seven films to the point where my tapes were in tatters, I sought out their later films, the lesser productions Room Service thru Night in Casablanca. After that, I still wanted more, so I finally gave in and watched the one film that I KNEW would be painful: Love Happy. Virtually every review has smeared this film and ripped into it with full claws, so I braced myself and bought the DVD.

Now let me tell you something: this movie is great. Of course it's not in the ballpark of the Paramounts, but it fits nicely with their later films, and is a real delight. So why the negative rap? Well, this movie was originally intended as a solo vehicle for Harpo Marx. Chico joined on when he needed money to get out of debt. Groucho was never supposed to be in this film, but the sponsors said that they wouldn't release it unless he was, so that they could bill it as a "Marx Brothers" picture. So footage of Groucho narrating parts of the story were shoehorned into the finished product. The result? Chico and Harpo are just as enchanting as ever, and Groucho--despite being displayed prominently on the movie posters--is relegated to a commentator. Since most Marx fans are Groucho fans first, Chico/Harpo fans second, this setup comes as a slap in the face, and the film gets trashed.

As such, if you watch the Marxes mainly to see Groucho's witty quips, this movie will bore you stiff. However, if you--like me--love the others just as much as Groucho (for me, Chico will ALWAYS be the funniest Marx Brother!) you'll be surprised at how good Love Happy really is. I'd go into the plot, but with a Marx movie, who really cares about the plot? It's our boys we're after. Chico plays an uproarious piano/violin duet, lusts after Ilona Massey, has some "tootsy-frootsy ice cream" and does some flawed mind-reading; Harpo tumbles through a washing machine, turns his fingers into candles, pulls a dog out of his coat and lusts after Ilona Massey. And Groucho narrates, searches, quips, ponders the situation, and...lusts after Ilona Massey. Oh!--and did I mention this film started the career of a young Marilyn Monroe?

In short, to a Chico/Harpo fan, this movie is as good as (and often better than) At the Circus or A Night in Casablanca. To a Groucho fan...well, that's why we have remote-controls.

i'm a big marx bros fan and love most of their films, especially the early paramounts and a day at the races and most of the others so thats pretty much all of them i guess. Room service is the weakest of their output as far as i can tell..

If I was mainly a Groucho fan, which most of the reviewers of Marx Brothers films seem to be, I'd be giving this movie between 1 & 3 stars. His part is minimal, not very funny and is mainly famous for the scene with Marilyn Monroe in one of her first speaking roles (which lasts a few seconds)...

I've just read a review for this film calling it unfunny. Maybe they were watching a different movie? I am completely fed up with reading the nonsense that's been written about this film by people who probably haven't even watched it...

I'm a Harpo fan.........I really think he's a true screen genius, the greatest one of his kind. When he's on screen for me its pure magic.

This film has a special place in my heart.. The screenplay is based on a Harpo story and he is the main star (originally the film was to be a solo vehicle for him). Chico's and Groucho's appearance was an afterthought..Chico performs well and the scenes when he's with Harpo are great and are the equal to any other marx movie. Harpo doesn't disappoint with so many great hilarious scenes that were mainly devised and performed by himself (he did most of his own stunts)...quite amazing considering he was in his early 60's at the time....

The story revolves around a theatre production called 'love happy' and a missing diamond necklace in a sardine tin. The other cast members perform well and the songs are not too cheesy. Chico does a great piano duet with a violinist and harpo plays the harp as beautifully as ever..

If I was hoping to see and hear Groucho in his element, i'd be very disappointed with Love Happy. But, on every other level its a classic. So please, give it a chance - its worth it............