MovieChat Forums > Horse Feathers (1932) Discussion > Best music of any Marx Brothers movie!

Best music of any Marx Brothers movie!

posted 19 years ago by wmorrow59
5 replies | jump to latest

I just finished watching the new DVD release of Horse Feathers, the first time I'd seen it in years, and although I was a tad disappointed that the missing material hasn't been restored (see the "Censorship" thread), it's still a first-rate Marx Brothers comedy, exhilarating and hilarious.

What really struck me this time was how great the music is. In some of their movies, especially the later ones, the songs are kind of a drag, but in Horse Feathers every single number is a treat. Groucho's "I'm Against It"/"I Always Get My Man" is a classic (love that dance!), and Chico's rendition of "Collegiate" is one of his all-time best keyboard pieces. (It sure doesn't hurt that gorgeous Thelma Todd is sitting next to him during that number, gently bobbing up and down.) I also liked the various renditions of "Everyone Says 'I Love You.'" First Zeppo warbles it straight, then Harpo whistles it to his horse, Chico sings a brief nonsense version, and Harpo uses the melody again in his best-ever harp solo. To top it all off, Groucho skewers the song while playing guitar in the canoe.

The quips and the sight gags are terrific, but the music really elevates Horse Feathers to the stratosphere and makes it a pleasure to experience again and again.

[–] Baravelli_the_ice_lady 19 years ago

I totally agree; this movie, and the songs contained therein, are awesome.

"And now, I'm going back in the closet...where men are empty overcoats..."

[–] nocomputer1962 19 years ago

A couple of weeks ago, a Republican buddy of mine with too much spare time played a download of "I'm Against It" on his computer in an attempt at poking fun at Democrat leadership. To his surprise, as well as my own, I remembered all of the lyrics from my dozens of viewings of Horse Feathers over the years, and began singing along. The songs in Horse Feathers, as well as Duck Soup, were written by the illustrious team of Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, whose lives were not-very-accurately chronicled in the movie Three Little Words.

[–] Baravelli_the_ice_lady 19 years ago

Didn't Kalmar and Ruby also write the script for Duck Soup?

"And now, I'm going back in the closet...where men are empty overcoats..."

[–] nocomputer1962 19 years ago

Yes, Kalmar and Ruby were the offical screenwriters of Duck Soup, but I would be leery of the credit right below it that reads "Additional dialogue by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin." Sheekman and Perrin were renowned comedy writers who repeatedly worked with the Marx Brothers, and probably provided most of Duck Soup's funniest lines. (Would that make Kalmar and Ruby the 1930s equivalent of Milli Vanilli?)

[–] Beau_Buffet (327) 2 years ago

I'm of the same opinion.

Everyone Says I Love You is a little masterpiece. The melody is simple but the chord sequence is brilliantly complex. The lyrics are absolutely fabulous.

I'm Against It and I Always Get My Man are great songs too.

Animal Crackers is not very far, with such classics as Hooray for Captain Spaulding, and Hello, I Must be Going. Why Am I So Romantic is good too. But Horse Feathers takes the cake.