I don't understand why she is often referred to as "the incomparable" or "the superb" Margaret Dumont. In this movie, all she does is speak in upper-class tones and make slight faces whenever Groucho behaves rudely. I've never understood why she is considered so great. Does anyone else agree?
shareI'm watching the movie right now and I think you're right.I was wondering during the first scene who the hell was that bad actress. The acting skills are really low and her range of facial expressions is as good as an amateur actor.
shareI think you don't understand what a straight man (woman) is. They are not supposed to act too much - just set up the comic or react to the joke.
Margaret Dumont's task was a little tougher because Groucho and the other brothers ad-libbed dialogue or action fairly often. That's why you will see her timing go awry now and then.
Straight man may be a lost art. Bud Abbot was the best, Dean Martin was really good, but the only more recent example I can think of is Jane Curtin on SNL.
It won't chip, peel, blister, crack, flake or rust in any way.
I disagree strongly with the OP, and have always enjoyed Margaret Dumont's work with the Brothers. She is remarkably subtle, generous - and of course she understood the jokes and what was going on around her. Here is a lovely article about Dumont and the art of the straight man/woman:
http://mythicalmonkey.blogspot.com/2010/05/best-supporting-actress-of-1932-33.html
And a couple of clips:
This one from "Animal Crackers" - and watch Dumont as her body language precedes and cues Groucho's; and also watch her trying to keep a straight face:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qboLlGQY6NQ
And this from "Duck Soup" - one of my favorite Dumont moments - watch how she reacts to Groucho in this bit, how her expressions and motions perfectly match his wind-up, but how it they never detract from the focal point being on him: the exact opposite, in fact; and how her silent reactions are feeding him the energy to take off for the final explosion in Trentino's face:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9Wh66FXZJQ
Being the straight man is often a thankless job -often, they're accused of "just standing there", but the true comic knows their value - Costello knew what he had in Abbott - here, from Abbott's trivia section in his IMDB bio:
At Lou Costello's insistence, the monies earned from the their act were split 60/40, favoring Abbott. Costello's reasoning was that "comics are a dime a dozen. Good straight men are hard to find."
Thanks, Elena.
It won't chip, peel, blister, crack, flake or rust in any way.
George Burns was another great straight man. Somebody had to figure out what Gracie was talking about....lol
True - I was tempted to pull in George Burns - I remember some interviews of him explaining how he discovered that Gracie was the comic - and of course, as I remember, his comments were both funny and touching. But I was afraid of degenerating into long, ramblings. Thanks for including him!
sharei have always found her very amusing. her bemused reaction to groucho's outrageous behaviour i think is quite funny.
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