The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection (The Cocoanuts / Animal Crackers / Monkey Business / Horse Feathers / Duck Soup)
by Joseph Santley, Leo McCarey, Norman Z. McLeod, Robert Florey, Victor Heerman
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Chico Marx, Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Zeppo MarxDirector: Joseph Santley, Leo McCarey, Norman Z. McLeod, Robert Florey, Victor Heerman
Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
Writer: Arthur Sheekman
Writer: Ben Hecht
Writer: Bert Kalmar
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Box set, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 403 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-09
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection (The Cocoanuts / Animal Crackers / Monkey Business / Horse Feathers / Duck Soup)
Movie Review: Classic Madcap Comedy But Too Bad About the DVDs!
Summary: 2 Stars
The picture and sound quality on all the 6 discs here are in very poor condition not having been restored or remastered in any way which is truly tragic. Having watched The Chaplin Collection, Vol. 1 (Modern Times / The Great Dictator / The Gold Rush / Limelight) recently and seeing what a great job of restoration of both sound and picture that they did the lost opportunity to make this Marx Brothers release a truly great one is lamentable. The picture quality and sound quality of "Cocoanuts" and "Animal Crackers" is very, very poor but in any case these haven't aged well over the years as I didn't find most of the films funny except for a few of Groucho's witty one-liners that were able to raise a chuckle or two from me. Both picture and sound quality improve over the next 3 films but not by much though. It seems to me that the quality of the films as well as the jokes improve from film to film and I liked "Duck Soup" the best although I note with interest that I thought every one of the Chaplin films even the silent ones aged better than any of the films here and I laughed a lot more watching those. I guess few if any can match up to the genius that was Chaplin. For example, nothing that Harpo did I found in the least bit funny after watching Chaplin who was undoubtedly the far far superior slapstick/mime comedian although I have to say I enjoyed Groucho's one-liners more and more as I went through the films resulting in his best work arriving in "Duck Soup". I thought the last war scenes were the best Marx Brothers routines in this set. If this trend of the films getting better with each subsequent release continues I guess I can expect a lot more from "Night At the Opera" and "Day At the Races" which I haven't yet watched but may yet get separately later.
The frustrating thing is that Marketing at Universal has done its job with a very well packaged set that opens up revealing all the discs with a nice 34-page booklet stuck to the centre spine; if only production did its job too with a quality product. The last bonus disc is a rip-off and waste with less than a half hour of interviews only on it. They could have saved the extra disc and put the content on the extra space on the 5 other discs. A missed opportunity indeed and with the very poor quality reproductions and lack of any restoration I'd advise you either get the individual films properly re-done if/when they are released or should they decide to do the right thing and re-release this box set with the proper remastering done.
As is though this collection comes highly NOT recommended!
More The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection (The Cocoanuts / Animal Crackers / Monkey Business / Horse Feathers / Duck Soup) reviews:
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Summary of The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection (The Cocoanuts / Animal Crackers / Monkey Business / Horse Feathers / Duck Soup)
Celebrate the 75th anniversary of the greatest comedy act in history with The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection. This essential DVD set features the legendary four Marx Brothers in five of their most acclaimed and best loved films - Duck Soup, Horse Feathers, Monkey Business, Animal Crackers and The Cocoanuts - the only five movies ever made with all four brothers together: Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo!There will be a debate of which 2004 DVD collection of Marx Brothers films was better. This Universal release of the better known Paramount-produced films are the only ones starring all four brothers: Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo. The Warner collection contains less-vital films, but is loaded with extras and commentaries. The Universal collection contains only 20 minutes of interviews from NBC's Today Show--interesting but short--with Harpo, Groucho, and Harpo's son Bill from the '60s and '70s. All of the films in this collection were released on DVD by Image Entertainment in 2000 and the prints look the same, which isn't necessarily bad; one just wishes a major restoration had been undertaken.
The films--packaged handsomely with a booklet--are essential Marx Brothers, their first five films made from 1929 to 1933. The least timeless is their first, The Cocoanuts, based on their Broadway hit. The film--one of the first full talkies--takes place in a hotel with owner Groucho out to grab every dollar. Animal Crackers is the brothers' first classic, a lickety-split comedy about an art theft being investigated by Groucho's alter-image, Captain Spaulding. For introducing youngsters to the work of Marx, Monkey Business is the best way. The shenanigans start right at the start as the brothers stowaway on a luxury liner. It's their first film that wasn't based on a play, as they endeavored to find new material. Horse Feathers gave them more fertile ground plus a sure-fire Hollywood director at the helm (Norman McLeoad). Their fantasia of college life includes the riotous football-game finale. Music, always a key part of their plays and films is given more weight here and includes Groucho's theme, "I'm Against It." Music is again key as the musicals of the era are spoofed in the brothers' undisputed masterpiece, Duck Soup. From a land called Fredonia, Groucho plays a slapdash ruler who rewrites the rules of governing, leading to a most memorable war with Sylvania (so war gets lampooned. too). Duck Soup also boasts the most famous Marx brothers sketch: Groucho trying to fool his mirror. --Doug Thomas
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