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Another Perspective
My Favorite Marxists
A New Year’s tradition will never be more appropriate than this January 1.
I have a confession to make.
I am a Marxist.
Some of those who populate the comments page might be inclined to say, “What do you expect? Goldstein’s always been a socialist.” But before anyone refers to me as a “red diaper baby,” it isn’t the Marx you’re thinking of.
No, the Marxism I espouse wasn’t written by Karl but rather by Groucho, Harpo, Chico and sometimes Zeppo. These men named Marx were a lot funnier than their German counterpart and their material didn’t lead to the deaths of tens of millions of people.
For most people the New Year chimes in at midnight. But for me the calendar doesn’t turn over for another twelve hours. You see every year at noon on January 1 the annual Marx Brothers Movie Marathon commences in the heart of Harvard Square at the Brattle Theater in The People’s Republic of Cambridge.
After reflecting on the previous year’s disappointments, I need to begin the New Year with a laugh. Actually, I need about seven hours worth of laughter. It readies me for yet another year’s worth of setbacks and falling short. The Marx Brothers are the perfect tonic even if you don’t have a hangover.
I first saw the Marx Brothers on Magic Shadows and Saturday Night at the Movies. Both programs aired on TVOntario and were hosted by the late Elwy Yost. Indeed, Groucho, Harpo, and Chico appear prominently in the opening credits of Magic Shadows. Elwy never saw a movie he didn’t love. But he absolutely glowed when it came to the Marx Brothers. And who wouldn’t be aglow after seeing Harpo climb the curtain in the climactic scene of A Night at the Opera?
Although The Marx Brothers largely took an anarchistic approach to their brand of humor, it nevertheless retains both a sense of timelessness and reassurance. I am confident that a thousand years from now people will still be laughing at Groucho’s wisecracks, Chico’s puns, and Harpo’s facial expressions.
No matter how old these films are they never really get old. I remember watching Monkey Business to start off 2009. Of course, this was only a few months after the financial collapse. So when Groucho said, “Don’t forget that the stockholder of yesteryear is the stowaway of today,” the crowd erupted in applause. One man exclaimed, “You said it, Groucho!!!”
Another reason they don’t get old is that the pacing is so frenetic it’s impossible to remember every single funny line. So even if you’ve seen Animal Crackers, Horse Feathers or A Night at the Opera a dozen times, the jokes are still fresh after multiple viewings. Chico telling Groucho “there ain’t no sanity clause,” will be funny until the end of time. This simply cannot be said for contemporary comedy, which all too often confuses vulgarity with wit.
But perhaps the funniest Marx Brothers’ skit never made it to celluloid. Shortly after moving from Paramount Pictures to MGM in 1935, the Marx Brothers requested a meeting with MGM studio head Irving Thalberg. However, Thalberg was notorious for either not showing up at the meeting or turning up only to be called away on urgent studio business never to return to his office.
Needless to say, the Marx Brothers took umbrage at this impropriety. The next time Thalberg walked out of his meeting they had a plan. Harpo got some potatoes from the studio kitchen while Groucho and Chico built a fire in the office fireplace. After Harpo returned with the potatoes, they stripped completely naked and proceeded to peel spuds right in Thalberg’s office.
When Thalberg finally returned and saw the spectacle before him, he did the only thing a rational man could do under the circumstances. He ordered butter from the commissary. Thalberg also never kept the Marx Brothers waiting ever again.
I must admit that I have been sorely tempted to use this tactic to resolve matters in the workplace. Yet somehow I doubt the targets of such a tactic would have possessed Irving Thalberg’s sense of humor.
In 2013, aside from our individual trials and tribulations, we have the beginning of President Obama’s second term to look forward to or, more accurately, to dread. As Groucho’s Rufus T. Firefly sang upon assuming the presidency of Freedonia in Duck Soup, “If you think this country’s bad off now, just wait till I get through with it!”
It’s going to be a long four years. They can take away the Constitution and they can take away our guns. But they can’t take away the laughter.
About the Author
Aaron Goldstein writes from Boston, Massachusetts.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (42) | Leave a comment
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c. j. acworth| 12.31.12 @ 6:59AM
"The country's taxes must be fixed
and I know what to do with it.
If you think you're paying too much now
just wait 'till I get through with it!"
Hail! Hail Freedonia! Land of the Brave and Free!
Gr0w1er601| 12.31.12 @ 7:03AM
The first time I was 'introduced' the the Marx Brothers' brand of madcap humor was in the UMC Forum on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. What better place to be 'indoctrinated' than right in the middle of the land of 'nuts, fruits, and flakes'. (Those of us 'in the know' called it 'cereal town'.)
Cobalt| 12.31.12 @ 7:54AM
"Say the secret woid."
--Groucho Marx
Groucho Marx's death on August 19, 1977 was overshadowed by the death of Elvis Presley, who died on August 16, 1977.
Appleby| 12.31.12 @ 10:26AM
The very first risque joke I ever heard (I was about 8 years old at the time, but I got it) was on You Bet Your Life, when a contestant who had more than 10 children told Groucho, "I love my wife." And Groucho said, "I love my cigar, but sometimes I take it out of my mouth." My parents nearly fell off the sofa laughing and so did I. My sisters, who were all younger than me, laughed too, but they had no idea why.
Cobalt| 12.31.12 @ 1:35PM
Is the cigar joke just an urban legend?
http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/grouchocigar.asp
Rhoetus| 1.1.13 @ 11:39PM
I saw the episode on re-runs in the 1970's. It's true.
Rhoetus| 12.31.12 @ 11:46AM
"I love my cigar too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while." --Groucho Marx,
After a married couple on "You Bet Your Life" explained that they had been married 12 years and had 13 children.
Rhoetus| 12.31.12 @ 11:47AM
Well it could have been 10 years and 11 children.
Petronius| 12.31.12 @ 1:23PM
Groucho: "And what does your husband do?"
Contestant lady: "He's a screw machine operator."
Rimshot.
R Martin| 12.31.12 @ 8:05AM
It may indeed be a long four years, but two things are certain: there is no way "they" are taking away our Constitution and they sure as hell are not taking away my guns.
SUBVET| 12.31.12 @ 11:41AM
Let"s wait and see..................
Rhoetus| 12.31.12 @ 11:44AM
What constitution? I think LBJ substituted ours for the soviet one in 1965.
pogybait| 12.31.12 @ 8:06AM
They can TRY TO take away the Constitution and they can TRY TO take away our guns. But they'll outlaw laughter.
c. j. acworth| 12.31.12 @ 11:15AM
"If any form of pleasure is exhibited,
report to me and it will be prohibited.
I'll put my foot down, so shall it be!
This is the land of the free!"
Hail! Hail Freedonia! Land of the Brave and Free!
SUBVET| 12.31.12 @ 11:42AM
Or outlaw the truth..........RIGHT.....TLP !
PolishKnight| 12.31.12 @ 9:41AM
Groucho Marx was a well known socialism who claims to have despised hypocrisy. Like many socialists today in the media who are amazingly sarcastic and witty (such as the writer and creator of The Simpsons cartoon), his wit and intelligence has a dark side in that their wit and intelligence are used to justify and mask their hypocrisy and craving for authority and acceptance.
Karl Marx, like many elites of the time who embraced marxism, could gush about the poor and working class while simultaneously despising them via marxism. They could live in elegant mansions and travel around in exotic, luxurious locations while pretending to care about the poor even as their policies betrayed them. This is how limosine liberals behave.
Marx was brilliant and fascinating and of course funny and even likable but... he wasn't trustworthy. And that's the main Achilles heel of socialism: It's perfect in all ways except it doesn't work.
Rhoetus| 12.31.12 @ 12:20PM
But of course...
SCMike| 12.31.12 @ 10:51AM
Thank you for a great idea. I've rooted around and found my DVD set of their movies. It's been too long since I've watched any of them. They make more sense that anything having to do with the fiscal cliff.
I've enjoyed the Brothers Marx for over fifty years.
Larry Engel| 12.31.12 @ 11:20AM
Growing up in Hollywood, California, about 1956, I was hitchhiking east on Sunset Boulevard and much to my surprise, a man in a huge Desoto (sp?) waved me aboard. It was he. He asked me my name. Larry Engel I said. Hey! that”s my name too he said. No! You're Groucho Marks! He was pleased with my response. Call me anything but that he said, and began to interrogate me as if I were a contestant on You Bet Your Life. He let me off on the corner of Sunset and Western and asked me not to tell my pals who had given me a lift.
Rhoetus| 12.31.12 @ 11:42AM
Larry: Too funny! The interview Groucho gave to Penthouse in 1973 was the funniest I'd ever read.
SUBVET| 12.31.12 @ 11:50AM
Larry I had the same experience in 1966 but this moron liked guys hitch hiking in uniform. Got a ride from SD to Westwood when he wanted to hold my hand I said ahhhh just drop me off here.
Rhoetus| 12.31.12 @ 12:21PM
ROFLOL, I could always count on getting a free ride from Hollywood back to the valley.
Citizen Jerry| 12.31.12 @ 1:27PM
Room service? Send up a bigger room!
Rhoetus| 1.1.13 @ 2:58PM
LOL
Jane Chingo| 12.31.12 @ 2:25PM
Yeah, the Marx Brothers are really funny. Until you graduate from junior high school.
Occam's Tool| 12.31.12 @ 4:30PM
Jane,
"Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him."
Groucho Marx
That is a statement of a very mature and wise man. How you can think of that as juvenalia is beyond me. Before Lincoln held the Cabinet meeting in which he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, he read a funny story to his Cabinet from a prominent Satirist of the Day.
Humor is a mature psychological defense. The Marx Brothers were incredible comedians. "Duck Soup," for example will live on for Centuries, while your blatherings will die with you.
SUBVET| 1.1.13 @ 12:28PM
Tool...........was Adam wise, or did his blood flow get in the way........
spike59| 1.2.13 @ 6:12AM
Until you realize that you've been laughing at the delivery, and not the material-which your junior high school education left you unable to comprehend...
Pecos Pete| 12.31.12 @ 2:48PM
Tim, are you substituting for Goldstein with this article? Perfect!
BBT!
Occam's Tool| 12.31.12 @ 4:34PM
Another comment from the Greatest Marxist, apropos to whatever you would write in the future, Jane:
"From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it. "
Groucho Marx
Crassus| 12.31.12 @ 9:52PM
Of the three brothers it was the underrated Chico who was the biggest genius. The man damn near invented the honky tonk piano thus paving the way for Jerry Lee Lewis and others. Plus Chico was the only one of the three who was great at stand-up comedy which he did almost until he died. But alas he's too often seen as the least of the Marx Brothers with Harpo and Groucho getting most of the plaudits.
Marc Jeric| 12.31.12 @ 11:45PM
How can anyone laugh when contemplating the damage being wreaked on this proud country by that marxist Muslim from Kenya?
Occam's Tool| 1.1.13 @ 11:14PM
Marc: you are a wonderful man, and a great blogger.
The answer is simploy this: Laughter, and satire, is the thing that tyrants simply cannot endure directed at them. Anarchist humor like that of the brothers Marx cuts most cruelly at pompous know it alls who think that their prattlings are all important.
Have faith, my brother. We will turn these idiots out.
Occam's Tool| 1.1.13 @ 11:16PM
And I need to learn to spell "simply."
Alex Feltham | 1.1.13 @ 4:49AM
Absolutely right.
If only the Marx brothers had given rise to a political system!
My own favourite Maxist, or leftie anyway is Rachel Carson, the well meaning writer of Silent Spring responsible for the deaths of millions of innocents.
See "Modern Heroes: Rachel Carson" at:
http://john-moloney.blogspot.com/
Rhoetus| 1.1.13 @ 3:16PM
Good, thanks!
Occam's Tool| 1.1.13 @ 11:15PM
Alex: malaria is a terrible thing to die from. Rachel Carson, like most Liberals, is a terrible racist in her actions, if not in her words.
spike59| 1.2.13 @ 6:16AM
Rachel Carson was the "leftards' leftard"
JimH| 1.1.13 @ 11:32AM
One Groucho line reflects the feelings of many posters here...'There's my argument, restrict immigration'.
Some other quotes which apply to current events:
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.
Minister: "We need to take up the tax"
Groucho: "I'd like to take up the carpet."
Minister: "I still insist we take up the tax."
Groucho: "He's right - you've gotta take up the tacks before you can take up the carpet."
air max en france | 1.2.13 @ 3:20AM
I am confident that a thousand years from now people will still be laughing at Groucho’s wisecracks, Chico’s puns, and Harpo’s facial expressions.
lolwut| 1.2.13 @ 6:02PM
"No, the Marxism I espouse wasn’t written by Karl but rather by Groucho, Harpo, Chico and sometimes Zeppo. "
Hey, what about Gummo, he ain't chopped liver you know.
Michele San Pietro| 1.6.13 @ 9:43AM
The Marx brothers are universally known here in Italy, too. They were simply unique.