The Cocoanuts (1929)

The Broadway and vaudeville musical and comedy family act, the Marx Brothers, make their way to the big screen for the first time in the film adaptation of their Broadway hit from 1925, The Cocoanuts. With talking pictures taking over the cinemas across the land a new type of comedy would come to the silver screen as the wise-cracking, quick-witted comedy is introduced. The film with acts already perfected by the talented comedy troop would be a magnificent vehicle for the four brothers (that's right, four: Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo) to showcase their talents in the cinema, making it one of the most beloved comedies of all time.

A direct adaptation of the stage play written by George S. Kaufman, the story takes place in Florida in an area known as Cocoa Manor where the Hotel de Cocoanut resides. Owned and operated by Mr. Hammer (Groucho) with the help of his assistant Jamison (Zeppo) the hotel, and its sparsely inhabited surroundings, are down on its luck. Two characters, Chico and Harpo, would check into the hotel in attempt to swindle some unsuspecting people, making them the side comedy relief. Meanwhile we are introduced to the love story, and main story at that, between the young couple Bob Adams (Oscar Shaw) and Polly Potter (Mary Eaton). Bob is a struggling architect working as a hotel clerk until his development deal for the surrounding area makes him money, while Mary is the daughter of well to do Mrs. Potter (Marget Dumont), one of the hotel's very few guests. Mrs. Potter wants to have her daughter to marry Harvey Yates (Cyril Ring) whom she thinks is of high society, but does not know that Yates is in fact a thief and plans to rob Mrs. Potter of a necklace worth over $100,000 with the help of his accomplice Penelope (Kay Francis). The story is merely the backdrop for the comedic antics of the Marx Brothers which leads to the framing of Bob for stealing the necklace and the eventual discovery and detainment of the true jewel thieves.

The movie is a wonderful comedy classic, with the obviously perfected routines of the brothers from the stage production. The film if filled with the quick wit of Graucho as he plays off of his brothers and regular support of Margret Dumont, playing her usual role as the well to do, easily offended lady. With the advent of sound in pictures, now words were important to comedy on screen as well as the sight gags and Groucho is full of them. He and Chico share the comedy with many back and forth moments, while Harpo plays his famous silent role. The comedy is very well played with its best execution possibly being the scene where the jewels are stolen while the audience sees the split set of the two adjoining rooms with people running in and out ever direction avoiding being caught by anyone else. The timing is wonderful and absolutely golden. The movie is one where you cannot turn away for a moment otherwise you might miss a joke or ten of them.

The film was a hit on the screen as it was on the stage years ealier. It showcased the many skills of the multi-talented group, including the musical skills of Harpo on the harp (where he gets his namesake) and Chico on the piano, which he plays wonderfully with fun as if it was a game. The film is a musical lending its appeal to the many musical numbers which would inspire the production styling we would later see in Busby Berkley type of films. (This would even include a shot now referred to as a "Busby Berkley shot" where the camera is placed directly overhead of the performers as they form a kaleidoscope for the audience.) The numbers would play along the lines of stage acts, the love song shared between Bob and Polly, and even the random lavish musical number based around a man who lost his shirt at a costume party with execution that is absolutely hilarious and entertaining.

The films was directed by two men, Robert Florey and Joseph Santly. Florey a French short film director moving into major American pictures, and Santley a stage actor and dancer moved to directing stage then film. You can tell why the two were used in the picture, Florey for the comedic acting, and Santley for the musical numbers. Surprisingly the movie is well shot with a few exceptions. It is known how static the cameras were in the early sound era due to the noise cameras made and being locked in sound boxes, but the camera does some moving in this picture giving it some life compared to its counterparts with static shots throughout. Some of the shots during the musical numbers were poor as those shots were static and sometimes unflattering for the performers. Its not that they were bad shots, just they could have been done better. Other then that everything seemed very well done and full of energy. The biggest problem for production was the sound recording. It was discovered how much paper caused noise on set and many scenes had papers used as props. The solution to this issue was to soak all papers in water so they would not make a noise. Very clever trick. Look for it when you watch it. Its subtle, but noticeable when you look for it.

The Cocoanuts was a beginning to a new chapter in cinematic comedies. It wasn't that these new wordy comedies were to replace the Chaplins and Keatons we know and love, but this was a brand new avenue for comedy. Now more of what people would see and hear on stage would play in the movie theatres. The Marx Brothers, even though they did not like the finished film, would become huge stars, especially Groucho. Chico played well off of the misunderstanding of other characters. Harpo would keep alive the silent comedy that is most reminiscent of the old comedies. Zeepo, the straight man of the group, would not last long as he would move on to other work in the future. The film cost $500,00 and made back $2 million, making it a huge success and set up the brothers for a long and fruitful future in the movie industry.