The Marx Bros.

I love the Marx Bros. and The Three Stooges. I haven't seen as much Abbott and Costello except for Who's On First about a million times.

 

Own Horse Feathers and Duck Soup. Throw in A Night at the Opera for my top three.

Great comedy dialogue on a consistent basis, and it holds up well as Ragu mentions.

The cabin scene in A Night at the Opera is an all time classic.

"Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, this time I think we go up the middle."

 

You can't fool me, there ain't no Santaty Claus.

 

Gentlemen, Chicolini here may look like an idiot and sound like an idiot, but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot.

 

I've got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it.

 

I am a true Marxist - I love the Marx Brothers. You can see a line from the Marx Brothers to The Simpsons.

With younger people, I think they might have difficulty appreciating the Marx Brothers for a couple of reasons.

1. The most obvious is that the movies are in black-and-white. It's one thing for a movie like Casablanca where there is drama, but comedy is different.

2. You have a lot of quick references which you might not catch the first time. Groucho talks so fast, you really have to pay attention.

3. The subversive factor. Great comedy is almost always subversive. and there is too much "safe" comedy today. In the 1960s, Yogi Bear was subversive. He was always trying to outsmart authority (Ranger Smith) and get picnic baskets. Now there were probably plenty of natural foods for Yogi to eat, but pic-uh-nic (as Yogi would say) baskets were more of a challenge and loot. Yogi would sleep til noon but before it was dark, he would have every picnic basket in Jellystone Park. In the 70's, they make Yogi a safe character on cartoons. In the movie, they have to set an environmental theme rather than the essence of Yogi Bear.

4. There are some references which are outdated and not understood. When I was watching The Simpsons with my nieces and nephews, I was watching the episode where Bart switched the hymns to In A Gadda Vita" by Iron Butterfly (I think that was the group - if I'm wrong, somebody correct me). The scene ends with a graphic saying "17 minutes later" the organist playing the last note and collapsing. I was splitting my side laughing and my nephews and nieces had no idea what I was laughing about.