Animal Crackers (1930)

"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know.”

And thus film comedy history was born.

Confident from the success of their first film, The Coconuts, The Marx Brothers opened up the floodgates of their own maniacal brand of humor with their second film, Animal Crackers. Although little more than a filmed version of their successful Broadway play of the same name, Animal Crackers was a perfect launching platform to truly unleash their unique comic film personalities on the world.

Writing out the plot of a Marx Brothers film, for the most part, doesn’t make any sense. Explaining that Animal Crackers is the story of an heiress giving a big party to unveil a priceless masterpiece that is subsequently replaced with a copy, which is then stolen, is like explaining what a hanger looks like when trying to describe a shirt.

The only thing you really need to know is what character Groucho is playing this time around so you can know which routines you will be seeing. For example, in Animal Crackers, Groucho plays Capt. Geoffrey T. Spaulding so you know you will hear him sing “Hello. I Must Be Going.” If you want to hear him sing “Lydia the Tattooed Lady,” on the other hand, you’ll have to rent something else.

And while their names may change from film to film, Chico and Harpo’s characters don’t change that much. Chico is always the hustler with a 'unique' grasp of the English language, and Harpo is his silent, but never dumb, partner in crime.

Or course, if you know the Marx Brothers, you know all this already. And if you don’t, this is a perfect place to start.

Starring The Marx Brothers.

IMDB Site.