a review of

groschi
groschi @groschi
The Cocoanuts - Review

The Marx Brothers' big screen debut (unless you count an unreleased and lost silent feature they shot earlier) was reportedly not looked well upon by its stars and i think i totally get why. Like a lot of early talkies it relies way too much on singing and dancing while neglecting the rapid storytelling approach the new technology would enable and which is, coincidentally, one of the defining Marx Bros characteristics. Accordingly, the film works best whenever it's not trying to be a musical while most sing-and-dance numbers don't add much to the rhythm and narrative, bringing the film to a grinding halt most of the time. In later Marx Bros films, the musical numbers will become a lot wittier and better integrated into the narrative flow. A notable exception here is the bit about the dude's shirt, which drove me to tears. Damn, am i glad dude got his shirt back. Apart from that, the film also suffers from the ultra-restricted camera techniques of its era, although Groucho and co. are of course perfectly able to make even the most static frame burst with energy and there's even a really well executed and creative multi-room-view sequence goin' on here at one point.