The Marx Brothers 1948

Here you can see Groucho, Harpo and Chico in 1948. Chico was the oldest, even though most people thought Groucho would have been the oldest of the Brothers.

The Marx Family - Groucho, Gummo, Minnie, Zeppo, Frenchie, Chico and Harpo

Groucho in "Duck Soup"

"... (he) maybe talks like an idiot and looks like an idiot, but don't let that fool you, he really is an idiot".

Groucho refers here to the character played by Harpo. Aside from their film-relation, Groucho was always talking in the highest tones about his brother Harpo, as in his autobiography "Groucho and Me" where he compares Harpo to geniuses like Beethoven and Bach. Groucho was full of admiration for Harpo and characterized him as one of the kindest persons he ever knew. Chico on the other hand was a self-centered troublemaker for Groucho. Groucho acknowledged Chicos performance on stage and in their films but was often frustrated by Chicos selfish behavior and his lavish life-style.

Interestingly Harpo was talking in a similar way about Chico as Groucho was about him. In his autobiography "Harpo speaks" 'Harpo speaks' about Chico's great talent with numbers and musical instruments such as the piano, regreting Chico never reached his full potential due to his passion for gambling (and because he was always hanging around with the wrong kind of people).

One of Grouchos sons later said, he saw his father cry only once in his life, the day Harpo died.

Woody Allen about Groucho

Woody Allen 1972 at "An evening with Groucho":

"Some years back, after a childhood of preocupation with comedy that led me to observing the styles of all the great comedians, I came to the conclusion that Groucho Marx was the best comedian this country ever produced. Now I am more convinced than ever that I was right. I can't think of a comedian who combined a totally original physical conception that was hilarious with a matchless verbal delivery. I believe there is a natural inborn greatness in Groucho that defies close analysis as it does with any genuine artist. He is simply unique in the same way that Picasso or Stravinsky are and I believe his outrageous unsentimental disregard for order will be equally as funny a thousand years from now. In addition to all this, he makes me laugh."

The Life and Times of the Marx Brothers

Dear Marxists,

The Marx Brothers combined musical comedy and slapstic with their unique anarchistic humor. Their gags were often mindless and profound at the same time. The times in which the Marx Brothers lived, were turbulent, to say the least - the beginning of a new century, the rise of the movie business, the breakdown of the world economy, two world wars and the start of a rather cold one. The Marx Brothers were children of their time, Harpo for example was the first American actor to perform in the Sovjet Union and also traveled trough Nazi-Germany... I for myself can't understand, why there is a movie about someone like "the aviator" Howard Hughes, but not about the Marx Brothers. But well, at least this blog is all about the Marx Brothers, their films, biographies, in short - the Life and the Times of the Marx Brothers.