Review of Horse Feathers (1932) by Benjamin V — 27 Sep 2007
The term "anarchic" gets bandied about far too much around the Marx Brothers, but its generally right on the money. Horse Feathers is a series of silly and ridiculous scenes, with some of the better writing the four ever got, and the typical perfect timing.
The problems in this film don't lie in the original product, but rather in age. There's footage from the film which was cut out, and it mucks up both the pacing, and gives a few scenes strange editing jumps.
Another is just in how film comedies have evolved since, long musical sequences (like Harpo playing a harp) which were probably very entertaining to thirties' audiences, but something to consider fast forwarding over today.
Also, like many of the early film comedies comprised of stage actors jumping to the silver screen, the performances and bits seem very stagey. This is no fault of the Brothers themselves though. With all this, Horse Feathers is one of the better Marx Brothers films.
This review of Horse Feathers (1932) was written by Benjamin V on 27 Sep 2007.
Horse Feathers has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
