Review of The Cocoanuts (1929) by Ken R — 30 Nov 2012

The first Marx Brothers film and it's clear that the long years training and performing and honing their characters and act has paid off as each brother emerges here fully formed. Unfortunately in 1929, sound was very new and movies had yet to move beyond the "watch somebody stand still and sing for five minutes" stage, or the "watch these chorus lines slightly move, but synchronized!" stage of choreography. 20-25 minutes of this could very easily be trimmed, bringing this movie down to a tight 70 minutes of prime Marx Brothers comedy. This mistake would be corrected by the next film.

But when the comedy arrives, it's gold!