Review of The Cocoanuts (1929) by Alejandro S — 24 Apr 2010

I was a little wary of the first Marx brothers movie - the lengthy running time and the presence of numerous Irving Berlin songs, to say nothing of it being their first real movie, made me a little worried as to how much a chore this was going to be.

Surprisingly, once you get past the songs and the wafer-thin plot, and give the movie about 15 minutes to get going, it's right up there with anything else they've done. There's a sequence involving two hotel rooms that features some of the best timing of any of their skits, and Chico and Harpo's timing and repartee are every bit as good as they are in any of the films.

Yeah, sure, the songs are pretty weak, but even in this first movie, it's no surprise that the brothers became stars - even tied to a plot, their insanity and infectious silliness are constantly bursting through, be it in a series of thefts by Harpo, Chico's effort to understand blueprints, or Groucho's attempt at running an auction.

Basically, if you're a fan, you'll enjoy this.