Is there anything The Marx Brothers wont skewer? The answer is no. Horse Feathers is the comedy team lampooning higher education. Groucho is Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley college. It’s insane with Groucho in a role of authority. This is shown in the beginning, when he sings, I’m Against It. He uses his authority to get recruits to the football team. He hires two people Baravelli and Pinky, played respectively by Chico and Harpo, to get recruits. This accounts for the most of the humor in the film. The female lead is Thelma Todd, who plays Connie Bailey. She is being romanced by Frank Wagstaff, (Zeppo Marx), the professor’s son. She is also pursued by Groucho, Chico and Harpo. Their efforts are amusing. The funny parts come with the brothers attempting to get recruits, resulting in slapstick humor. There is a good scene in a speakeasy with Groucho asking the bartender to cash a check. Professor Wagstaff even attempts to teach an anatomy class. There is also the brothers musical talents. Harpo of course lives up to his name, and Chico plays his piano. Groucho plays a guitar in a boat, serenading Thelma Todd’s character. This is where Groucho tips the boat, and Connie Bailey falls in the water. She asks for a lifesaver, and Groucho complies, in his inimitable style.
Its almost impossible to say that Horse Feathers, or any Marx Brothers film has a solid plot. Its held together by the gags and various routines by the brothers. S. J. Pearlman, the famous humorist, wrote the screenplay for Horse Feathers. He gives Groucho some of his best lines, like his line to Zeppo, “I married your mother, because I wanted children. Imagine my disappointment, when you arrived.” He also asks three professors, how much they make. They tell him $5000 annually, but they haven’t been paid. He tells them he”ll raise their salary to $8,000. It takes a lot to write funny lines. It takes even more to deliver them successfully. Groucho, had a particular talent for this.
Thelma Todd and Zeppo are good as the couple. The early Marx Brothers films always had a romance. Zeppo sings to Thelma Todd’s character, very well. It’s too bad Zeppo left the act. He was a great straight man. Thelma Todd fits into the Marx Brothers crazy humor. She was a talented comedienne who did several shorts and films before this. Sadly her life was cut short at the age of twenty seven.
Horse Feathers was directed by Norman Z. McLeod. He previously worked with The Marx Brothers on Monkey Business. He delivers a funny film with constant laughs. He does well directing the climactic, chaotic football game, showing The Marx Brothers at their best. His experience working with The Marx Brothers led him to work with W.C. Fields, Cary Grant and Danny Kaye.
The Marx Brothers made several films, and they all show off their talents. The early ones, like Horse Feathers, show off their comic genius. It is this comic gift of The Marx Brothers, that has their films appreciated by any lover of comedy.