Why the Marx Brothers' 1931 classic Monkey Business was an ordeal by fire
In short: Before it became a comedy staple, Monkey Business was a chaotic production defined by creative friction. Writers were warned to wear asbestos pants, the Marx Brothers rejected the original script, and the final product required a dozen contributors. It remains a masterclass in anarchy that even censors feared.
Released in 1931, Monkey Business marked a significant departure for the Marx Brothers. Unlike their first two films, which were adaptations of Broadway shows, this was their first original screenplay and the first shot in Hollywood. The production was notoriously difficult; producer Herman J. Mankiewicz warned writers S. J. Perelman and Will B. Johnstone that the brothers were mercurial and devious. Groucho himself dismissed the initial draft as smelling bad, believing Perelman was too intellectual for their manic style. Ultimately, the final script emerged from five months of collaborative effort involving the brothers, gag writers, and director Norman Z. MacLeod, who noted that as many as 12 writers contributed to the project.
The film follows four unnamed stowaways on an ocean liner who become entangled with rival mobsters. It is celebrated for its relentless pace and iconic sequences, such as the brothers attempting to disembark by impersonating Maurice Chevalier. This scene, a reworking of a vaudeville sketch, highlights the group's signature blend of absurdity and musicality. The film also features a cameo by the brothers' 72-year-old father, Sam "Frenchie" Marx, who was paid $12.50 per day for his two days of work. It was the first Marx Brothers film to exclude their frequent foil, Margaret Dumont, replacing her with Thelma Todd.
The production faced significant external pressure. Censors in Ireland banned the film, fearing its anarchic spirit, and only permitted its release in 1932 after demanding 16 cuts. A dark irony surrounds the film today: a line of dialogue delivered by Groucho to Thelma Todd about cleaning her brakes in a garage seems to eerily foreshadow her death by carbon monoxide poisoning in 1935. Despite the behind-the-scenes turmoil, the film was a critical and commercial success, with reviewers at the time praising it as one of the family's funniest and best efforts.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Monkey Business (1931 film)
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