Starring The Marx Brothers, Tony Martin, Margaret Dumont, and Douglass Dumbrille
Directed by Charles Reisner
Music and Lyrics by various
Let's celebrate Labor Day by saluting those who work in retail and keep stores humming for the big end-of-summer sales. This would be the last movie the Marx Brothers did at MGM. They lost their support after the death of producer Irving Thalberg. Their previous two films increased the music and gave less scope to their antics. How well do they do as a private eye, his assistant, and a pianist trying to keep a singer safe from goons? Let's begin with Tommy Rogers (Martin) finding out he's inherited half of Phelps Department Store and find out...
The Story: Tommy wants to sell his half to his Aunt Martha (Dumont), who owns the other controlling interest, and build a music conservatory. Store manager Mr. Grover (Dumbrille) has been skimming money from the store and wants to kill Tommy before he can figure it out. Martha is worried about someone accusing her of foul play. She hires private eye Wolf J. Flywheel (Groucho) and his assistant Wacky (Harpo) to keep an eye on her nephew. Flywheel and Wacky, along with Tommy's pianist Ravelli (Chico), have to keep Tommy safe and expose Grover for the crook he is, before his goons get them all killed.
The Song and Dance: Groucho in particular gets some great moments here. Check him out in his office with Harpo, or flirting with Dumont after he's introduced to Grover for the first time. The wild finale with them running around the store and being chased on everything from roller skates to unicycles makes great use of slapstick and is probably the funniest part of the film. There's also the sequence when the Brothers all end up in beds that pull out of the wall. Groucho also gets some great asides; listen for his breaking the fourth wall moments at the fashion show during "Sing While You Sell" and Grover's office just before the chase scene.
Favorite Number: Martin gets our first number, the ballad "If It's You," which he performs on piano to music department shopgirl Grey. The lady she's selling to is so impressed, she buys the record he made right there. "Sing While You Sell" is an epic ensemble number Groucho starts to encourage the sellers on the floor. It eventually encompasses everything from people in Middle Eastern costumes to deadpan Virginia O'Brian singing "Rock a Bye Baby" with a totally straight face.
Harpo joins Chico on the piano for the only time in their films with "Mama E Quero." Harpo gets a lovely sequence where he imagines himself in a fancy 19th century costume, playing several classical pieces not only the harp, but the violin and piano as well as three of him play in mirror images. Harpo and Chico join Martin for "Tenement Symphony." The kids from the conservatory create their own orchestra, each playing what Tommy imagines the sounds of their tenement homes to be. The whole number is absurd to the point of being plain silly, with all the kids managing to play perfectly at once and the sappy lyrics.
Trivia: No, the Marx Brothers didn't retire after this. They went on to make A Night In Casablanca in 1946 and Love Happy in 1949. Groucho would continue on radio and TV for over a decade after that as the host of the game show You Bet Your Life.
Margaret Dumont's last appearance in a Marx Brothers movie.
What I Don't Like: I'm afraid this is not vintage Marx Brothers. It isn't on par with even their At the Circus from two years earlier. Martin is dull, Gray is barely in the movie, and other than his harp sequences, Harpo in particular has little to play. "Sing While You Sell" is a blast, but the ballad is a snore and even Groucho thought "Tenement Symphony" was annoying. The plot is overly complicated, impossible to follow, and ultimately besides the point. The movie just kind of ends abruptly; we never find out if they do anything about the conservatory.
The Big Finale: Has enough fun moments for Marx Brothers fans, but casual viewers will want to go to one of their better-known classics like Duck Soup or Night at Casablanca first.
Home Media: Easily found on DVD and streaming; it's on DVD with the Marx Brothers movie before this, Go West, from the Warner Archives.
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