{"id":3117,"date":"2007-05-04T11:44:07","date_gmt":"2007-05-04T18:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3117"},"modified":"2021-02-05T18:47:19","modified_gmt":"2021-02-06T01:47:19","slug":"monkey-business-1931","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3117","title":{"rendered":"Monkey Business (1931)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;This is the only way to travel, boys &#8212; the only way!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Poster-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Poster-1-206x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"206\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-47265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Poster-1-206x300.jpg 206w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Poster-1-88x128.jpg 88w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Poster-1.jpg 687w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 206px) 100vw, 206px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe Marx Brothers stow away on an ocean liner, and soon find themselves working as bodyguards for rival gangsters.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At Sea<\/li>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Fugitives<\/li>\n<li>Gangsters<\/li>\n<li>Marx Brothers Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAs Peary notes, it&#8217;s likely &#8220;that the Marx Brothers were never more energetic&#8221; than in <em>Monkey Business<\/em>, their first film written directly for the screen. It&#8217;s pure, zany comedy the entire way through, with amusing wordplay coming a mile a minute, and endless gags easily overwhelming the unimportant storyline. With that said, I&#8217;ll admit I don&#8217;t enjoy <em>Monkey Business<\/em> as much as the Brothers&#8217; more narratively-polished films (such as <em>A Night at the Opera<\/em>); I also miss the inimitable presence of the &#8220;fifth Marx Brother&#8221;, Margaret Dumont. Nonetheless, it remains essential viewing for anyone seriously interested in the history of comedic cinema. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Plenty of zany sequences &#8212; as when the well-meaning Chico and Harpo gradually &#8220;trim&#8221; off a man&#8217;s entire mustache<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Trim.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Trim-1024x657.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"411\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-47268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Trim-1024x657.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Trim-300x193.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Trim-128x82.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Trim-768x493.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Trim.png 1497w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Harpo accompanying a soprano while she sings &#8220;O Sole Mio&#8221;, then performing his own piece (my favorite moment in the entire film)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Harpo.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Harpo-1024x657.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"411\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-47267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Harpo-1024x657.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Harpo-300x193.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Harpo-128x82.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Harpo-768x493.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/05\/Monkey-Business-Harpo.png 1513w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Countless hilarious puns (most by Chico) and one-liners (most by Groucho):<br \/>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;You&#8217;re just wasting your breath &#8212; and that&#8217;s no great loss, either.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes. While it&#8217;s not quite on a level with either <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=19174\"><em>A Night at the Opera <\/em> (1935)<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18877\"><em>Duck Soup<\/em> (1933)<\/a>, <em>Monkey Business<\/em> should be seen by all film fanatics. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.mrqe.com\/lookup?^Monkey+Business+(1931)\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1931\/10\/08\/archives\/the-screen-groucho-and-his-brethren-in-a-german-film-studio.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/83860\/monkey-business\/#articles-reviews?articleId=86548\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/73422.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;This is the only way to travel, boys &#8212; the only way!&#8221; Synopsis: The Marx Brothers stow away on an ocean liner, and soon find themselves working as bodyguards for rival gangsters. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: At Sea Comedy Fugitives Gangsters Marx Brothers Films Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: As Peary notes, it&#8217;s likely &#8220;that the Marx Brothers were never more energetic&#8221; than in Monkey Business, their first film written directly for the screen. It&#8217;s pure, zany comedy the entire&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=3117\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3117"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69065,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117\/revisions\/69065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}