Animal crackers

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Movie
German title Animal crackers
Original title Animal crackers
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1930
length 93 minutes
Rod
Director Victor Heerman
script George S. Kaufman
Bert Kalmar
Morrie Ryskind
Harry Ruby
production Sam H. Harris
music Natt Bonx
Shelton Brooks
Bert Kalmar
Moe Jaffe
Harry Ruby
camera George J. Folsey
occupation

Animal Crackers was the second film with the Marx Brothers Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo Marx. It was shot in 1930.

action

Mrs. Rittenhouse is holding a party on her estate to celebrate the return of explorer Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding. Also on display at the party is After the Hunt by Beaugard, owned by art patron Roscoe W. Chandler.

After the appearance of Mrs. Rittenhouse's servants, who clarify the accommodation of Mr. Spaulding, Mr. Chandler appears with the painting. When Chandler confesses his love to Mrs. Rittenhouse at the handover, he is surprised by her daughter Arabella. Then Captain Spaulding's secretary appears, followed by the captain himself, who is brought in by four Africans on a litter. The musician Emanuel Ravelli and the professor appear as further guests. After the latter's coat has been removed, he stands there in his underwear. Then he grabs a pistol and starts shooting aimlessly. Everyone fled the room. The professor kills a clock and a canary in the cage before shooting at the people entering. A statue returns fire. A young woman appears and moves the professor to chase after her and chase after her.

When the painting is put up under the supervision of Butler Hives, his former employer Mrs. Whitehead and her friend Mrs. Grace enter the room. The two ladies decide to replace the picture with a bad copy in order to compromise Mrs. Rittenhouse. To do this, they want to harness Hives, to whom Mrs. Whitehead still feels obliged. Then Arabella Rittenhouse and John Parker enter the room, causing Mrs. Whitehead to leave. The couple in love want to get married; Parker doesn't know how to feed them both, however, as he earns too little as a painter. They too decide to later replace the picture with a copy of Parker in order to persuade Chandler and the other guests to purchase a picture of Parker.

In an adjoining room, Captain Spaulding confesses his love to Mrs. Rittenhouse, but is interrupted by Mrs. Whitehead. This causes him to flirt with her too. He also proposes to both of them to marry him. When a group of young women come down the stairs, Spaulding turns to them and leaves Mrs. Rittenhouse and Mrs. Whitehead.

When Chandler and Ravelli enter the room with the picture, the latter suggests that they know Chandler. Together with the professor, he finds out that it is Abe, the fish man. To hide his true identity, Chandler bribes both of them. After getting rid of Ravelli and the professor, he meets Captain Spaulding. This tries to move Chandler to finance an "expedition"; this should be his own retirement. The conversation turns into a string of absurd ideas.

After they both leave the room, Arabella and Parker enter the room to exchange pictures. They are surprised by Ravelli and the professor. Arabella tries to get Ravelli to swap images while the professor continues to chase a young woman. When Ravelli has found the professor, both persuade Mrs. Rittenhouse and Mrs. Whitehead to play a game of cards.

In the evening, Ravelli and the professor exchange pictures. They almost fail; because the professor does not understand at first that Ravelli needs a funzel . Instead, he takes a flounder, a bottle, a flush , a flute and a flute from his pocket one after the other . Finally, he conjures up a sparkle. The whole game repeats itself after a power failure. Finally they manage to swap the picture, although Mrs. Rittenhouse and Captain Spaulding are in the room during the power failure.

In the evening Spaulding reports on his expeditions, followed by a performance by Ravelli on the piano. The professor then also begins with a piano piece, which, however, ends in a fight between him and Ravelli. Then Ravelli goes back to the piano. At the end of the lecture, Captain Spaulding presents Mrs. Rittenhouse with a chest. While the company moves to the salon, Hives, who has swapped the picture again, leaves it with the other picture under his jacket and hides it.

When the picture is revealed, a scandal breaks out: it is exposed as a forgery. If there is another power failure, the copy also disappears. Everyone leaves the room to look for the picture; only Mrs. Whitehead, Mrs. Grace, and Hives remain in the room, as Hives removed the picture during the power cut. Since the hiding place is empty too, they suspect the professor and go in search of him.

In the garden, Arabella and Parker talk about the missing picture, then sing about their feelings for each other in a duet. After they leave, the professor sounds a harp solo.

In the morning, Arabella intercepts Ravelli to take the picture from him, as the police have announced their arrival. When his hiding place is empty too, they start looking for the picture. In search of Captain Spaulding, Mrs. Rittenhouse meets his secretary Jamison. When Spaulding returns from his ride, he dictates a letter to Jamison until the police arrive. Jamison then leads the police to the scene.

In the garden of the property the professor lies under the picture and sleeps. There he is tracked down by Hives and Mrs. Whitehead. Mrs. Whitehead distracts the professor so Hives can take the picture. This knocks down the professor and takes the picture with him.

In the meantime, however, Parker has discovered the picture and deposited it in his room. When he informs Arabella, they are overheard by the professor, who takes the picture back. And when he is caught by the police, he loses it and Parker can take it back. However, together with Arabella and Captain Spaulding, he establishes that this picture is not the original either.

Remarks

  • The film contains numerous classic scenes by the Marx Brothers: the description of Captain Spaulding's trip to Africa, the bridge game with Chico and Harpo against Margret Dumont and their partner, as well as the inspector's moral sermon to Harpo's address, in the course of which an entire table silver falls out of his sleeve .
  • Groucho sings his cult hit Hooray for Captain Spaulding in the film for the first time . The song became the signature tune of his TV series You Bet Your Life in 1947 and was often alluded to during Groucho's guest appearances.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hooray for Captain Spaulding is one of several songs composed by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby for the stage musical Animal Crackers (premiered in 1928 on Broadway).

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