How a 25-year-old dream came true today...

[Big Al]

For as long as I've been a fan of the Marx Bros., I've always wondered what it was like to actually see one of their movies in a theater; to be surrounded by other moviegoers and share the laughter; to just see the Marxes on the big screen! Today, I got my answer!

The Central Branch of the Fort Worth Library has a First Sunday Film Club, and this month's offering was A Night at the Opera. So me, my dad, and my son went there today to see it.

A little history: my dad got me into the old movies when I was nine (this is the same man who got me hooked on jazz, CCR, the Stones, etc. Needless to say, my dad is uber-hip!), when ABC showed this film called "Funny Business." (Anyone remember this? It was hosted by Walter Matthau). All the clips from that film were from Marx Bros, W.C. Fields, Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, Bob Hope (and "Road" pictures with Bing). I was hooked from day one. The first Marx Bros film I ever saw was Duck Soup, and it was all downhill after that. Pretty soon, I had almost every Marx film committed to VHS, thanks to scouring the TV Guide for showings (and this was before cable, too!).

Fast forward 25 years, and I receive the Marx Bros. Paramount collection for Christmas. A few weeks ago, my son and I were scrounging around for something to watch, and I talked him into watching Horse Feathers. Apparently, this did the trick, because now HE'S hooked!

So it was on Friday that I read in the weekend guide that the FW Library was having this showing, and told Nathan about it. He, of course, was greatly excited, and he suggested calling my dad to go with us. So here it was, three generations of us, going to see this movie!

The auditorium probably held about 100 people or so, and I was heartened to see that the place was packed! The screen itself was about the size of your average big-screen TV, maybe 7' x 7'. Laughter filled the auditorium in all the expected places (and I have to say here that the timing of this picture is so much better than I've ever imagined. I mean, it's one thing to watch it on a TV, and laugh by yourself; to actually watch this movie with a crowd, and watch the absolutely BRILLIANT timing between lines and laughter, why, it was almost as if the actors on the screen were waiting for the laughter to die down BEFORE speaking their next line! Just goes to show that the comic genius that is the Marxes is eternal!), and I found myself watching my son almost as much as I watched the movie, just to watch him enjoy this classic film (afterwards, I asked about his favorite scenes; he mentioned the famous "Stateroom scene," as well as the scene where Harpo escapes from the brig by climbing a free-swinging rope!).

Afterwards, I mentioned to my dad how this was a 25-year-old dream come true, and he replied by saying that the surroundings were pretty close to how it was back then.

Tonight, I told my son that today was one of those days I'll cherish for the rest of my life. He just smiled and said, "The Marx Bros are awesome!"

Heck yeah they are!!!

Thanks for letting me share!

[Johnny E]

I love the Marx brother too! I hope to share them with my son some day. I have the MGM boxset and am hoping to get the Paramount collection soon (although my birthday came and went in March with no luck). The Marx brothers are timeless. I just hope my son is with it enough to be able to see the brilliance in them even though their films were made 70 years before he was born. Thanks for sharing Al.

[AllenLowe]

actually, a movie theater experience of the Marx Brothers was common in the late 1960s, early 1970s, as they were HUGE on college campuses and at alternative commercial theaters; the real dream would be to see them"live," as they frequently tested out their movie lines on theater audiences before filming -

Edited May 2, 2005 by AllenLowe

[Big Al]

actually, a movie theater experience of the Marx Brothers was common in the late 1960s, early 1970s, as they were HUGE on college campuses and at alternative commercial theaters; the real dream would be to see them"live," as they frequently tested out their movie lines on theater audiences before filming -

Oh YEAH that would've been nice!!!

[Dave James]

Big Marx Brothers guy here, along with all the other classic stuff that's been mentioned, A&C, W.C. Fields, the Road pictures etc. We have most of this stuff on DVD and watch it regularly. Something else I've gotten into lately are the 12 part serials they used to show along with a double feature at the neighborhood movie house. Stuff like Gene Autry's "Phantom Empire", "Radar Men From the Moon w/ Commando Cody", "Don Winslow of the Navy." You know, a cliffhanger at the end of every episode. Horrible production values, but about as campy as you can get. You can get these on line for about $5 per DVD, so they cost very little considering how much fun they are to watch.

My S.O. has a 14 year old daughter who's seriously into acting at her high school, but if you try to get her to watch anything in black & white, she about shrivels up. No interest whatsoever. I keep trying to convince her of how much she's missing, but she'll book none of it. I tried to get her to watch "Arsenic and Old Lace" the other night, and I think I would have had to tie her down to get her to stick around for more than about five minutes. Teenagers seem to have no patience for plot, nuance, character development or anything else that makes old movies so enjoyable for me. Makes me wonder what was different for me when I was that age. I always loved the old stuff. Kudos to those of you who have been able to get your kids engaged.

Up over and out.

Edited May 2, 2005 by Dave James

[AllenLowe]

hello, I must be going -

[Jim R]

I haven't seen a MB film in ages. When I was a kid (in the 60's), it seemed like there was always one of their films on tv. In fact, I remember times when I could choose between different films on different channels! This accessability/availability must have conditioned me to think it would always be that way, because I never taped one of their films, nor has it ever occurred to me to buy a VHS or DVD. Well, now it occurs to me that I haven't seen any of their films airing on tv (including our current cable lineup) for a very long time.

If I buy a box set, that would not only be expensive, but think of the sales taxes.

"Hey, I gotta an uncle who lives in taxes"

?! No no, I'm talking about money- DOLLARS.

"Say, thatsa where my uncle lives- Dollars Taxes!"

Now, that kind of testimony we can eliminate.

"Atsa fine... I'll take some"

You'll take what?

"Eliminate. A nice cold glass eliminate"

[AmirBagachelles]

Damn straight Big Al!!!

One of my first trips to the movies without my parents was to see a matinee triple: Duck Soup, Horse Feathers, and Animal Crackers. This was in Scottsdale in 1973, in a mall theatre, so the whole thing was unusual, even then. What a gas! I couldn't get enough of Groucho for quite awhile. Fortunately, You Bet Your Life was broadly "rediscovered" by rerun TV not long after. (And then there would be Python on PBS...)

It took me years though to finally see the other greats A Day at the Races and A Night at the Opera.

A plug for my favorite movie of the era: W.C. Fields in "It's A Gift"

Edited May 2, 2005 by AmirBagachelles

[Big Al]

I haven't seen a MB film in ages. When I was a kid (in the 60's), it seemed like there was always one of their films on tv. In fact, I remember times when I could choose between different films on different channels! This accessability/availability must have conditioned me to think it would always be that way, because I never taped one of their films, nor has it ever occurred to me to buy a VHS or DVD. Well, now it occurs to me that I haven't seen any of their films airing on tv (including our current cable lineup) for a very long time.

If I buy a box set, that would not only be expensive, but think of the sales taxes.

"Hey, I gotta an uncle who lives in taxes"

?! No no, I'm talking about money- DOLLARS.

"Say, thatsa where my uncle lives- Dollars Taxes!"

Now, that kind of testimony we can eliminate.

"Atsa fine... I'll take some"

You'll take what?

"Eliminate. A nice cold glass eliminate"

Now I'll bet you 20-1 we find you guilty!

[Jazzmoose]

A little history: my dad got me into the old movies when I was nine (this is the same man who got me hooked on jazz, CCR, the Stones, etc.

Your dad rules!!!

[Johnny E]

Teenagers seem to have no patience for plot, nuance, character development or anything else that makes old movies so enjoyable for me. Makes me wonder what was different for me when I was that age.

My theory is cable television. Seem to me like anyone under the age of 30 or so grew up with cable TV. When you have 50 channels and MTV it makes watching a b&w movie much less inviting.

I remember growing up in Philly and only having the three majors, PBS, and three UHF stations (17, 29, and 48). From midnight on channel 48 would show old movies - White Heat, Duck Soup, The Bank Dick, Treasure of Sierra Madre, Little Caesar...and groovy 60's flicks too like Omega Man, The Illustrated Man, and Little Big Man.

It's cable TV that robbed American youth of 30 IQ points...that's my theory anyway.

[Randy Twizzle]

Last week I heard my 21 year old nephew ask his mother "Who was WC Fields?"

Edited May 2, 2005 by Randy Twizzle

[chris olivarez]

Glad you got to see your heroes on the big screen but did you say the secret word and did the duck pop out?

[Johnny E]

Glad you got to see your heroes on the big screen but did you say the secret word and did the duck pop out?

[Soulstation1]

i've never seen a m/b flim

[Jazzmoose]

Get thee to a nunnery!

[Nate Dorward]

Yeah, the Marx Brothers are great. My 7 year old likes them a lot. But her fave is Buster Keaton--you tried him out on your son yet? Amazing films, still. (I think my favourites are Our Hospitality & The General.)

[Kalo]

I second the Keaton endorsement.

Great choice of favorites, Nate. The General is (deservedly) a perennial on top ten movies of all time lists, but Our Hospitality is an over-looked gem (love that train). Steamboat Bill, Jr., is a wonderful and under-rated film, too.

And don't forget Sherlock, Jr., as technically innovative and philosophically provocative in its own time as folks say The Matrix is now. And Sherlock, Jr. still holds up magnificently 80 years on. How will The Matrix look ten years from now?

Hell, silent era Keatons are among the best films ever, in any genre.

The Marx Brothers were a great comedy act (well, at least Groucho and Harpo), but their films are not great as films. Keaton's are.

Beautiful, timeless stuff.

BLACK & WHITE FOREVER!

[Kalo]

Has anyone ever made better period films than Keaton? The General, set in the Civil War era, looks like Matthew Brady photos in motion. And Our Hospitality, set even earlier, boasts glimpses of a rural Manhattan and an amazing early train journey.

I have no hesitation in saying that these Keaton films are great American art. We see in Keaton's grace, humor, timing, sense of form, and intelligence exactly what it is that speaks to us in the great jazz players and composers works.

[Alexander]

Big Marx Brothers fan here (especially the Paramount films). I used to go see their films at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, MA all the time. There's nothing like seeing those films on the big screen (preferably in a half-way decent print) with the audience roaring all around you. Jokes you've heard a million times seem brand new!

[Big Al]

There's nothing like seeing those films on the big screen (preferably in a half-way decent print)

Yeah, this is where it differed from the past: the library played the DVD of the movie thru a projector, as opposed to an actual film. So it looked and sounded better than anything from '35 (or even '75 for that matter!).

[brownie]

Since Buster Keaton's name popped up here, anyone seen 'The Cameraman'?

Not sure it's on release now.

I love the other Keaton classics, but 'The Cameraman' is so perfectly constructed and beautifully photographed. It is my Keaton favorite.

The film needs to be seen on the big screen via a really good copy!

[ghost of miles]

Big Al, I'm a huge Marx Brothers fan, and I agree that the experience is wonderful... in fact, my first experience of the Marxes was as a child in a neighborhood theater in the late 1970s... NIGHT AT THE OPERA and A DAY AT THE RACES were shown as a double-feature. My mom, being quite a fan, hauled the whole brood to the moviehouse--one of many acts for which I'll be eternally grateful to her. Just last October my wife showed NIGHT on a DVD projector as part of a project to help neighborhood businesses--we screened it in the garage of a bakery, which catered the event. Many, many families and kids came, and even a fair amount of teenagers--probably 100-125 people, as some were sitting on the sidewalk. And yes, there is something remarkably infectious about watching the Marxes in a big audience--a real communion of comedy. The laughter starts feeding on itself in a cumulative way.

[AllenLowe]

I like the general, but the sound is always a problem - can't hear the dialog -

[Adam]

I can only reiterate that which has come above. I'm fortunate enough to live in Los Angeles. For those of you here, the UCLA Film & TV Archive is doing a Buster Keaton retrospective starting on 13 May, showing a whole lot of films.

http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/public/calendar/calendar_f.html

But then LA also has the Silent Movie theatre, dedicated to showing silent movies.

http://www.silentmovietheatre.com/

All films should be experience for the first time in a theatre, I think. I wish there were more revival houses all across America, and not just in the big cities & college towns.

A similar experience was when LACMA screened the Preston Sturges films a few years ago. In a full house, with everyone laughing - truly amazing. That wasn't the first Sturges series in LA in my life - I remember an earlier one at the Nuart, and the New Beverly often shows pairings.

http://www.lacma.org/

http://www.michaelwilliams.com/beverlycinema/