Comedy

Monkey Business

- Laughing days are here again!

Four stowaways get mixed up with gangsters while running riot on an ocean liner.

Release Date : 1931-09-19

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Paramount Pictures

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles : The Marx Brothers - Monkey BusinessMarx Brothers - Monkey BusinessMarx Brothers [1931] Monkey Business

Cast

Character Name : Groucho

Original Name : Groucho Marx

Gender : Male

Character Name : Harpo

Original Name : Harpo Marx

Gender : Male

Character Name : Chico

Original Name : Chico Marx

Gender : Male

Character Name : Zeppo

Original Name : Zeppo Marx

Gender : Male

Character Name : J.J. 'Big Joe' Helton

Original Name : Rockliffe Fellowes

Gender : Male

Character Name : Alky Briggs

Original Name : Harry Woods

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lucille Briggs

Original Name : Thelma Todd

Gender : Female

Character Name : Mary Helton

Original Name : Ruth Hall

Gender : Female

Character Name : Gibson

Original Name : Tom Kennedy

Gender : Male

Character Name : Capt. Corcoran (uncredited)

Original Name : Ben Taggart

Gender : Male

Character Name : Man in Deck Chair

Original Name : Billy Bletcher

Gender : Male

Character Name : Himself (voice)

Original Name : Maurice Chevalier

Gender : Male

Character Name : Indian's Wife at Party

Original Name : Bess Flowers

Gender : Female

Character Name : Waiter

Original Name : William H. O'Brien

Gender : Male

Character Name : Party Guest

Original Name : Cyril Ring

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2022-06-13

The four Marx brothers smuggle themselves aboard an ocean liner in barrels and proceed to cause a modicum of havoc on the ship before cleverly avoiding immigration officials in New York and ending up embroiled in a turf war between rival gangsters that sees one of their number's daughter kidnapped - and our hapless comics seem the most likely to save the day, and the gal! Now I'm not really a fan of this kind of humour, I just don't find it funny - but one has to admire the sheer precision of their performance. The quickly paced, expertly choreographed "spontaneity" of it all is precise and impressive. The four brothers (perhaps Zeppo, not so much) each have an unique sort of characterisation to bring to the mix, and Harpo manages a turn on the harp with some skill too. It's the very precision of it all that renders it sterile for me; it could be a comedic ballet with everything so meticulously planned and executed. The humour - which misses just as often as it hits - just seems incidental to their expertise in purveying it - and that didn't work for me either. Zany? Maybe... Funny? Not really...