This early talkie is a sometimes hilarious, sometimes crude film which is somewhat fascinating - especially for fans of the brothers Marx. This film was made at Paramount's Astoria studios on Long Island & the sometimes virtually immobile camera and various oddities of early talkie techniques are apparent throughout: strangely enough for these very reasons, many viewers are apt to watch with eagle-eyes. The acting, for the most part is pretty bad, some flubbed lines are actually noticeable and there is a highly resistible actor by the name of Oscar Shaw who makes one want to grimace: he and Mary Eaton - who does the ludicrous MONKEY-DOODLE-DOO song-and-dance number - must be seen to be believed. Kay Fwancis - no that's not a misprint - hardly seems the type who would become one of Warner Bros. greatest assets of the early thirties. But the Marx themselves! They alone make the film worth watching - with a wee bit of help from that perennial dowager in the form of the unique Margaret Dumont.
Review of The Cocoanuts
