Goodness. Not quite the stench of death, but the unmistakable aroma of a fatal illness.
I'm not sure that performers that depend on freshness owe it to us to quit early, before that freshness fades. If they give us something powerful, as these men have, they deserve our patience, and indeed Groucho at least was able to leverage that and deepen the experience.
But its a shame, watching them drift. There was only one comic sequence here that worked for me, and it was obvious that it was one of those they took on the road to test and refine. Its where Harpo does a pantomime that Chico tries to interpret. Groucho is to be killed, you see.
This was originally intended to be a spoof of the surprisingly successful Casablanca of the previous year. Whats interesting about this movie to me is how it obviously changed direction, knowing that the original idea wouldn't work. So what we have here is an application of comic genius to change what could have been an embarrassment for us all, into a mere failure. A gentle release of their career.
Other than the scene I mentioned which was thoroughly tuned, you can see already the unhappy state of Chico's timing, already suffering from early onset dementia.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
I'm not sure that performers that depend on freshness owe it to us to quit early, before that freshness fades. If they give us something powerful, as these men have, they deserve our patience, and indeed Groucho at least was able to leverage that and deepen the experience.
But its a shame, watching them drift. There was only one comic sequence here that worked for me, and it was obvious that it was one of those they took on the road to test and refine. Its where Harpo does a pantomime that Chico tries to interpret. Groucho is to be killed, you see.
This was originally intended to be a spoof of the surprisingly successful Casablanca of the previous year. Whats interesting about this movie to me is how it obviously changed direction, knowing that the original idea wouldn't work. So what we have here is an application of comic genius to change what could have been an embarrassment for us all, into a mere failure. A gentle release of their career.
Other than the scene I mentioned which was thoroughly tuned, you can see already the unhappy state of Chico's timing, already suffering from early onset dementia.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.