Sunday, February 16, 2025, 12:32PM |  40°
MENU
Advertisement
The Marx Brothers: Harpo, Chico and Groucho
1
MORE

Let's talk about art: The Marx Brothers

Let's talk about art: The Marx Brothers

This is a biweekly series about art and artists in the region. Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts serves the community through arts education, exhibitions and artist resources.

Think rude comedy began with Will Ferrell? Take a look at any Marx Brothers film. They are legendary for their subversive humor.

Made during the Great Depression, these movies were side-splitting to American audiences who loved the many outrageous ways they took aim at those with power, money and dignified positions in society.

Advertisement

As film historian and critic Richard Schickel has written, their comedy involved “the utter denigration of upper-class values, which were widely believed to have caused all the troubles of the decade in which the brothers achieved their great popularity.”

The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo and sometimes Zeppo) began as a family act on the stage, but their blend of physical and verbal humor adapted perfectly to early sound film, and their legacy is essential in understanding how American film comedy developed. They influenced generations of comedians and comedy writers, from the Three Stooges to Woody Allen — or in modern parlance — from the Farrelly Brothers to Judd Apatow.

During the late 1960s, Marx Brothers’ films enjoyed a resurgence on college campuses. At a time of student unrest and campus protests, it’s easy to see why their irreverent humor, at the expense of authority figures, would connect with that age group.

So, in an era when we question whether comedy from only a decade ago is relevant, the films of the Marx Brothers are more than worth checking out.

Advertisement

On Sunday, June 28 as part of a American Classics series, Pittsburgh Filmmakers presents a double feature of two Marx Brothers movies at the Regent Square Theater in Edgewood. Showtime is 8 p.m.  Admission is $9; $7 for students and seniors. The films are:

“Duck Soup”: Anarchy abounds in this satire about nationalism. A bankrupt country, called Freedonia, declares war on neighboring Sylvania. It features the famous — and often imitated — surreal mirror scene between Groucho and Harpo (1933; 67 min.).

“Horse Feathers”: Groucho’s skills were wisecracks, puns and double-entendres, yet here, he’s hired as the president of a college! With Harpo and Chico as football players, the hilarious games are spectacles like none other (1932; 69 min.).

Pittsburgh Filmmakers began the popular Sunday night series of classic films 15 years ago at the Regent Square Theater. For more information, visit: www.cinema.pfpca.org.

First Published: June 23, 2015, 4:00 a.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
Novo Asian Food Hall on Thursday May 23, 2024, Strip District.  (John Colombo/For the Post-Gazette)
1
news
Legal battle stirs the pot at Novo Asian Food Hall
2
news
Medicaid on the chopping block: Proposed cuts threaten coverage of vulnerable Pennsylvanians
Students walk outside of the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on the Duquesne University campus Uptown on Friday, Feb. 14, 2025.
3
news
Duquesne University raises more than $333 million in 'monumental' fundraising campaign
Citing the substance's risks, the FDA in late 2023 issued a public safety alert warning that consumers "should not purchase or use any Neptune’s Fix products, or any other product with tianeptine."
4
news
'Gas station heroin' arises as a new threat
In Fayette County, voters express renewed hope under the Trump administration, praising his early actions like spending cuts and immigration crackdowns, and grading his first few weeks an "A." Many in the county, where Trump secured 68.4% of the vote, support his executive orders on immigration and federal spending, believing he is fulfilling campaign promises and taking decisive action.
5
news
As Trump's executive orders sow confusion and chaos for some, Western Pa. supporters who voted for him approve
The Marx Brothers: Harpo, Chico and Groucho
Advertisement
LATEST ae
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story