DVD Review: The Marx Brothers TV Collection

The Marx Brothers TV Collection is a three-disc set of television appearances by Groucho, Harpo and Chico Marx, featuring more than ten hours of footage. There are dramatic roles, comedy routines, even commercials in this set. There is so much that I don’t really have space to detail everything that’s included, so will focus on some programs that deserve special mention.

The GE Theater: “The Incredible Jewel Robbery”

The Incredible Jewel Robbery stars both Harpo Marx and Chico Marx. I love that a film titled The Incredible Jewel Robbery spends a good deal of time showing Harpo and Chico stealing paint and auto parts and television wire and a bagel and a costume. There is a police officer always lurking nearby (and of course not another soul in sight). That’s the first half. The second half is how they use each of the items in their plan, all without any dialogue. This is from 1959. (The only negative bit is that you have to suffer through an introduction by that jerk Ronald Reagan.)

The GE Theater: “The Hold-Out”

Groucho Marx and Dennis Hopper in the same program? You bet. Hopper plays Fred, the boyfriend of Marx’s daughter. Brooke Hayward plays Margie, the daughter. John (Marx) opposes their marriage, in Groucho’s only dramatic role.

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

I didn’t even know that the television series Mr. Smith Goes To Washington existed. In this episode from 1962, Harpo Marx is mistaken for a famous French pianist and as a consequence invited to play for the president. He starts on piano but then naturally moves to the harp.

I’ve Got A Secret

There are a few segments from I’ve Got A Secret in this box set. The first features Chico Marx making a seriously funny guest appearance. The second features Harpo being interviewed, with the panel having to interpret his answers (Johnny Carson and Betsy Palmer are members of the panel). Chico returns for another segment featuring a large block of ice.

Showtime

Chico Marx is absolutely hilarious in this nine-minute segment from the British program Showtime. Chico plays piano, doing that wonderful four-handed bit with another pianist sitting in for Harpo. There is even a surprising marijuana reference. (By the way, in a segment from The Colgate Comedy Hour, Harpo and Chico do their four-handed piano routine.)

Kraft Music Hall With Milton Berle

This episode features an appearance by Harpo Marx to promote his record At Work. He plays the clarinet. It’s an incredibly funny segment. In the second segment, he plays the harp.

Marx Brothers Home Movies

This is one of my favorite items included in this box set. There is footage from the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and it’s narrated by Harpo’s son, Bill Marx. This is some pretty amazing footage, including Harpo in a play with Fay Wray, and a shot of Bill performing on stage with his father. There are a lot of other famous faces in this footage.

Groucho

This is an episode of the British version of You Bet Your Life from 1965, and it’s hilarious. He asks one guest, “Are you trying to sell sundials in England?” One guest is from Liverpool, which leads to some Beatles references. The guy is not a fan, and from the applause, the audience isn’t either. Odd. The woman mentions “a very new singer that’s just come out called Otis Redding.”

The Swift Show Wagon

Groucho Marx does a comedy routine, including a joke about the Red Sox. And there’s a routine with Groucho Marx Dancers leading to Groucho performing three songs. My favorite is “Dr. Hackenbush.” This is from 1955.

The Dupont Show With June Allyson: A Silent Panic

Harpo Marx appears in a dramatic role as a mute man in a store window who witnesses a murder. Harpo turns in an excellent performance in this show directed by Arthur Hiller.

The Martha Raye Show

Harpo appears as an umpire in a very silly skit featuring Duke Snider and Pee Wee Reese. And Harpo plays “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” on the harp, which is wonderful.

The Dick Cavett Show

Groucho Marx is a guest, along with Shelley Winters. At the beginning of the second segment, Groucho sings “Everyone Says I Love You.” And then the cast of the play based on the lives of the Marx brothers come out as well, though they have trouble getting in a word. Groucho tells some excellent and hilarious anecdotes. This feature is approximately fifty minutes, and for me is one of the set’s highlights.

Commercials

Harpo appears in a series of commercials for Labatt’s Beer. These are quite odd. In the first, Harpo is pursuing girls while a puppet talks to him about beer. He also appears in a series of advertisements for All-Pure Evaporated Milk and Foster’s Freeze. Groucho appears in a Right Guard commercial.

Most of the stuff included in this set is wonderful. However, there is also an episode of Celebrity Golf. Harpo is the celebrity guest, and he makes golf almost watchable. Almost. And then Chico Marx appears in an episode of Championship Bridge. I’m not sure what could possess anyone to film a card game or to watch it. And Chico seems to take the game seriously, so there really isn’t any humor here. And The Wonderful World Of Toys is an odd and pointless special about toys in Central Park, starring Carol Burnett and Harpo Marx. But the rest is excellent.

The Marx Brothers TV Collection was released on August 12, 2014 through Shout! Factory. The box set includes a forty-page booklet with lots of photos and information on each of the programs included.