Customer Reviews

Go West [VHS]

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"Go West" is a guilty pleasure of mine. Being a big fan of The Marx Brothers, I am always ashamed whilst talking to fellow film buffs when I say that one of my favorite Marx Brothers films is 1940's Go West. And while it's not Monkey Business, Horse Feathers, or A Night at the Opera, it is still a highly enjoyable film, partly due to my love for western films. Some good gags in this one, including the hilarious pick-pocketing scene in the begining and the wild chase on the top of a train at the climax. Overall, if you are a fan of classic comedies or the Marx Brothers, you won't want to miss this. It's not perfect, but it's a lot of fun.

The Marx Brothers entered their last decade as a team with "Go West", which pales along some of their earlier films but still has some great moments. In the hilarious opening scene, Chico and Harpo bilk Groucho out of his fare money at a train station, and then Groucho walks off naturally thinking that he has the upper hand. Film sags somewhat in the middle, redeemed by some funny bits in a saloon. The last third of the movie has a wonderful climax aboard a train, where the boys' incompetence causes havoc but of course they get the bad guys in the end. A fun little movie, one of their better 1940's efforts.

It was with fairly low expectations that I popped "Go West" into my DVD player this evening. After all, as Marx Bros. purists repeat ad nauseam, the Brothers' later pictures generally failed to live up to the high standards set by their earlier Paramount-era films. That may be so, but I found "Go West" to be hilarious all the same. Which is hardly surprising since nobody does mayhem like the Marx Bros.! As always, Groucho has lots of great one-liners, Chico plays a charming con-man, and Harpo gets up to all kinds of anarchic antics.

Encountering Groucho for the first time in the train station, Chico asks where the train is. Groucho replies, "It's out on the tracks; it seldom comes in here." In previous films, the Brothers' made fun of the circus and the opera; in this film, they play havoc with the conventions of the Old West. On observing a fatal shooting outside a saloon, Chico tells Harpo: "I don't like-a the West: all the people do is kill each other. I'd like-a the West better if it was in the East."

In contrast to some of their other films, especially "At the Circus," the musical numbers are delightful and catchy. That goes not only for the solos by Chico and Harpo, but also for the duets sung by the star-crossed lovers. This latter feature of the MGM films was often tedious and forgettable; happily, that is not the case in "Go West." I thoroughly enjoy this film and would recommend it to anyone who appreciates the madcap humour of the Marx Bros. The climactic train sequence alone makes the film a must-see.

If you expect to see the reason why the Marx brothers are considered one of the greatest comedy acts of all time this is not the movie for you.

If you want to see a funny movie with great sight gags, a bunch of fine one liners and some great physical humor then you will enjoy this picture.

Sometimes the problem with making so many great movies over so many years is that you always expect perfection. Oscar is a funnier movie than this, but this is a funny movie. You will laugh and smile and that's the reason to watch a comedy isn't it?

After a declining and dissapointing change of At the Circus, their first work at MGM, the Marx Brothers seem to get back on the right truck in Go West in many ways. On the top sequence, Chico and Harpo trap Groucho at the train station: the two get the ticket to ride (as a result of Chico's skillful yell, "Nine dollars change, please!") and go to the west, while Groucho goes broke. Compared to At the Circus, laughing spots are more successfully and equally placed over the whole plot.

Also, in spite of the setting of the story, in the late 19th century, the Brothers highlight themselves with individual musical performances: Chico with his unique "shooting keys" of piano at the bar, Harpo with incredibly perfect harp playing at the native American's village (*Harpo actually transforms a mysterious outdoor object with strings into a harp!), and Groucho with backing vocals in two songs (*not his complete solo performance, but still good enough). Your 80 minutes will fly much faster than you expect if you watch this Go West!

This is one of my favorite Marx brothers films. I can't see how Leonard Malt-ed say it was a disappointment. If you want to be disappointed, see At The Circus or The Big Store. This is a great flick with tons of Marx style bits from the get go. It opens with the awesome "9 dollars change" bit to the big train finale, scripted by Buster Keaton himself!!! Dont miss it!!!!! TIM-BER!!!!!!!

The Marx Brothers' GO WEST (1940) shares its title with a Buster Keaton film from 1925. And both films start with a caption card containing Horace Greeley's famous quotation: "Go west, young man, go west." This wouldn't be the only moment in the film when I was reminded of Buster Keaton. The goofy train sequence at the movie's conclusion seems to be at least inspired by some of The Great Stone Face's exploits. Of course, one major positive in Keaton's favor was that his movie didn't have any singing in it. But the most important similarity between the two films is that I liked them both.

GO WEST is a definite improvement on their previous two films, the average AT THE CIRCUS and the unfortunate ROOM SERVICE. The writing (in particular the one-liners) seems much sharper and wittier. The sequence of Chico and Harpo fleecing Groucho at the train station seems reminiscent of the more famous "Tootsie Frootsie ice cream" scene in A DAY AT THE RACES, but manages to draw laughs without simply recycling the same gags. Somewhat surprisingly (given that this is set in the Wild West), there isn't too much parodying of Western standard set pieces (apart from one or two gags). This is a Marx Brothers film that just happens to be set in the Wild West, rather than one specifically making fun of Westerns.

As for the plot that all these jokes are existing in... Well, I don't think of myself as particularly slow, but this is the first time I've ever had trouble following the storyline of a Marx Brothers film. The overall story is fairly simple (a railroad company wants to buy a piece of real estate for a stupid amount of money), yet the particulars eluded me. I just couldn't keep track of the specifics of the bad guys' plan.

Now, the reason I had trouble keeping track of the plot is actually a good one for a Marx Brothers film. There isn't enough time devoted to the storyline for it to actually make much sense. This, of course, isn't a bad thing, because the worst part of the Brothers' films (apart from many of the musical interludes that didn't feature Groucho, Harpo or Chico) was the endless romantic subplots. Fortunately, there's a relatively small amount of screen time that goes into non-Marx scenes, which is bad for figuring out what's going on, but great for anyone who is looking for entertainment and jokes (which, really, should be everyone).

I found GO WEST to be a very pleasant and welcome surprise. The reputation of their later MGM pictures is shaky to say the least, but this is a lot of fun. The gags are clever and funny, while the songs from the fake-Zeppo and the female romantic lead aren't intrusive (indeed Groucho's backing vocals on one of them is surprisingly good). This is definitely a highlight from the Marx Brothers' later movie career.

"Go West" (1940) is easily the best of the Marxes' final three MGM releases. Unlike "At the Circus" and "The Big Store," the brothers were able to test some of their material in front of live audiences. This is evident during the classic opening sequence in which Harpo and Chico fleece Groucho - rather than the other way around. "Go West" also features one of the Marxes' most memorable climaxes as they tear down a running train in order to fuel it. Otherwise, the film is a hit-or-miss affair, with some terrific Harpo routines and a few regrettable scenes in which Groucho's stature is painfully diminished. It's a pity that the screenwriters did not have a better understanding of the Marxes' comedic personas.

You will love this film.If you are watching the marx brothers for the first time start here.Chico has a great piano scene and the money scene at the beginning is great too.

A glorious return to the free wheeling Marx comedies of their Paramount days. Enhanced by crisp editing and great dialouge GO WEST packs plenty of great fun into a short 79 minutes. Though there's no Margret Dumont(Animal Crackers, Duck Soup, Opera, Races, Circus, Store) there is a Themla Todd(Horse Feathers, Monkey Business)like vixen. And the songs are quite enjoyable (a rarity for an MGM Marx film). Groucho especially seems to be enjoying himself dispite his claims that he never had fun making movies. T I M B E R !