Customer Reviews

Growing Up With Chico

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This is truly a case of a unbiased look at one of the funniest men of his time. This gem took me from loving him for his work to hating him for who he was to sympathizing with him for his out of control lifestyle. Sometimes you can know too much about someone. Maxine Marx should be given a medal for her honesty and candor about a father she loved and whose motives she questioned. This book is for anyone who loves the Marx Brothers...you won't be able to put it down.

This is a slight but candid look at the most fascinating Marx Brother. Chico was the eldest and the one who propelled the Brothers' act into big time show biz. He was also a compulsive gambler and lover, a math wiz and could play any instrument that engaged his ever-shifting attention. His daughter, Maxine, presents a loving yet candid portrait of the father she (and every other woman in his life) loved.

I read the other reviews and decided to buy the book. I wasn't disappointed. I've always been intrigued by the Marx Brothers, especially Chico (and Harpo as well). There's been so many stories told about him, and I wanted to hear it from someone who was really there! There's no doubt that Chico and his daughter loved each other unconditionally. That shines through in this story. Despite the fact that Chico was a wild, gambling, skirt-chasing sort of guy, Maxine Marx shows a real and vulnerable human side to her Dad. I give her credit for telling it like it was, warts and all. This book is fairly short (177 pages), I read in a couple of hours, but I didn't want to put it down. Even though Chico wouldn't have been nominated for Husband of the Year, I still adore the guy just the same after reading this book. Highly recommended.

"Growing Up With Chico" seemed to start out as a response to Groucho Marx's harsh criticisms about his eldest brother published in "The Marx Brothers Scrapbook." This book was published three years following Groucho's death. In the prologue, Maxine Marx described a brief moment alone with Uncle Groucho at his pool during which she confronted him about the derogatory remarks published in the book. In the early chapters, Groucho is compared unfavorably to her father, Chico. Chico was the blue-eyed, optimistic free spirit who always owned his mother's favoritism. Groucho was dark and dour and resented how much more easily Chico received unconditional love (pg. 2). Chico did not have the "coldness" of his brothers and his upbeat personality convinced others in the show business field to believe in his brothers' act and propelled them to super stardom (pp. 2, 35, 51, 85-7). At times, Maxine reversed the comparison, admitting that Groucho was the better family man and conducted himself more appropriately at times, for example, during her grandmother's (on her mother's side) funeral (pp. 54, 123). The compliments about Groucho, though, were peppered with the negative: he was a good family man but verbally abusive to his wife Ruth, warm towards children but caustic towards adolescents and adults, etc (pp. 157, 36). In contrast, Chico was painted as a man with many faults and weaknesses, but his devoted daughter made sure to include with the negative the happiness and optimism he also exhibited.

Maxine's account was not just a comparison between Groucho and Chico, of course, and, to be fair, none of the Marx Brothers (save for Gummo of whom little is written) came out unscathed in this book. Maxine Marx described Chico's early years-living away from home by his mid-teens for a life of gambling--and how he met her mother Betty Karp. Born in 1918, Maxine was very young during the latter half of the Brother's vaudeville days and their transition to Broadway. Her early life was often spent accompanying her parents on the road during the Marx's tours. In covering the time during the Brother's classic films, Maxine mostly included stories either of those she witnessed or others of which she was told. As a reader, it is difficult to decide how good of a father Chico was. He was loving and devoted to his daughter; however, many of the endearing memories she shares about her father are shown to be for his selfish aims. He would shower is family with gifts often as an apology for gambling and womanizing escapades. During at least a couple of the many separations from his wife, Chico would ask his daughter to beg him to return so he could reunite with his wife for Maxine's sake and thus not need to apologize for another of his indiscretions (pp. 49, 59, 110). Maxine Marx did not sugarcoat her father's misdeeds, either. His womanizing was unrelenting and eventually included advances towards his daughter's friend at their own home (pg. 142). His gambling was so compulsive he would collect his brothers' salaries at the box office or forge their names on checks for gambling money (pg. 100). His brothers actually garnered some of Chico's pay to keep in a security for his wife and daughter.

The book also included a lot of gossip and name-dropping (i.e. John Gilbert, Judy Garland, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Norma Shearer, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Barbara Stanwyck, etc.). The latter part of the book described the author's struggle to become an actress but she does not gravitate too far from the subject about whom her audience wants to read. I agree with another reviewer that Maxine Marx was too close to her subject to give a complete, impartial account, but she did not spare the ugly details and kept a good sense of humor as well. For example, in a photo of Maxine and her parents at her sweet 16 party, she noted in the caption that Chico looked "pensive--probably thinking about the bridge game that got away." It is 177 pages with a middle section of black & white glossy photos. The book concluded very abruptly with Chico's funeral which was 19 years before the book was published. She moved to the East Coast and apparently did not have much contact with her father towards the end of his life. A little more information post-1961 on the Brothers lives (besides the brief prologue at Groucho's pool) and Chico's legacy would have been welcomed. Still, it is the only account focused solely on Chico and thus is recommended to any fan of The Marx Brothers. Maxine Marx died of natural causes on September 14, 2009 at the age of 91.

As the only book to focus specifically on the life of Chico, this book is indispensible. Written by his daughter Maxine after his death (and, it would seem, partially in response to Groucho's off color comments about Chico in "The Marx Brother's Scrapbook"), this book focuses primarily on her first hand account of his life. Now, you figure, she was born as the Brothers were starting their rise to Broadway stardom, so most of the material is post-Vaudeville - not a bad thing if the movies and late stage productions are your thing, though details about them are sparse.

While I think this book presents an excellent (and, as other's have said) candid view of Chico through Maxine's eyes, he doesn't really have a "voice" in it. In some ways, she is too close to the subject to really allow Chico to be a flesh and blood human being.

Neverless, if you've read the pile of books on Groucho or "Harpo Speaks," you should really read this one, too.

You've read "Harpo Speaks", you've read "Monkey Business", now read this one too! "Growing up with Chico" offers a portrait of the the eldest Marx that only a daughter could paint. Chico's addictions took a huge toll on neglected Maxine and the enabling Betty. The love and hate Maxine had for her father will be apparent after reading this short but compelling book. I cannot help but feel compassion for Chico as well, a street kid who never got past the hustler in himself, in spite of being so blessed later in life. Worth the read!

This is a really interestinnnnng look at Leonard Marx-whom we know better as Chico.YYou'll read abbout how he was a math whiz capabble of doing Compex problems in his head.He was also a great pianisttt who had seeveral jobs playing the pianno..Learn why he talked with an Italian accent..Youll learnn thiss and whole lot more abbout him and his famous brothers-Like why Harpo never spoke!I literally read this book in ONE SITTING it was soo fascinating!If You Love the Marx Brothers this book is a must-readd!!!

I love the Marx Brothers and have a collection of books on them, mostly Groucho and the one by Harpo. This one surprised me. I had never herd of it in all the years that I have been collecting movie stuff, about 40 years worth. I only got this book for myself and I have as yet read it. I can't wait to start now that Christmas is over and the new year is here.