If any comedy team could use an annotated treatment it would be the Marx Brothers. I would lament that someone hadn't thought of it sooner, but I doubt they would have done as well with it as Matthew Coniam. To Start, his research is thorough. He explains jokes that I didn't realize were jokes. There were references in movies I have seen 10 times that my mind ignores and he explains them. This is especially true in the earlier movies where there are more references and Coniam is more thorough.
What makes this book unique among the plethora of books on the brothers is that he talks about the films themselves more so than the biographies of the players. You get both to some extent, but the lives have always gotten more discussion in books. Previous writers have failed to explore so many of the things that make them interesting on screen.
It helps to know going in that Coniam is firmly in the camp of fans and critics that prefer the anarchist brothers from the Paramount films over the nary-do-well misfits from the later years. He goes in depth to explain how much Groucho's persona shifts by the time they make At the Circus, for instance. He doesn't see Groucho Marx as a performer making acting choices but as a character having choices forced upon him through the writers and directors. Keaton and Chaplin wrote their own material during the silent era so they did have the power of consistency or evolution the Marx Brothers lacked directly, but the brothers had the writers they liked even if the directors were a mixed bag. I personally like the variety of characterization within the characters.
I really enjoyed Coniam's appreciation of Chico Marx. Like Harpo and Groucho, there is no one else like Chico. I love Chico's con man word play as much as Groucho's puns and Harpo's antics. I can also appreciate that Chico made it possible for them to have a longer movie career with his connections and love of the work.
Another service Coniam provides here is that he debunks some long held stories like Dumont didn't understand that jokes or that the brothers roasted potatoes in Thalberg's fireplace. These have been repeated and said so many times by other authors Coniam was the first I know who looked at the logic of these statements instead of just repeating them.
This book stands alone in several ways and it's essential reading if you plan to study the cinema of the Marx Brothers.
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