atthecircus

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NY Times Review

By FRANK S. NUGENT

As a philosophical Marxist who can take the goons or leave them alone, we're inclined to believe that the policy of nonintervention is the one to pursue with "At the Circus," which is at the Capitol with Harpo, Chico and Groucho, not to mention Kenny Baker and Florence Rice. For, in all charity and with a very real twinge of regret, we must report that their new frolic is not exactly frolicsome; that it is, in cruel fact, a rather dispirited imitation of former Marx successes, a matter more of perspiration than inspiration and not at all up to the Marx standards (foot-high though they may be) of daffy comedy.

The idea probably sounded all right in story conference: a circus yarn with Harpo as the strong man's assistant, Chico as the watchman, Groucho as Lawyer J. Cheever Loophole who is called in to help circus-owner K. Baker find $10,000 in time to pay off a tanbark loan shark. What it simmers down to is a sequence in which the Marxes invade a midget's room and Harpo sneezes and all the furniture goes flying; another when they pay a visit to the sleeping strong man, get mixed up with feather-stuffed pillows and mattresses; a third when the circus comes to Newport and provides a moment when the Marxes, a gorilla and a ruffle-bloomered dowager are performing, willy-nilly, on the flying trapeze.

If you happen to have missed "A Night at the Opera," "Cocoanuts" and the other Marx shows, any of these skits may seem comic, in a purely lunatic way. If not, the strained laughter they evoke will have a commemorative quality, as a tribute to things long dead and still unburied. There is one good gag in the show, though. It comes when a circus lady tucks a wallet down the front of her dress and Groucho, with a knowing glance into the camera, says "There must be some way I can get that wallet without getting into trouble with the Hays office." That's the only bright line we can remember—which just goes to show.

AT THE CIRCUS, from a screen play by Irving Brecher; music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg; directed by Edward Buzzell; produced by Mervyn LeRoy for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. At the Capitol. Attorney Loophole . . . . . Groucho Marx Antonio . . . . . Chico Marx "Punchy" . . . . . Harpo Marx Jeff Wilson . . . . . Kenny Baker Julie Randall . . . . . Florence Rice Peerless Pauline . . . . . Eve Arden Mrs. Dukesbury . . . . . Margaret Dumont Goliath . . . . . Nat Pendelton Jardinet . . . . . Fritz Feld John Carter . . . . . James Burke Little Professor Atom . . . . . Jerry Marenghi Whitcomb . . . . . Barnett Parker

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Time Magazine Review

Marx Bros. At The Circus (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) checks the recent decline in Marx Brothers' pictures with two of their fastest, funniest sequences—a riotous Newport society and circus climax, and Groucho doing a combination rumba, tango and nautch dance with one pant leg kitten-ishly hoisted while he sings of his tattooed lost love, Lydia that Encyclopedia.

She can give you a view of the world in tattoo

If you step up and tell her where.

For a dime you can see Kankakee or Paree,

Or Washington crossing the Delaware,

Oh Lydia, oh, Lydia, say have you met Lydia,

Oh Lydia, The Tattooed Lady;

When her muscles start relaxin'

Up the hill comes Andrew Jackson. . . .

For two bits she will do a Mazurka in Jazz,

With a view of Niag'ra that no artist has,

And on a clear day you can see Alcatraz,

You can learn a lot from Lydia.*

The fun is complicated by Groucho's efforts to extract $10,000 from Mrs. Dukesbury (Margaret Dumont, stately stooge of the Marxes), a Newport dowager. Groucho, who has never seen Mrs. Dukes-bury before, barges into her boudoir, woos her with this Marxian dialectric: "Those June nights on the Riviera . . . and that night I drank champagne from your slipper —two quarts." The big scene is the party for the 400. "Judge Chanock," says Mrs. Dukesbury graciously, "will sit on my left hand, you (to Groucho) will sit on my right hand." "How will you eat," cracks Groucho, "through a tube?"

At The Circus is funny, should have been funnier. But cinemarxists, as they rest up from more laughs than the Marx Brothers have given them in many a long picture, may agree that the Marxes are still U. S. comedy trio No. 1, even if, as Namesake Karl Marx said of John Stuart Mill, their "eminence is due to the flatness of the surrounding country."

Read more: Cinema: The New Pictures: Dec. 4, 1939 - TIME

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Pauline Kael Film Review

"The Marx Brothers. They do get to shoot Margaret Dumont out of a cannon, but it's all fairly ponderous. Edward Buzzell directed, from Irving Brecher's weary script. With Kenny Baker, Eve Arden, Florence Rice, Nat Pendleton, and Fritz Feld. The music is by Harold Arlen; Groucho sings the famous ditty about "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady." Mervyn Leroy was the producer."

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The Marx Bros. revert to the rousing physical comedy and staccato gag dialog of their earlier pictures in At the Circus.

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This blog lists every MGM musical. Please click on a title for posters, film clips, trailers and...

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Trailer

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"Lydia the Tattooed Lady"