<em>Is Anybody There?</em>: 30 Years Ago Today . . . .

we lost 1 of America's greatest entertainers.

It was on this date that Groucho Marx passed away at the age of 86 yrs old. Unlike many of the great screen comedians of the 30s & 40s Groucho was still arround & active as I grew up. So, I got to enjoy him not only in his old movies but in new appearances on talk & variety shows.

He was 1 of the Marx Brothers (Harpo, Chico, Zeppo & Gummo) who brought anarchy, as well as laughter, to stage & screen. Their anarchy & improvisation would drive George S. Kaufman, who wrote several of their Broadway & early movie scripts, up the wall. Various versions of the story exist where is is supposed to have said backstage at a rehersal: "I thought for a minute I actually heard a line I wrote".

All the Marx Brothers were talented musicians as well as comedic actors. In fact 1 of Groucho's proudest moments was when he has the chance to play Ko-Ko in a televised version of Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado. He was also well known as the host of the game show You Bet Your Life.

In many of the Marx Brothers movies their foil was the hapless, & clueless to the humor, Margaret Dumont. I have seen all of their feature length movies as well as many of the others that only 1 or more of them appeared in. My favorite is Duck Soup.

Anyhow, we are fortunate to have most of their film appearances (except the silent short Humor Risk) available, even if not in the best condition, to enjoy. So without further ado lets enjoy the musical adventures of Captain Spaulding, Rufis T. Firefly et al:

Lydia the Tattooed Lady (At the Circus)

Hello, I Must Be Going (Animal Crackers)

His version of Strange Interlude (Animal Crackers):

Here is a scene from their Broadway revue I'll Say She Is that was made for a Paramount short The House That Shadows Built (No wonder Kaufman was shocked when he actually heard a line.):