- Actors: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Zeppo Marx, Thelma Todd
- Directors: Norman Z. McLeod
- Writers: Arthur Sheekman, Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, S.J. Perelman, Will B. Johnstone
- Producers: Herman J. Mankiewicz
- Language English
- Classification: U
- Studio: 4 Front
- VHS Release Date: 8 Jan 2001
- Run Time: 68 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00004WDE2
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 9,703 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
Product details |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Imagine Groucho as the president of a college and Harpo and Chico as football players. It doesn't get much wackier than this. Horse feathers, indeed. Groucho is hilarious to watch as a hip professor. He's at his most rebellious singing "Whatever it is, I'm against it". Thelma Todd does some of her best vamping to help fix the big football game, which Harpo and Chico are supposed to throw. Naturally, the brothers have other ideas. For sheer laughter, this has to rate almost as high as Duck Soup, with the memorable speakeasy sequence, and the funniest football finale of all time, complete with banana peels and a chariot. --Bill Desowitz
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
The Marx brothers fourth film is an avalanche of comic invention. Groucho plays a proffessor brought in to save a struggling college. He enlists the aid of Harpo and Chico, a bootlegger and a dog-catcher, to win the college football game, under the impression that they are professional football players. The three of them then proceed to chase seals, fire pea-shooters at each other, flirt with the college widow and do impersonations of Ben Hur before the glorious finale. Groucho with his frenetic wisecracking, Harpo with his silent surrealism, and Chico with his skewed brilliance combine to make this one of the Marx brothers funniest films.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
When I was young, I really didn't understand the comedy of the Marx Brothers. Now that I'm grown, I still don't understand a lot of it. I love Groucho and his endless supply of witty one-liners, but some of his bits in this film still just go right by me. Chico and his richly comedic language are always good, and I've even grown to like most of Harpo's antics, but somehow, when you put everything together, I'm left shaking my head every so often. I think the main obstacle in my enjoyment of a movie like this is the lack of continuity in the story. Most of the time, the plot is no more than incidental to the comedy. They certainly don't make movies like this anymore, so I have a hard time getting into the proper Marx Brothers mindset.
In Horse Feathers, Groucho plays Professor Waxhaw, the new president of Huxley College; his son (played by Zeppo) is following in the family footsteps of concentrating on a college widow when he should be concentrating on more important things - such as football. Professor Waxhaw decides that the Huxley team simply must beat Darwin, its primary rival. He takes his son's advice and hires a couple of football players who hang out at the speakeasy - well, actually he really recruits Chico and Harpo. Waxhaw also takes an active approach to teaching, and his takeover of the anatomy class makes for the funniest scene in the film (it degenerates into a spitball fight). All the guys hit on the widow woman Waxhaw's son is stuck on, not knowing she (Thelma Todd) is in cahoots with the Darwin team and is trying to steal Huxley's football signals. After a most unsuccessful attempt by Chico and Harpo to kidnap Darwin's two best players, we get to the big game. Picture this: Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo all out there on the field - you can imagine the high strangeness and hilarity to be found here.
It's hard for me to evaluate this film. On the one hand, I can see that it is classic Marx Brothers, with one-liners, jokes, gags, songs, dances, the works. On the other hand, I sit here and wonder why I didn't find this film funnier than I did. I almost feel like I'm doing something wrong by not enjoying Horse Feathers more than I do.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
When I was young, I really didn't understand the comedy of the Marx Brothers. Now that I'm grown, I still don't understand a lot of it. I love Groucho and his endless supply of witty one-liners, but some of his bits in this film still just go right by me. Chico and his richly comedic language are always good, and I've even grown to like most of Harpo's antics, but somehow, when you put everything together, I'm left shaking my head every so often. I think the main obstacle in my enjoyment of a movie like this is the lack of continuity in the story. Most of the time, the plot is no more than incidental to the comedy. They certainly don't make movies like this anymore, so I have a hard time getting into the proper Marx Brothers mindset.
In Horse Feathers, Groucho plays Professor Waxhaw, the new president of Huxley College; his son (played by Zeppo) is following in the family footsteps of concentrating on a college widow when he should be concentrating on more important things - such as football. Professor Waxhaw decides that the Huxley team simply must beat Darwin, its primary rival. He takes his son's advice and hires a couple of football players who hang out at the speakeasy - well, actually he really recruits Chico and Harpo. Waxhaw also takes an active approach to teaching, and his takeover of the anatomy class makes for the funniest scene in the film (it degenerates into a spitball fight). All the guys hit on the widow woman Waxhaw's son is stuck on, not knowing she (Thelma Todd) is in cahoots with the Darwin team and is trying to steal Huxley's football signals. After a most unsuccessful attempt by Chico and Harpo to kidnap Darwin's two best players, we get to the big game. Picture this: Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo all out there on the field - you can imagine the high strangeness and hilarity to be found here.
It's hard for me to evaluate this film. On the one hand, I can see that it is classic Marx Brothers, with one-liners, jokes, gags, songs, dances, the works. On the other hand, I sit here and wonder why I didn't find this film funnier than I did. I almost feel like I'm doing something wrong by not enjoying Horse Feathers more than I do.
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