520 - At the Circus, United States, 1939. Dir. Edward Buzzell.

Monday, June 4, 2018

520 - At the Circus, United States, 1939.  Dir. Edward Buzzell.

Mr. J. Cheever Loophole.

Groucho Marx sure does get some names in his movies.

The Wilson Wonder Circus is in trouble.

Jeff Wilson and Julie Randall love each other.

Jeff owns the circus.  Julie sings while riding and working with horses.

But Jeff owes money to John Carter.  And John Carter intends to foreclose on him.  He gets the strong man Goliath and the little person, Little Professor Atom, to collude with him.

Mr. Loophole has his own help, in the form of Antonio and Punchy, played respectively by Chico and Harpo.

And Chico is back to playing the piano.

And Harpo is back to playing the harp.

And all of them string together a series of sight gag and wordplay set pieces.  Because a Marx Bros. movie has a bit of a plot but is also a series of gags set up one after the other.  Along with songs.  And brilliant piano and harp performances by the brothers.

Will John Carter take over the circus?

Will Jeff Wilson keep it?

Will Loophole, Antonio, and Punchy defeat Carter, Goliath, and Atom?

Does it even matter?

The point is to laugh along the way.

As each gag gives way to the next one.