Monkey Business

The four brothers are stowaways in barrels aboard an ocean liner, and from the moment they are found they are running. There are two rival gangsters on the ship and all four try to work for both. Norman Z. McLeod made it as the first Marx Brothers picture written directly for the screen, the previous two having come from Broadway shows. There is almost no story; it proceeds scene by scene and its single purpose is the chase. The passport control sequence, where all four claim to be Maurice Chevalier, is the most cited scene. Groucho's verbal assaults, Chico's games with logic and Harpo's silent demolition are at their purest here. Who it is for: viewers who love the Marx Brothers and thirties anarchic comedy. Who it is not for: anyone looking for a story.