Horse Feathers

Horse Feathers (1932) is the fourth Marx Brothers film. It stars the four Marx Brothers, Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo, as well as Thelma Todd as the College Widow, and was written by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, S. J. Perelman, and Will B. Johnstone. Kalmar and Ruby also wrote some of the original music for the film. It centers around, among other things, college football and a game between the fictional Darwin and Huxley Colleges. Many of the jokes about the amateur status of collegiate football players and how eligibility rules are stretched by collegiate athletic departments remain remarkably current. Groucho, of course, is the head of the college, and Zeppo is his son. Chico is an "iceman", which serves as a double meaning, being a deliverer of ice and of bootleg booze from the speakeasy, and also a "skirt chaser" by nature. Harpo is a part-time dogcatcher and also a part-time "iceman".

Related Topics:
1932 - Marx Brothers - Film - Groucho - Chico - Harpo - Zeppo - Thelma Todd - College Widow - Bert Kalmar - Harry Ruby - S. J. Perelman - Will B. Johnstone - College football - Darwin - Huxley Colleges - Amateur - Football

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The part of the anatomy professor is played by Robert Greig, a character actor, who appeared in over 100 films, many in the role of a butler. He also appeared with the Marx Brothers in Animal Crackers.

Related Topics:
Robert Greig - Animal Crackers

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The film prominently features the song "Everyone Says I Love You", by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, which was later the title song of the 1996 Woody Allen movie Everyone Says I Love You. All four brothers perform the song: Zeppo sings it, Harpo whistles it, Chico sings it while playing piano, Harpo plays it on his harp, and Groucho sings it while strumming a guitar. In all but one case, the song is a serenade to the "College Widow", except for when Harpo (the dogcatcher) whistles it to his horse. As is often the case with the Marx Brothers films, Harpo's performances are show-stoppers.

Related Topics:
1996 - Woody Allen - Everyone Says I Love You

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In one clever bit, Harpo and Chico saw their way out of a locked room, where they are being kept prisoners, with their clothes removed (see image). How they got the saws into the floor, or how the got the saws in the first place, are left to the imagination. This plot device of seemingly grabbing some convenient tool from "off-screen" would later be a staple of the Bugs Bunny cartoons.

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