At the Circus

At the Circus
October 20, 1939
MGM
Comedy, Musical
VHS
C+

A decade into their film career, the Marx Brothers had clearly passed their peak, but this is at least better than Room Service, which had no memorable moments, while this has several, most to do with Groucho: his singing Harburg-Arlen's delightful "Lydia the Tattooed Lady," which just barely squeaked by the censors; his mention of the Hays Code when wondering how to retrieve money from Eve Arden's skimpy costume; and his continued romancing of Dumont, who makes a welcome return late in the movie.  Also worth watching are the Brothers' investigations in the henchmen's bedrooms, one of the baddies, "Little Professor Atom," played by Jerry Maren, the center Lollipop Guild member in The Wizard of Oz.  (Screenwriter Irving Brecher was one of the many contributors to that classic, and, yes, Buster Keaton again gave then uncredited writing support to the Marxes.)  As others have pointed out, a circus isn't much of an environment for the Brothers to rebel against, but it does fit the theme of so many of my 1939 movies.  (Even in Vernon and Irene Castle, Ginger does a number in a clown suit.)

The negatives are many, including the tepid romance between Baker and Rice, with the two of them singing "Two Blind Loves" to each other twice, and her singing "Step up and Take a Bow" to her horse, and Baker singing it to her.  It's hard to care about the "save the circus" plot, while I did care about Judy's sanitarium in A Day at the Races.  As in Races, Harpo frolicks with shucking-and-jiving "coloreds," this group thinking he's Svengali rather than Gabriel.  At least Lillian Randolph would have a more memorable role, as "Annie" in It's a Wonderful Life.  Willie Best has a smaller role than in Thank You, Jeeves!, as a redcap, so he suffers fewer indignities.  The pace is faster than in Room Service, although sometimes overly frantic.  Edward Buzzell would also direct Go West, which also is not the Marxes' worst.  Yes, I'd put this on a level with Races and The Cocoanuts, far from a classic but not pitiful.

The nearly ubiquitous Edmund Mortimer is the Governor here.  Forbes Murray would go on to Turnabout, Irving Bacon to His Girl Friday, Buck Mack to Citizen Kane, and Emory Parnell to Miracle of Morgan's Creek.  And, yes, we're done with the '30s now.

Thank You, Jeeves!

Thank You, Jeeves!
January 1, 1937
Twentieth-Century Fox
Comedy, Mystery
VHS
C+

The only things that this movie has in common with the Wodehouse 1934 novel of the same name are the main characters, the situation of Bertie Wooster playing a musical instrument and annoying the neighbors (thus planning a visit to the country), and unfortunately racism.  (http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2012/05/1934-1989-harper-row-edition-p.html)  This time Bertie has a rather elaborate drum-set, but before he can leave town, a mysterious blonde arrives on his doorstep, pretending to know him.  (I don't know if the writers get any points for being canonically compliant that Bertie doesn't have a brother.)  Soon he's tangled in a tedious mystery that not only is very un-Wodehouse but doesn't even work on its own terms.  (Why, if Marjorie is on the run, would she trust a stranger she meets at a inn?  Why are there torture devices in the basement?  Why are we misled into thinking that her cousin is her boyfriend, when there's no pay-off to this?)  The movie is not quite an hour long but still drags.

Along the way to the inn, shortly before a not bad chase scene, Bertie and Jeeves pick up a "colored" Dixieland saxophonist played by poor Willie Best, who in his earliest film roles was known as "Sleep 'n' Eat." (http://celluloidslammer.blogspot.com/2009/02/willie-best-life-remembered.html)  Here his character is "Drowsy," which isn't much better.  It's a very stereotypical part and adds nothing to either the plot or the humor of the movie.  (However, the scene of Jeeves conducting him in a rendition of "The March of the Hussars" almost works.)  Arthur Treacher, who would go on to the Wooster-less Step Lively, Jeeves and similar valet-or-butler roles, is somewhat well-cast, in that he's got Jeeves's dignity, but he's a much more peppery and brawny Jeeves than in the books.  David Niven is, as he almost always is, charming in his first major role, although he's too bright for Bertie, and the print-Jeeves would never stand for that mustache.  Niven and Treacher have a nice rapport, as when they sing together in the car, and I wish there had been more of them together.  The film doesn't hold a candle to the 1990s British television series with Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, but it's not without interest, for the casting and other reasons.

The American boy who annoys Jeeves is played by Gene Reynolds (looking much younger than his thirteen years), and he went on to be a writer for My Three Sons, M*A*S*H, and other TV shows.  Joseph North, who plays a butler here, would be another butler in The Bank Dick.