Mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.Mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.Mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.
IMDb RATING
7.4/10
14K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writers
- George S. Kaufman(based on the musical play by)
- Morrie Ryskind(based on the musical play by)
- Bert Kalmar(based on the musical play by)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writers
- George S. Kaufman(based on the musical play by)
- Morrie Ryskind(based on the musical play by)
- Bert Kalmar(based on the musical play by)
- Stars
- Awards
- 2 nominations
Videos1
Ann Roth
- House Party Guestas House Party Guest
- (uncredited)
Fredi Washington
- Party Guestas Party Guest
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- George S. Kaufman(based on the musical play by)
- Morrie Ryskind(based on the musical play by) (screen play)
- Bert Kalmar(based on the musical play by)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn 1957, Paramount forgot to renew the soundtrack rights which reverted back to the authors of the play. (The studio did renew the picture rights, though.) As a result, the film could not legally be seen in the USA until 1974, when Universal, which had since purchased Paramount's film library, was persuaded by fan requests to re-release it.
- GoofsWhen Professor replaces the handgun for a rifle after he shoots himself in the foot, Hives can be seen in the background walking behind the column, clearly awaiting his turn to enter the scene.
- Quotes
Capt. Spaulding: One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don't know. Then we tried to remove the tusks. The tusks. That's not so easy to say. Tusks. You try it some time.
Roscoe Chandler: Oh, simple: "tusks."
Capt. Spaulding: [shakes Chandler's hand] My name is Spaulding. I've always wanted to meet you, Mr. Chandler. As I say, we tried to remove the tusks. But they were embedded so firmly we couldn't budge them. Of course, in Alabama the Tuscaloosa, but that is entirely ir-elephant to what I was talking about.
- Alternate versionsCensored for a 1936 reissue to meet Production Code requirements; this censored version was the only one available for television showings and subsequent VHS/DVD releases. A surviving complete and uncensored print was found in England, and is the source being used for the 2016 blu-ray release.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 46th Annual Academy Awards (1974)
- SoundtracksYou Must Do Your Best Tonight
(1930) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Ruby
Lyrics by Bert Kalmar
Sung by Robert Greig and The Music Masters
Top review
strangely modern and modernly strange
Judging by the script, you'd never believe that "Animal Crackers" is over seventy years old. Think of all the "postmodern" things that happen in this movie: Groucho directly addresses the audience to apologize for a bad joke; Harpo shoots a gun at a statue, only to see the statue come to life and return fire; and Margaret Dumont freezes in time while Groucho has a "strange interlude" and rambles to the audience about the perils of marriage and living with your folks! Of course, the absolutely ancient and decaying print will remind you that "Animal Crackers" is older than the hills, but otherwise, it's much fresher and weirder than the stuff that passes for comedy today.
Like "The Cocoanuts," this movie is based on a play, and as such it is considerably longer and stagier than most of the later Marx movies. The pace does drag a bit towards the end, especially since the plot disappears (along with Zeppo) for long segments at a time. But many of the individual segments are classic, including the often (and rightly) praised bridge game and Harpo's gag with the cutlery-filled sleeves. Even the music segments hold up well, particularly Chico's piano routine that gets savaged by Groucho.
Interestingly, there is a prominent romantic subplot to this film, which puts paid to the fallacy that Marx Brothers movies didn't have romances until MGM got its hands on them. However, the romance isn't nearly as intrusive or annoying here as in their later vehicles, so there's still plenty of reason to be annoyed with good old MGM...
Like "The Cocoanuts," this movie is based on a play, and as such it is considerably longer and stagier than most of the later Marx movies. The pace does drag a bit towards the end, especially since the plot disappears (along with Zeppo) for long segments at a time. But many of the individual segments are classic, including the often (and rightly) praised bridge game and Harpo's gag with the cutlery-filled sleeves. Even the music segments hold up well, particularly Chico's piano routine that gets savaged by Groucho.
Interestingly, there is a prominent romantic subplot to this film, which puts paid to the fallacy that Marx Brothers movies didn't have romances until MGM got its hands on them. However, the romance isn't nearly as intrusive or annoying here as in their later vehicles, so there's still plenty of reason to be annoyed with good old MGM...
helpful•365
- dr_foreman
- Jun 22, 2004
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- 3 Ahbap Çavuşlar: Hırsız Kim?
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $910,015
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
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