The name of Groucho Marx's character, "S. Quentin Quale", caused a stir when the film was first released due to the subtle but clear joke: the use of the term "San Quentin quail", which means "jail bait".
S. Quentin Quale:
You know, it's stimulating when two giant intellects get together.
Quentin claims he's met Grigory Rasputin (1869-1916). The film is set in 1870, when Rasputin was only a year old. This is not presented as an anachronism for the sake of a gag like the Don Ameche/The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939) business.
Opening card: Foreword: In 1851, Horace Greeley uttered a phrase that did much to change the history of these United States. He said: Go West, young man, go west. This is the story of three men who made Horace Greeley sorry he said it.
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