Synopsis:

I've been a lifelong Marx Brothers fan (from my earliest memories), owning all their work on DVD imported from the US. I could debate with myself all day about which of their 13 films is the best ('A Day At The Races'?). But I can say with no doubt that most of their films come with certain baggage... Due to the commercial neccesities of the time and due to the radical nature of their comedy they usually peppered the popular songs of the day throughout the films, to keep people happy. At the time, this formula was boxoffice dynamite but some of these songs have not aged well and I almost always fast-forward through them (Other songs are still masterpieces, 'Cosi-Cosa' for example). Also sometimes the plots, subplots and supporting talent isn't up to the match of The Brothers' firecracker humour. But fast-forwarding through that material isn't really possible, so wouldn't it be wonderful to have a collection of these films with all the killer and none of the filler?

Intentions:

These edits should be a fun diversion for me, from more time consuming and challenging edits. This 13 film project will be a long time in the making. I'll be editing through their filmography in chronological order. I will not be cutting out any of the comedy and as I move towards their mid-career films, I'll be cutting less and less. But their last 6 films will require the most editing with the final film 'Love Happy' being drastically recut. I want these edits to feel like nothing is missing (or nothing that you will miss anyway!), just pure comedy magic.

Change List:

CUTLIST: - Tried to cut as much of Bob and Polly's romance and the Diamond necklace subplot as possible. Without removing any of the Brothers. - Sharpened the image throughout (The print is of a low and variable quality) - Smoothed out some of the primitive cuts and shots where possible. While still preserving the look of a film from this period. 00.00.00 Added TM2YC and Swordfish idents 00.00.11 Adjusted framing of opening credits to match rest of film 00.01.16 Opening Florida montage heavily reduced and recut (All dancing removed) 00.04.32 Bell boy/girl dance heavily reduced and recut 00.05.04 Start of veranda scene slightly trimmed 00.06.22 Bob and Polly's duet entirely removed 00.07.23 Bob singing as he walks off and some exposition removed 00.07.24 Shot of the Potters flipped so Mrs Potter doesn't magically appear in the next shot 00.08.10 The Potter's exit trimmed and redubbed 00.17.47 Awkward rapid pan removed in favour of a straight cut 00.18.20 End of exposition conversation trimmed 00.28.11 Start of Harpo playing dubbed over Groucho and Mrs Potter scene 00.30.39 Fade to black shortened 00.36.21 Fade to black shortened 00.41.29 Auction establishing shot removed to create a match cut of Chico and Groucho 00.42.13 Polly's singing and dancing heavily reduced and recut 00.43.13 Start of Groucho shot slightly trimmed 00.49.45 Created a proper match cut by removing a few frames of the policeman entering 00.54.04 Cropped Yates out of long shot 00.54.16 Cut Yates comforting Polly and created a match cut to her sobbing alone 00.55.04 Fade to black shortened 00.57.21 Fade to black shortened 01.01.04 Fade to black shortened 01.14.06 Trimmed Polly's entrance 01.14.38 Over-long reaction shots to the map unvailing removed 01.16.09 Added fade from cheering to Polly singing 01.17.24 Trailer for 'Animal Crackers' added to the end Original Length: 93 minutes FanEdit Length: 77 minutes Removed: 16 minutes.

Additional Notes:

The goal of the edit was to keep all the comedy but to streamline and fix all the other material. The quality of the original DVD is very poor and shows evidence of being spliced together from different film stock sources. So I tried to improve matters by smoothing out some bad cuts and by sharpening the image a little.

Other Sources:

The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection - Region 1 DVD Boxset.

Special Thanks:

Thanks of course go to Chico, Harpo, Groucho and Zeppo for a lifetime of laughs.