IMDb > Animal Crackers (1930)
Animal Crackers
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Animal Crackers (1930) More at IMDbPro »

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Animal Crackers (1930) -- MattTrailer.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   5,182 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 16% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
George S. Kaufman (play) &
Morrie Ryskind (play) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Animal Crackers on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
28 August 1930 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The maddest comics of them all!
Plot:
Mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
AFI's 100 Years ...100 Movie Quotes
 (From Extra. 4 November 2009, 4:45 AM, PST)

Goodman Theatre Announces Full Creative Team For Animal Crackers
 (From BroadwayWorld.com. 28 July 2009, 5:35 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
strangely modern and modernly strange more (62 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
97 min | Argentina:98 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Several of Groucho Marx lines were cut on demand of the Hays office, including "I think I'll try to make her". more
Goofs:
Continuity: In the final scene of the movie, just as Harpo is about to drop all the cutlery from his sleeve, the camera cuts to a close up of Chico. For an instant his hat is pulled down very low, covering his eyes. However, in the scenes before and immediately after, his hat rests normally on his head. more
Quotes:
Capt. Spaulding: Play that song about the Irish chiropodist.
Ravelli: Irish chiropodist?
Capt. Spaulding: "My Fate Is In Your Hands".
more
Soundtrack:
You Must Do Your Best Tonight more

FAQ

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17 out of 18 people found the following comment useful.
strangely modern and modernly strange, 22 June 2004
9/10
Author: dr_foreman

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...

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Animal Crackers back on Broadway (?) lenmchast
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Living Cast Members ?? timbrwn
Groucho gave me nightmares as a kid gj3123
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