Horse Feathers (1932)

Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley U, hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help his school win the big football game against rival Darwin U.

Director:

Norman Z. McLeod

Writers:

Bert Kalmar (by), Harry Ruby (by),

Stars:

The Marx Brothers, Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx

Cast

Complete credited cast:
The Marx Brothers	...	(as The Four Marx Brothers)
Groucho Marx	...	Professor Wagstaff
Harpo Marx	...	Pinky
Chico Marx	...	Baravelli
Zeppo Marx	...	Frank Wagstaff
Thelma Todd	...	Connie Bailey
David Landau	...	Jennings

Storyline

Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff has just been installed as the new president of Huxley College. His cavalier attitude toward education is not reserved for his son Frank, who is seeing the college widow, Connie Bailey. Frank influences Wagstaff to recruit two football players who hang out in a speakeasy, in order to beat rival school Darwin. Unfortunately, Wagstaff mistakenly hires the misfits Baravelli and Pinky. Finding out that Darwin has beaten him to the "real" players, Wagstaff enlists Baravelli and Pinky to kidnap them, which leads to an anarchic football finale.

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Plot Keywords:

college | education | professor | widow | speakeasy | 

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Taglines:

The Maddest Comics of the Screen!

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 August 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Marx Brothers in der Uni

Filming Locations:

Occidental College -1600 Campus Road, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Professor Wagstaff's exclamation, "Jumpin' anaconda!" is actually a reference to a company, Anaconda Copper, whom Groucho Marx had invested in heavily. When the stock market crash of 1929 occurred, Marx lost several hundred thousand dollars, hence the curse word in the movie.

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Goofs

Pocahontas was born 103 years after Columbus first sailed, and thus it would have been impossible for them to have met.

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Quotes

Baravelli: You gotta brother?
Mullen: No.
Baravelli: You gotta sister?
Mullen: Yeah.
Baravelli: Well-a, you sister, she's a very sick man, you better come with us.
Mullen: Yeah? What happened to her?
Baravelli: She hadda accident in her automobile.
McCarthy: Ah, she has no automobile.
Baravelli: Well-a, maybe she's-a fall off-a horse. I don't-a look very close. Come on, we take you in our car.
Mullen: You will, eh? Well, I have no sister.
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Help! (1965)

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Soundtracks

"Collegiate"
(1925) (uncredited)
Written by Moe Jaffe and Nat Bonx
Piano Solo by Chico Marx

User Reviews

The Marx Brothers in their prime

One of the better Marx Brothers movies. This one came right in the middle of their prime, between Monkey Business and Duck Soup (probably their two best films). While Horse Feathers isn't quite as funny as either of those, it still has plenty of laughs. The Marx Brothers were still young, but they knew what they were doing now. Again they take advantage of the film medium to do things they never could have done on stage, like the wild football finale. The involvement of the supporting cast is also kept to a minimum, which is always a good thing in Marx Bros. films. They do go back to relying on too many musical numbers. Groucho's opening song "Whatever it is, I'm Against it" seems awkwardly out of place, but it's interesting to see all four brothers do their own version of "Everyone Says I Love you." It's not their very best work, but it's not far from it either.