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

Before she became famous, Shirley Temple walked by the set with her parents at one point during filming. Harpo Marx reportedly approached her parents with an offer to adopt the child on the spot for $50,000.

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Goofs

Just before Prof. Wagstaff throws his guitar in the water after playing it for Connie it changes to a cheap guitar that could easily get wet.

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Quotes

Jennings: [at the College Widow's apartment] Pretty popular place, huh?
Professor Wagstaff: Yes, a hot dog stand would clean up here.

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Connections

Referenced in All in the Family: Where's Archie? (1974)

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Soundtracks

"Bridal Chorus"
(1950) (uncredited)
from "Lohengrin"
Music by Richard Wagner

User Reviews

Fun in college with The Four Marx Brothers and Thelma Todd in Horse Feathers

"Whatever it is, I'm against it!" So says Groucho as he begins his term as Huxley's head of the college as he sings to his fellow staff and students which includes his son, Zeppo! This was another hilarious film involving The Four Marx Brothers with Chico and Harpo along to mess, er, help things along. All four also share a song-"Everyone Says I Love You" by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby-with the usual Chico and Harpo solos in piano and harp, respectively, but also with Groucho on guitar which he also previously played briefly in Monkey Business. They all get involved with "college widow" Thelma Todd so basically, they're ALL her love interest! While I thought the whole thing was nearly funny from beginning to end, the climatic football game wasn't as hilarious to me. Still, I highly enjoyed rewatching Horse Feathers again after nearly 20 years and that was good enough for me!