The Cocoanuts (1929)

During the Florida land boom, The Marx Brothers run a hotel, auction off some land, thwart a jewel robbery, and generally act like themselves.

Directors:

Robert Florey, Joseph Santley

Writers:

George S. Kaufman (book), Morrie Ryskind (adapted by)

Stars:

Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx

2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
The Marx Brothers
Zeppo Marx	...	Jamison
Groucho Marx	...	Hammer
Harpo Marx	...	Harpo
Chico Marx	...	Chico
Oscar Shaw	...	Bob
Mary Eaton	...	Polly
Cyril Ring	...	Yates
Kay Francis	...	Penelope
Margaret Dumont	...	Mrs. Potter
Basil Ruysdael	...	Hennessy
Gamby-Hale Ballet Girls	...	Dancers (as Gamby-Hale Girls)
Allan K. Foster Girls	...	Dancers

Storyline

Mr. Hammer runs a bankrupt Florida hotel. He'll try anything to make money, even make love to rich Mrs. Potter. But his main scheme, selling real estate, is in danger of sabotage from zanies Chico and Harpo, who also reduce the schemes of a pair of jewel thieves to chaos. A subplot involves the star-crossed love of Polly Potter and architect Bob Adams.

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Plot Keywords:

photographic negative scene | hotel | florida | marx brothers | auction | 

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Taglines:

You'll Laugh Yourself Sick (Print Ad- Syracuse Journal, ((Syracuse NY)) 30 October 1929)

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Genres:

Comedy | Musical

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 1929 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los cuatro cocos

Filming Locations:

Kaufman Astoria Studios - 3412 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 140 min (preview) 89 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the American Film Institute's 2000 list of the 500 movies nominated for the Top 100 Funniest American Movies.

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Goofs

In the opening scene, Hammer sends Jamison to meet a 4:15 train. When Jamison gets back, he refers to it as a 4:30 train.

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Quotes

Mrs. Potter: I don't think you'd love me if I were poor.
Hammer: I might, but I'd keep my mouth shut.

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Crazy Credits

Instead of a conventional cast list, the actors are presented as they might be in a stage program: a single visual showing cameo portraits of the leading players identified by both their character names and their own.

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Alternate Versions

Preview version reputedly ran 140 minutes; extensively cut to 96 minutes for the final release version. The cut material allegedly consisted mostly of additional musical numbers.

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Connections

Referenced in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

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Soundtracks

TALE OF THE SHIRT
(1925) (uncredited)
Music written by Georges Bizet, from "Carmen"
Lyrics by Irving Berlin
Sung by Basil Ruysdael and chorus

User Reviews

Classic Marx

A lot of people don't find The Cocoanuts to be as entertaining as some of the later Marx Brothers films. Maybe not, but it definitely comes close. Personally, I thought this was the Marx Brothers' fifth best film. It's not that it's bad, because it great, but it's just not as good as some of the others, that's all.

As several other people have said, it really doesn't stand up technically as well as most of the others, but that has nothing to do with the quality of the script, which is just great. I truly believe that if I had seen this in 1929, I would have been as hooked on the Marxes as I am now.

There are many great bits in this movie, including the first scene between Groucho and Chico, the Auction, the connected bedroom thing, and the first time we ever see Groucho do his thing with Margaret Dumont. But the only scene in this movie to make my personal Ten Best Marx Scenes is the Why-A-Duck routine. Genius, it's just pure genius. That's my only word for it.

Harpo really doesn't have a lot of good stuff in this movie. He's great in what he doesn't have, but he really shines in Monkey Business and Duck Soup. Those are his two best performances, if you ask me. If you are looking for classic Harpo, I'd suggest watching either of those. Also, Zeppo, obviously, has nothing to do. But then, what did you expect?

This movie has a few actually rather unfunny spots in it, but you can blame that on the fact that this is the brothers' first movie, and they are still getting used to the camera. But it has a lot more comedy than non-comedy and is still a whole lot better than most of the "comedies" that are coming out nowadays.

This may sound a little strange, but if you have never seen a Marx Brothers movie, I suggest watching this one first. It's a lot more enjoyable if you aren't expecting it to be equal to Duck Soup or Animal Crackers. Because it's not. But, as I can not stress enough, it is still worth checkout, and better than than anything they did post-A Night at the Opera.

Well, it's the Marx Brothers best movie of the 20's, anyway.

8/10