Horse Feathers (1932)

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

Director:

Norman Z. McLeod (as Norman McLeod)

Writers:

Bert Kalmar (by), Harry Ruby (by)

Stars:

Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx

2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
The Marx Brothers	...	(as The Four Marx Brothers)
Groucho Marx	...	Professor Quincy Adams 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:

slot machine | femme fatale | professor | college | breaking the fourth wall | 

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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:

Not Rated

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

Some of the fictional 'Huxley College' scenes were filmed at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California.

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Goofs

The audio commentary over the first quarter of the football game refers to Darwin's fourth touchdown but the score at the end of the first quarter is 12-0. The score for a touchdown is 6 points, as we see when Huxley score their first.

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Quotes

Professor Wagstaff: You're heading for a breakdown, why don't you pull yourself to pieces?

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Connections

Referenced in Sam and Max: The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball (2007)

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Soundtracks

Bear Down Palham
(uncredited)
Music by Richard A. Whiting
Lyrics by George Marion Jr.

User Reviews

Valuable Record of the Marx Brothers' Vaudeville Routines

Don't watch HORSE FEATHERS expecting anything like a coherent plot, developed characterization or sophisticated filming technique. Shot on a shoestring by Paramount, with more than its fair share of stock footage, it has the feel of a quickie; a more up-market version of the Hal Roach two-reelers that were released at the same time with Laurel and Hardy. On the other hand HORSE FEATHERS does preserve for posterity some of the Marx Brothers' finest routines. Groucho has never been better as a crazy professor charged with the responsibility of rescuing a poor school; his dialog fairly crackles with one-liners, and he is a past master at handling mock-love scenes. Harpo has his fair share of visual set-pieces, notably when he leads a police officer a merry dance in and around his dog-catcher's van. He also has the chance for one of his harp solos. Chico enjoys himself most during a speakeasy scene, when he and the other two brothers have great fun with the so-called 'secret' password. He gets to play the piano in another specialty number. The ending is a bit weak, with a crazy football game stretching the audiences' credibility to the limit, but all in all the film is great fun; the humor stands up well eight decades later.