Screen and Radio Weekly (Feb 14, 1937)

HEY laughed when I went into the Marx Brothers’ picture. “You think you’ve been in the jungies in those Tarzan pictures,” various friends kidded me. “But now you'll really be in the wilds.” “As Tarzan’s mate, you were in wie tree tops only part of the time,” others added. “But with the Marxes you'll. be up in the air from beginning to end.” I was told I’d need metal dresses that wouldn’t rip and that I should learn to hang from chandeliers and prepare myself as a victim of practical jokes. For I was assigned to be the leading lady in “A Day at the Races.” My FRIENDS were wrong. It’s been grand working with the Marxes. I think they’re cute. It is true, I hear, that the Marx Brothers once really did lead a sway‘packed horse into a producer’s office and at another time they jokingly stripped a certain executive of his trousers and tossed him out of a window. I know that they built a fire in the fireplace of another producer’s office and toasted weiners while waiting for him to return. And once upon a time, they changed all of the signs on the doors of executive offices, causing no end of trouble. But those things all came before they settled down to make a picture. I’m convinced now that if there is any “worst” time to meet the Marxes it is before work starts. Because, on the set, the three boys are very serious—and helpful. No, you’re not dreaming; I said “serious.” My worst moments were not being the .victim of practical jokes, because that never happened. Those bad times were in front of the camera when I was trying. to learn what this playing in comedies is all about. I made 30 pictures during seven years before I went to work on “A Day at the Races.” I-thought I had met every situation demanded of an actress. But on the set with the Marx Brothers, I felt as though I had never made a picture before. I; YOU think it is a simple thing to work in a comedy, you are wrong. Always before you is the constant demand for timing. The Marx Brothers bring laughs, and long experience has taught them where those laughs must come. In order that dialog will not be spoken while laughter is still going on—thereby having those speeches lost to the audience—all actors on the set must allow that laughter time to elapse. “You were too quick with your line, Miss O’Sullivan,” became a_ frequent caution from Director Sam Wood or one of the comedians during the early days of the picture; but I learned. Making this picture is a real education in acting, I am convinced. ‘ My friends told me that IT should expect considerable man-handling and loads of surprises. Maureen O’Sullivan looks on as the Marx boys work up a new laugh for “A Day atthe Races.” While the latter was true, the former wasn’t. The Marxes, strange to say, pay a lot of attention to plot and must have motivation for all of their so-called manhandling. They are positive that the audience will resent it if, for no reason at all, one of them would trip a character, sit on him or use any other type of physical force with him or her. But, if a character is trying to cheat another or do any other type of under-hand trick, then the audience will welcome the most violent of violences against him. So the villain takes the fall. For that reason, I won’t be dragged around; I am the heroine and the Marxes are on my side. But pity Esther Muir, who plays the vampire who tries to frame Groucho. They tear her to bits. Y us, there are surprises in working with the Marx Brothers. They are quick with wisecracks and impromptu lines and I have found that one of my hardest jobs is keeping from laughing in the midst of a scene. I learned that danger the first day. It was a scene with Groucho Marx, Margaret Dumont and Leonard Ceeley, one of the villains. Groucho hands a pill to Miss Dumont. It is a huge thing and Ceeley steps across and asks to see it. “Isn’t that awfully large for a pill?” he asks. “Well,” said Groucho, “it was too small for a basketball so I didn’t know what to do with it.” That was the end of his line but he suddenly looked squarely at Ceeley and added, “Aren’t you awfully large for a pill, yourself?” Right out of the blye sky that came and I laughed. = We did the scene over again and I knew what was .coming and kept a straight face. Margaret Dumont smiled at me, helpfully, after the scene and drew up a chair to give me advice. “You'll soon learn to expect anything to happen in a scene with a Marx brother and that they never grow angry when you make a mistake,” she said. “It’s rather a proud moment to them when a player laughs during a scene. Then they know the audience will do likewise.” M ISS DUMONT should get a medal. She started with the Marx Brothers 10 years ago. For five seasons she worked with them on the stage. .“A -Day at the Races” is her fifth picture. She knows them like a book and says they are the finest people she ever hopes to know. This, in spite of the fact that she has been handled roughly by them in many a scene and frequently been the victim of their jokes. “When the boys get playful offstage, it is Groucho and Harpo you have to watch because they are mischievous boys at heart,” she says. “Chico is always the rescuing knight who will call off his younger. brothers.” Miss Dumont tells me that 1 am really working with the Marx Brothers during “vacation time” when doing a picture with them. “You would have worries if you played with them on the stage, because there they don’t know the meaning of following script or giving cues,” she told me. “For a picture, they do scenes as they are written.” I looked at her skeptically. Was she joking? But she smiled. “The few ad-lib things they do on q picture set are nothing compared to the stage,” she announced. ] CAN understand now what Miss Dumont means and why she looks forward eagerly to a new Marx film. There is never a dull moment on the set. Serious as the boys are while working, they can’t refrain from a quick retort if the occasion arises. Il suppose it is like a golfer always taking practice swings with any kind of stick or just with the arms. It keeps one in practice and practice in comedy fs a valuable thing. Groucho is the chief indulger in offset repartee. Only the other day, Director Wood was trying to explain a scene to Groucho, which the latter couldn’t quite grasp. “Oh, well,” Mr. Wood joked, can’t make an actor out of clay.” “They made a director out of Wood,” Groucho retorted quickly. At another time, he and A! Boasberg, the writer, were arguing and Boasberg began shouting. Quickly, Groucho cut in with, “Listen, Al, I’ve got a brother who made a fortune by keeping his mouth shut.” You’d think that the Marxes, after doing their type of comedy for 20 years, would have pretty much the final say on the set. Such is not true; they respect Director Wood as a student does a professor. They may suggest and argue, but Wood is the judge. They work with surprising harmony. W HAT kind of fellows, you may ask, are the Marx Brothers, anyway? There is no mistake that they have individual characters — and strong characters at that. There are a few things I have observed. Groucho is the most business-like. He usually handles their collective businesses and monopolizes dictation to their secretary. . Although Chico does the punning in pictures, Groucho likes to indulge in them between scenes. When he met Esther Muir for the first time, he said, “Oh, well, the Muir the merrier.” He is an ideal family man and talks much about his wife and children. He likes to’stay home at night and listen to symphonic records. On the set, he reads constructive books and magazines and is an expert on current events. He likes to dress well, hasn’t a superstition in the world and doesn’t believe in gambling and betting. And when he paints on his mustache and eyebrows he can do it within a minute and a half. He never paints them on until the last minute, or just before a scene. Harpo, a self-taught musician, likes to play the piano between scenes; he prefers to lounge, usually sitting on his neck. He really can talk and chatters glibly between scenes but never before the camera. He’s happily marriea. having eloped only last September, and he usually turns any conversation into a discussion about furnishing a house. He sits more quietly than the others, but his eyes are always sparkling. Chico is the most active of the three. He is always moving around. Unlike Groucho, he will bet on anything and follows: sporting events of every kind. He’s among the greatest bridge players in the country, too. He has a mania for socks and continually changes them, much to the disgust of the script clerk who must watch that he wears the same colored hose in a scene. He also “you ‘loves to telephone and can usually be found talking over the set telephone when wanted. He likes to go home early and also is a good family man. | MUST confess that there is lots more one can know about these stars but, after all, this is my first picture with them. And I still think they’re cute.