Hello readers, and welcome back to my blog. Or welcome for the first time if you’ve just stumbled across it. I haven’t written for a few days because I really haven’t been very well. I was diagnosed on Monday with inflammation of the cartilage near my left lung, which causes me severe chest pain whenever I move or do anything with my left side. This means I can’t go out and volunteer, or go to work (if I had work to go to), so instead I’ve been doing some comfort viewing. There’s nothing like it! It works out at about 2 films, or 5 TV episodes per ‘take-a-pill’ break.
On Monday I crashed on the sofa and watched Marx Brothers films all afternoon. I watched three in total, starting with Monkey Business (an early one with Zeppo), then a Groucho-only film called A Girl In Every Port, and finished up with the last official Marx Brothers film ever made, 1949’s Love Happy, co-starring Vera-Ellen, Marion Hutton, and a brief cameo from none other than Marilyn Monroe! So, as a way of cheering up those mid-week blues, I present to you my comfort viewing (day one) – the Marx Brothers!
Faustino and Lyon’s Duet from Love Happy:
Vera-Ellen dancing in Love Happy:
Chico & Harpo playing around in A Day At The Races:
The Password Scene from Horse Feathers:
I find it fascinating that over the course of 25-odd years of film making, the technology rarely improved. In fact, the easiest way to date a Marx Brothers film is by their co-stars and if Groucho has a real moustache or not! Compare the vids of Love Happy above, featuring Vera-Ellen, to another film made by Vera-Ellen in the same year: On The Town. They hardly compare, technology wise! On The Town is in glorious technicolour, for one. Oh well, that’s the charm of these old movies, I guess. There’s plenty more Marx to share, but I’m not going to do it today, I have more comfort viewing to write about! I leave you with a picture of Marilyn Monroe. Ah…. Marilyn Monroe…
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