Horse Feathers

An exercise in zany humour and wit, Horse Feathers is the fourth Marx Brothers film. With Groucho, Harpo, Zeppo, and Chico, this comedy classic ought to be required viewing for anyone with even a passing interest in cinema or farce. Jam-packed with one-liners, sight gags, surreal humour, musical numbers, and slapstick, Horse Feathers exemplifies the vaudeville roots of the Marx Brothers to perfection. In fact, many of the gags were taken from the Marx Brothers’ stage comedy Fun in Hi Skule.

The film’s screwball plot is secondary to the non-stop barrage of uproarious gags. Groucho is Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley College. Zeppo plays his son, Frank Wagstaff. Frank convinces his father to recruit professional football players to help the luckless Huxley College football team win some games. The elder Wagstaff goes to a local speakeasy to recruit the professional players, only to inadvertently recruit Baravelli (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo) instead.

As new football players, Baravelli and Pinky must becomes students at Huxley. Enrolled in classes, comic chaos ensues as the new president and his two new students engage in what can only be described as non-stop tomfoolery. There’s a love interest of sorts, too, as Thelma Todd plays Connie Bailey, the college widow dating Frank. Connie becomes involved with each character in some fashion. There is also a plot about kidnapping football players from a rival school and, as expected, it goes horribly and side-splittingly off beam.

Ruminating about the plot is almost a pointless affair, as Horse Feathers picks it up and puts it down so many times that it becomes a prop in this grand comedy. In essence, the audience is treated to the lawlessness of the Marx Brothers. Pandemonium reigns as Groucho spouts one witty riposte after another. His moustache, painted on and evermore iconic, gives him a paternal approach to Zeppo’s Frank. Yet he lacks every fatherly inclination, instead giving way to continuous disarray and incessant enjoyment.

Zeppo perhaps plays the “straight man” of the picture, but he does so in a way that is undoubtedly tacky. Much has been made about Zeppo’s refinement in contrast to the bedlam of his brothers and Horse Feathers provides copious examples of this. In many ways, Zeppo mirrored film clichés. In Horse Feathers, he mirrors and amplifies the stereotype of the “college man.” He is dating the college widow, for instance, and he plays her the straight verse of “Everyone Says I Love You.”

Chico Marx utilizes his usual stereotypical Italian character to perfection with his portrayal of Baravelli. An incredible piano player, he uses his talents well in Horse Feathers and comes up with an amazingly sweet yet extremely amusing verse of “Everyone Says I Love You.” He sings: “Everyone says I love you, the great big mosquito when-a he sting you, the fly when he gets stuck on the flypaper too, says I love you.” Another terrific scene involves Baravelli “guarding” the speakeasy and, with Groucho, piling one pun on top of the other until the whole house of cards collapses.

Finally, Harpo provides the slapstick and absurdist comedy that so often threatens to run off the rails. His Pinky is fantastic, appearing on the scene as a dog catcher. His character, as per usual, is mute and uses many a sight gag. Perhaps one of the more famous gags from Horse Feathers is when Pinky, upon being told that he can’t “burn the candle at both ends,” produces – you guessed it – a candle burning at both ends.

Horse Feathers is really about watching the Marx Brothers do what they do best. It is a riot from start to finish, top-loaded with witticisms, physical comedy, and one of the most famous football sequences ever put to film. Sadly, the only existing prints are missing several minutes and have damaged portions, the most notable damage occurring during the scene in which the Marx Brothers visit Connie Bailey’s apartment. Nevertheless, Horse Feathers is a true comedy classic brimming with delightful chaos and ecstatic passion.

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