At the Circus (1939)

Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, and Harpo)
Grade: A+

I love it when Chico looks at the camera while he’s playing the piano. He knows he’s killing it. What a legend!

Summary

At Wilson’s Wonder Circus, Jeff Wilson (Kenny Baker) feeds a banana to the gorilla Gibraltar, with performer Julie Randall (Florence Rice) interrupting to talk with him. Jeff is the owner of the circus and employs Julie, who he’s dating. As they discuss Jeff potentially being tired of the circus, they are interrupted by Julie’s cue. She performs a song-and-dance routine with a horse. Once her performance comes to a close, strongman Goliath (Nat Pendleton) is brought out. Behind him is his assistant Punchy (Harpo). After Goliath walks into the main area holding two massive barbells, it’s announced to the crowd that he will catch 100-pound balls shot from a cannon. Punchy is the person lighting each individual cannon. Unfortunately, he mistimes the last one and it hits Goliath right in the ass. Furious, he throws the bar bell at Punchy. Punchy catches it but sinks into the ground because of the amount of weight. Later, Tony (Chico) walks around the circus looking for John Carter (James Burke) and eventually runs into him. John is talking to Jeff and says something has come up and he needs the $10,000 he loaned Jeff, though Jeff reminds him it’s not due until Saturday night. John confirms this but says if Jeff doesn’t have it, he’ll have to take the circus away from Jeff to raise the money. Jeff is confident this won’t be necessary and tells him he’ll have the money that night on the circus train. Finally, Tony cuts in and asks John if he can have August off because he has to deal with the “custody” of his wife’s parents, but John isn’t in the mood and leaves. Tony tries to make Jeff feel better about the situation with John, and the positive Jeff leaves in a good mood as a result. Once he’s gone, Tony deduces that Jeff is in a lot of trouble. Because of this, he looks in his little book under the tab of “Trouble” and sees the name of lawyer J. Cheever Loophole (Groucho).

Through the telegraph office, Tony sends a message to Loophole asking for his services and to meet him at the railroad station.

At the railroad station, Julie reads a newspaper with a headline stating that Mrs. Susanna Dukesbury has disinherited her nephew, Jeff. Outside, Jeff tells Tony not to let anyone on the train they don’t know because he has a lot of money on it. They have to have a badge. Jeff goes inside to sit with Julie and is still very positive, despite losing his fortune from Dukesbury. When he explains how the circus is finally turning in a profit and he’s going to pay off his debt to John, Julie is ecstatic and is finally down to get married. They get on the train, along with all of the other circus workers. Loophole drives up and after refusing to pay his fare, Tony stops him from entering the train because he doesn’t have a badge, even though Tony is the one who invited him and they’re friends. As they argue, Punchy shows up with a literal seal and they are both let on because they have their badges. Seeing it as putting his reputation on the line, Tony gives Loophole his own badge to enter the train. When he tries to get on though, Tony still refuses because it’s last year’s badge. On the train ride, Tony plays the piano for the girls while Punchy loses a game of checkers after listening to the seal for advice. After Jeff leaves Julie to go to the gorilla cage, performer Peerless Pauline (Eve Arden) reminds John that he’s essentially screwed out of a lot more money if Jeff pays him off. Knowing this, John has midget Little Professor Atom (Jerry Maren) and Goliath enact an attack plan. Meanwhile, Tony goes into Loophole’s private room to greet him (I guess he was let on after all), and they discuss how Tony got Loophole’s clothes from a magician, which is why Loophole was able to pull a rabbit and a homing pigeon out of his jacket. Once Loophole meets Punchy and mistakes him for Jeff, all three come out to the main car.

This allows for Tony to introduce Loophole to everyone. Then, Loophole explains his history with the circus and segues into the story of a girl he loved with, “Lydia the Tattooed Lady“.

In Gibraltar’s car, Jeff grabs the lockbox with the money, as he stashed it in Gibraltar’s cage. As he starts counting it, Goliath and Little Professor Atom sneak in, knock out Jeff, take the money, and escape. Immediately after, Tony, Loophole, and Punchy enter the car to greet Jeff and find him on the floor. They wake him up and he tells the three that someone stole his $10,000. Once they put him in his car to rest, Loophole, Tony, and Punchy now take it upon themselves to help find the money and the culprits behind this mess.

Summary

At the Circus is not as loved as other Marx Brothers productions, but that’s quite alright. The bar was set extremely high. Though it may not be considered a classic, some of the worst movies from the brothers could be someone else’s magnum opus. Plus, they already have six classics under their belt. Isn’t that enough? Most directors, actors, and actresses could never even dream of such consistent success. As far as we’re concerned, we should just be happy that the brothers still managed to give us a few more films containing premium comedy during their “decline”. With that being said, At the Circus is far from their worst. If anything, this is one of the more underrated films coming from the Marx filmography. Maybe I have soft spot for the movie because I’m such a Marx Brothers fan, but I’d still argue without question that this comedy ranks among the best films of 1939. Once again, they churn out another fun-loving, loose, and zany picture that never takes itself too seriously. In doing so, the trend of consistently good comedy from the legends closes out a banger-filled decade on top.

Going along with the MGM idea that the Marx Brothers need to play off of someone else to create a more complete story, the main plot at hand is Kenny Baker’s Jeff Wilson and his power struggle for his circus with villain John Carter. Unfortunately, this is the biggest weakness of the film. Nowhere near the budding star Alan Jones was, the uncharismatic Baker does little to nothing to keep our interest in this battle to keep his circus under his control. Florence Rice’s Julie leaves even less to be desired. Yes, they’re both talented singers, but this is the closest I’ve gotten in a Marx Brothers film to skipping the musical parts entirely. The tunes weren’t even catchy, they relied too much on the “Two Blind Loves” song, and their love story doesn’t come close to previous Marx entries. I never thought I’d miss the aforementioned Alan Jones because he was a clear replacement for Zeppo, but At the Circus would’ve been improved tenfold by him replacing Baker. The man was just forgettable. Obviously, this wasn’t a possibility, but it would’ve made much more sense if Groucho was the owner of the circus instead, who was being threatened by Carter who wanted the money from his loan back. Though Groucho’s potential character arc would probably be a little too similar to his roles in Room Service and A Night at the Opera, it’s a proven formula, and it’s a character Groucho nails every time.

If you went this route, it would’ve made the main story much more involving. Then, you could’ve made the lawyer character Chico and play out the story this way instead. You could still have the romantic storyline with Baker and Rice, but it would take a much-needed backseat, something that it was destined to be. The reason I’m suggesting this is because a circus needs to be chaotic. This is an environment that the Marx Brothers should thrive in, especially if the circus was run by Groucho. Think about the amusing possibilities of Groucho trying to cut corners on costs, reacting to his weird performers over pay disputes and deciding which act is worth hiring or not, and even messing with customers. This type of untrustworthy, con-like atmosphere of a 1930s circus screams wacky Marxian hijinks, does it not? Having the brothers be mainly positive characters behind the circus owner wastes a golden opportunity for a story that could have been something much more anarchic and comparable to some of their earlier revered works, especially for Groucho.

Honestly, there’s a good chance Groucho just loved the name “J. Cheever Loophole” so much that he thought he could only be a lawyer with such a title.

In his defense, it is indeed a great name.

However, it still doesn’t fit the character’s actions. Everything Loophole does in the film fits the bill of a detective more so than a lawyer. Admittedly, it was kind of funny watching Loophole trying to be a detective and being too obvious about it, with his failure at the job making sense because he has no experience in the field. However, it’s so similar to previous Groucho characters that they could’ve pulled off the same humor had he been a detective from the start. Why try to make the logic work now? Why not just stick to Marx logic and make him a wacky detective who uses the same outrageous strategies? His interrogation tactics were funny though. When Peerless Pauline and Carter were onto him snooping around, and he comes outright to Pauline asking if she “…deposited $10,000 in the bank recently”, you can’t help but laugh. Actually, the whole scene in which he tries to get information out of Pauline is great. When she hides her wallet in her cleavage and Loophole breaks the fourth wall by saying, “There must be some way of getting that money back without getting in trouble with the Hayes office” was gold. In that moment, I was wondering the same thing, and as far-fetched as the scenario was, they managed to come up with a creative enough solution to do just that. This is a big part about why I liked At the Circus. It takes itself less seriously than most other Marx films. The ending couldn’t be a better example of this, with Gibraltar counting the money that was stolen and Loophole, without missing a beat, asking, “Is it all there?”. It’s just pure fun.

The scene in Little Professor Atom’s miniature room where Loophole, Tony, and Punchy try to get information out of him, but Tony keeps fucking things up, has to be on the list of one of the best comedic sequences of the decade. Every time Tony pulls out another cigar and Loophole gives him that glance, I was dying of laughter. Many times, you’ll think to yourself, “Where do they come up with stuff like this?”. Anytime this thought crosses your mind, you realize you’re seeing the work of true masters of their craft. When it comes to comedy, there’s no better way to explain the work of the Marx Brothers. In addition, I loved the inclusion of Margaret Dumont’s Susanna Dukesbury and Loophole being slick enough with an elaborate lie to take the spot of world class conductor Jardinet at her special dinner to get the circus paid. Him implicating Jardinet in a dope ring to stall his arrival was classic Groucho work. Honestly, I was a little surprised they were able to include such a joke in the Hayes Code era. The brothers always tiptoed the line because of how good they were with risqué jokes and innuendo, but At the Circus really pushes it for its time period which I absolutely adored. I was cackling when Chico’s Tony suggests to Harpo’s Punchy that they infiltrate Goliath’s cabin and Punchy refuses, prompting Tony to call him a coward, so Punchy points a gun to his own head. When Tony corrects himself and says he’s not a regular coward, but a brave one, Punchy reveals it’s a water gun, sprays the water in his mouth, and drinks it. How is this not “A+” gag humor? Following this, we get the funniest scene in the film in which the two sneak into Goliath’s room to look for the money while he’s asleep. With just a few of these hysterical sequences alone, Loophole stalling the big dinner so Jeff’s circus can set things up in the backyard, and Tony and Punchy sending Jardinet’s orchestra adrift into the ocean, you won’t have much to complain about.

If you love the Marx Brothers, you’ll still enjoy this film.

Despite how much I praise the humor of the movie, there’s a litany of bad decisions, missed opportunities, and illogic in regard to the writing. Along with the aforementioned bore of a romantic storyline and Jeff’s overdramatic talks about being a failure and him telling Julie she should accept the job offer in Chicago, main villain John Carter is severely underdeveloped compared to his henchmen team of memorable strongman Goliath and midget Little Professor Atom. He isn’t given much screen time to work with, but he still doesn’t do enough for us to want more either. Dukesberry needed to be introduced earlier into the film too. It would’ve helped flesh out the subplot. On a lesser note, I would also argue that Loophole was in need of a better introduction scene in general. In every Marx Brothers film, the earliest tell-tale sign of madness was when the main story’s characters realize they need Groucho’s character for help. It happens in almost every film, and it’s always crazier with each movie. Here, it was missing. Obviously, they go with an on-brand moment where Groucho’s Loophole refuses to pay his cab fare before meeting Tony at the train station, but for added humor, story development, and character psychology, an introduction scene of the character either in the courtroom (the preferred option) or in his office would have been a great way to round out the story as a whole and really grease the wheels of the humor we’re walking into.

Very rarely will I mention something like this, but the most distracting thing about the movie was Groucho’s noticeable toupee. This is rarely a big deal for me, but he had to have realized how obvious this was, right? His hair was thicker than it’s ever been! Are you kidding? My guy, you have to be subtle about these sorts of things. At least he makes up for it by singing the classic, “Lydia, the Tattooed Lady”. It’s arguably the best song of any Marx film.

Though not as talked about as other Marx Brothers movies, At the Circus is yet another hilarious comedy that continues the brothers’ brand of frenetic energy, ridiculousness, memorable scenes, and quotable lines that stay with you. The only thing that bogs down the potential of the film is virtually everything else. Regardless, the movie deserves much more respect than it gets. Coming from anyone else, this would probably be a classic, but it has the unfortunate luck of inevitably being compared to other Marx films, which is why it’s not as well remembered. If you can get past this, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how entertaining At the Circus really is.