The Cocoanuts (1929)

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

If you are wondering how Groucho Marx would run a hotel in Florida, here’s a good example to give you an idea, with his character speaking to the bellhop:

“Boy, it’s been reported to me that there’s a poker game going on in room 420. You go up there and knock on the door and see if you can get me a seat.”

Summary

In Florida, there is a resort hotel called Hotel de Cocoanut run by Mr. Hammer (Groucho).

After seeing random activities happening outside the hotel by the area’s many customers, Hammer is stopped on the staircase by all the young bell hops who want to be paid. Naturally, Hammer tries to give them the runaround, getting mad because they want some of his money, how this country would be nowhere if the troops asked George Washington for money, and when one kid replies that they did, he asks where Washington is. Acting like it’s a badge of honor, Hammer tells the group that if they stick with him and work hard, “We’ll forget about money!”. Next, he brings up the opportunity they have living in Florida. Three years ago, Hammer came to Florida without a nickel in his pocket. Now, he has a nickel in his pocket. Still, the bellhops haven’t been paid in two weeks, and they want their money. Hammer questions if they want to be wage slaves. When they say no, he says the cause of this is wages. Jamison (Zeppo) brings Hammer over some telegrams, so Hammer assumes it’s good news. Reading it aloud, the message says they will be coming at 4:30PM and to reserve two floors and three ceilings. Hearing this, Hammer jokingly deduces they must be mice. If they like the property, they will buy it. Jamison asked who it’s from, but Hammer reveals that it’s actually from Western Union. Jamison gives him another telegram to read, and it says that if there is another hotel at Cocoanut Beach to cancel their reservation. The concluding part of the message invites Hammer to a wedding, as it’s from Aunt Fanny, who just had a boy. Hammer extends the invite to all the bellhops, and they’re happy about it, even though the wedding won’t be for years. In the meantime, Hammer wants them all to work hard “… and above all, forget about money”. He tells them to not even think about it because they won’t get it anyway. As the kids cheer and go into a dance routine on the steps, Hammer steps away with Jamison.

Once the kids are done dancing, Hammer tells Jamison he’s going to wait at the train station for the guests to arrive and for Jamison to take care of things while he’s gone.

Penelope (Kay Francis) finds Harvey (Cyril Ring) in the courtyard and asks him if Bob Adams (Oscar Shaw) is cutting him out of Polly Potter (Mary Eaton). However, Harvey isn’t worried about a hotel clerk. Penelope knows this, but she knows he’s worried about the potential millions involved with Polly because he can use the money to square off his debts. Harvey says he can take care of himself, but Penelope isn’t buying it. To entice him, she lets him in on a plan that could help the both of them. Bringing up the diamond necklace of Mrs. Potter’s (Margaret Dumont), Penelope notes how she has a room next to hers in the hotel. The door between them is unlocked. Furthermore, Mrs. Potter keeps everything in a jewel case locked up in a dresser. The key is always in her bag. Penelope wants Harvey to get the key. Interested, Harvey comes up with an idea to invite Mrs. Potter and Polly to dinner, which may give him a chance to nab the key out of her bag. Penelope is happy he’s on board, so she will help by getting rid of Bob Adams for him. On the beach outside the hotel, Bob is sitting with Polly talking about Cocoanut Manor and how there’s a hill that major developer John W. Berryman, who practically built Palm Beach and Miami, refused to touch. If he didn’t want to deal with it, no one wants to. Bob has come up with an architectural scheme that fits the hill in without messing with it, and he sent the plan to Berryman. Apparently, they are reviewing them, so that’s a positive. Polly asks if Hammer knows about it. He doesn’t yet, but if he takes it, Bob will get to design the buildings. Things are looking up for Bob’s career, and Polly is excited to hear about it. They start flirting and it turns into song (“When My Dreams Come True”). As they kiss, Harvey and Penelope approach, so they act like nothing was happening. Harvey lets Polly know that her mother was looking for her, so Polly leaves. Next, the two try to intimidate Bob, but he doesn’t go for it and sings while walking away. Following this, Mrs. Potter approaches Polly about being with Bob again, and Polly doesn’t deny it. Mrs. Potter can’t believe Polly is messing around with a hotel clerk when she has the opportunity to marry one of the Boston Yates in Harvey.

Polly doesn’t care about the Yates family and corrects Mrs. Potter in that Bob is actually an architect. He’s just working as a hotel clerk before he gets started. Mrs. Potter refuses this. If he’s a clerk, he’s a clerk. That settles it, according to her. Before leaving, Mrs. Potter reminds Polly that no Potter has ever been involved in a scandal. When Polly reminds her of Uncle Dick, Mrs. Potter tells her it was a well-known fact that he was drunk at the time.

Back from the train station, Hammer finds Jamison half-asleep at the counter and wakes him up. They discuss the hotel’s poor profit situation and Jamison tries to encourage Hammer before he sends him away. Mrs. Potter approaches Hammer, and he immediately starts talking real estate in Florida to her. She tries to walk away but stops herself when he states that property value has increased 1,000% this year, their development is the biggest since Sophie Tucker, Florida is the show spot of America, and Cocoanut Beach is the black spot of Florida. Mrs. Potter reminds Hammer that he told her this yesterday. He remembers, but he “left out a comma”. He brings up how they are going to have an auction at Cocoanut Manor, and it’s going to be a whole day of entertainment and events leading up to the auction. Talking about Cocoanut Manor, he says it’s “42 hours from Times Square by railroad, 1,600 miles as the crow flies, 1,800 as the horse flies”. He considers it to be the most exclusive residential district in Florida and raves how there are no people and the climate is perfect. He considers Florida the greatest state in the union, speaks on the details regarding alligator pears once Mrs. Potter says she doesn’t know what they are, and how Florida itself feeds the nation. Finally, Mrs. Potter stops him to say she’d prefer to get something in Palm Beach if she were to buy. Hammer dismisses Palm Beach as “The Atlantic City of Yesterday” and “The Slums of Tomorrow” before saying that the population of Cocoanut Beach has doubled in the past week. When she asks him to confirm this, he admits three bulldogs were born and they are expecting a nanny goat in the morning. Mrs. Potter is over the conversation, but Hammer stops her to give her insight on the 8-inch sewer pipe they are going to lay. Pulling it out of his pocket, he says that all property owners will get to vote on the size of the pipe. In case of a tie, it goes to the supreme court. Acting like he’s giving her insider information, he lets Mrs. Potter know that the chief justice is crazy about this type of sewer. He hands her the pipe and runs away when she tries to give it back.

Later, he answers a call from one of the rooms. They ask for ice, but he explains how they don’t have any because this is Cocoanut Beach. Jamison asks Hammer on behalf of Mrs. Thompson to reserve a table for her for dinner in a nice quiet spot. Noting her requirement, Hammer jokes she can eat in the lobby. Hammer goes on about wanting to dress the place up a bit and calls for some bellhops. He lets one know that if he sees anybody that looks like a customer to “tie ’em up and brand ’em”. Once the bellhop leaves, Hammer gets annoyed because the kid is dressed better than he is. Just then, Chico and Harpo walk in, and Harpo is following every girl he walks past. Hammer and Jamison go to greet them, but they walk into a circle forcing Hammer and Jamison having to nearly chase them for a handshake. Hammer slaps Harpo’s hand, so Harpo slaps him in the face and he falls into Jamison. Right when Harpo was about to hit him with his cane, Chico holds him back. Hammer moves on to ask what their business is, and Chico says they are the ones that sent him the telegram. Hammer then calms down because that means they’re customers, so he shakes their hands. Once he gets to Harpo though, Harpo puts his cane in his hand, and the honking noise scares Hammer and Jamison away. As Chico follows to calm them down, Harpo pulls buttons off of a bellhop’s uniform while he stands there and eats them like they’re candy. Since the bellhop is standing there motionless like a guard from Buckingham Palace, Harpo messes with him and pulls out his hand to hold up his foot as a leg rest. Hammer tells Chico he can stay but to take that “groundhog outta here”. He goes on to ask what their business is, and Chico says they made a reservation, or a “reservash” as he says it. They wanted one room no bath. Hammer suggests they’re just here for the winter, but Chico is thinking the summer too.

Either way, Hammer takes a look to see what he can do for them. Apparently, there are no vacancies, but they have rooms. Harpo refuses the room, so Chico says they will take a vacancy, and this is somehow accepted. Hammer sends the bellhop to take their bags, but Chico and Harpo attack the guy as soon as he tries to grab their stuff. During the scuffle, Hammer notes that the suitcase is empty, so Chico assures him they will fill it up before they leave. Harpo starts throwing things from the counter at the wall, and Hammer acts like it’s the fair and gives him a cigar as a reward. When Harpo tries to throw the phone though, Hammer stops him because it’s only for long distance. Hammer asks if he wants a suite on the third floor to which Chico replies, “No, I’ll take a Polak in the basement”. Harpo starts taking out all the mail of the occupants and rips all of them in half, so Hammer starts helping. Another telegram comes in for Hammer as they do this, and Harpo rips that in half too, prompting Hammer to tell the bellhop to relay he will pay them in the morning. Right when they try to get back to business about a room, Hammer gets a phone call. He can’t understand what the person is saying at first because Harpo is holding the listening part of the phone to his own ear until Hammer realizes what he did. Once he gets it back from Harpo, he gets the full message. Someone is asking to how to get a hold of Mrs. Potter to which Hammer replies, ‘I don’t know. She’s awfully ticklish”. As Harpo starts eating random objects off the counter and drinks the ink from the inkwell, Hammer hands him a flower to eat too. Next, Hammer excuses himself to attend to some business, so he just tells the two to remember to register. As soon as Hammer leaves, Harpo jumps the counter and starts messing with the register, making noises. Chico joins him and they make up an impromptu song before they are interrupted by a phone call. Chico tells the person on the other line that they have no rooms, no customers, and nothing at all. After promising to send something up, Harpo hits the bell, so one of the bellhops show up on command.

Seeing this, Harpo presses the bell a few more times and Chico grabs another and starts pressing his. They continue until they get all the female bellhops in front of them. Then, the two chase them away. Harvey and Penelope walk into the lobby and discuss being careful and how the door between Penelope’s and Mrs. Potter is open because Penelope told Potter that she trusted her. The two laugh, and Chico and Harpo join in. Harvey and Penelope stop laughing, but Chico and Harpo mess with both of them by grabbing at Penelope’s cane and trying to dance with both of them until they are annoyed enough to leave. Harvey even calls Harpo a “bum”. Harpo mouths the word to Chico. Chico says it over and over again, so it sounds like the beginning of a drum beat. Harpo whistles along, and Hammer joins in by putting a handkerchief over his head and uses his cigar like it’s a flute, with the three acting like they are a Revolutionary War trio as they exit the room together. Harvey and Penelope saw the whole thing, and Harvey can’t stand them, even saying he could kill them. Penelope has an idea to use them though. When the necklace is found missing, they can put the blame on them. She thinks she can flirt with them and get them to her room. Then, she will complain to management. On the night the necklace disappears, they will be seen near Mrs. Potter’s room. It’s a solid plan. After Penelope leaves and Harvey goes to the elevator, Harpo goes over to the counter, eats part of the phone, and drinks more of the ink. Chico interrupts to say they have to make some money desperately. He questions what Harpo has, so he pulls out a pocket watch. Chico likes it but wonders what else he stole. Det. Hennesey (Basil Ruysdael) sees the two and aggressively approaches them. He thinks he recognizes them, so he pulls out some pictures from headquarters. He demands to see both of their faces, so Harpo makes a funny face and then tries to physically turn Chico to Hennessey. Chico gets mad, and they almost fight until Hennessey pulls them apart.

He tries to ask Harpo a bunch of questions, but he silently bumps into Hennessey with a smile on his face over and over again. When Hennessey turns his head to tell Chico how he doesn’t trust them, Harpo bites Henneseey’s handkerchief out of the pocket and steals it. Hennessy tells the two he’s going to keep an eye on them and that he has their records in his pocket. Once Hennessey leaves, Harpo shows Chico that he pickpocketed Hennessey’s badge. A customer gets off the elevator and tells his wife to go to the cab because it will only be a few minutes before they get to the train. As Harpo helps the man with his coat, the man then asks Chico when the next train to Philadelphia is. Chico says it’s once a week and sometimes twice a day. The guy accepts this answer and leaves while Harpo steals the man’s suit jacket from under his coat. He gives Chico the jacket, so he wears it. Harpo takes the wallet out when Chico comments that it’s tight and something needs to be taken out and he goes to the elevator. As Chico stands in front of the front desk while wearing the new suit jacket, Penelope greets him. After she questions if it’s his coat or not and he assures her it is, she asks what he’s doing tonight in a flirtatious way. Flirting back, Chico assumes she has a good idea, so she slyly says to not dare be at Room 320 at 11PM. Chico smiles and tells her he will come at 10:30 then. Once Chico leaves, Harpo comes out of the elevator playing a flute. Penelope sees him and drops her handkerchief near him. Harpo steals it. She turns to ask if he’s seen her handkerchief, but he denies it. She moves past this and says that she really just wants him. She asks him if anyone has ever told him he looks like the Prince of Wales, and Harpo surprisingly nods. She asks if he knows who she is, but he doesn’t. However, he does know her room number, so she tells Harpo to be there at 11PM. She hugs him, and he steals her other handkerchief with his mouth when she walks away. He follows her to the elevator until the door closes in his face. Lying up against the door, he plays a version of the “When My Dreams Come True” song on his flute.

Upon finishing the tune, the door opens and he falls in. Elsewhere in the hotel, Hammer asks Mrs. Potter if anyone has told her she looks like the Prince of Wales (“I don’t mean the present Prince of Wales, one of the old whales”).

As she gets offended, Hammer brings up her room being 318, how he’s the proprietor of the hotel, and how he has a passkey to every room in it. He has her sit down on the couch and tries to flirt with her, bringing up how they could find a bungalow together. He goes on about hypotheticals where he’d be waiting for her to come home from work but then he stops to make sure that her husband is indeed dead. Once she confirms, Hammer states that since she’s going to be here all winter and he’s stuck with the hotel anyhow, he suggests they go out until she’s made “other arrangements”. She refuses because she will never get married before her daughter. Hammer reminds her that she technically already did once, and she just stares at him. He tries holding her and telling her that he loves her. Mrs. Potter stops him, asking him what’s the matter with him. He doesn’t know, but he comments “one false move and I’m yours”. He goes back to telling Mrs. Potter that he loves her, but she argues that Hammer wouldn’t love her if she were poor. He replies that he might, but he’d keep his mouth shut. He tries to press on, but she’s about to leave. Hammer is able to calm her down and holds her from behind before playfully talking about what could happen between them. After a Harpo playing the harp interlude, Harpo shows up in Penelope’s hotel room just as she sneakily opens Mrs. Potter’s room to make sure she’s not there. She doesn’t see Harpo enter, so Harpo hides under the bed. Penelope calls the front desk for ice water. Next, she’s interrupted by a knock at the door. It’s Harvey, and he has her close the door behind him. He managed to steal two keys from Mrs. Potter, so he lets Penelope figure out which one opens the box. To play it safe after they steal the necklace, Penelope thinks they should hide it for a few days once they secure it. Harvey thinks of a hollow tree stump a mile away from the hotel as the spot. It’s at Cocoanut Manor. She’s not familiar with the area, so he pulls out a map to show her exactly where’s it’s at on Granada Road 20 feet from a clearing. He tells her to take the necklace there once she gets it. He has to go back down to Mrs. Potter before she gets suspicious. Penelope drops the little map he drew on the ground once he leaves, and Harpo catches it in his top hat.

She’s just about to enter Mrs. Potter’s room from the door in-between the two rooms, but Chico enters her room. So, she shuts the door to talk to Chico. At the same time, Hammer enters Mrs. Potter’s room. Hammer enters Penelope’s room from Mrs. Potter’s, and he tells her if there are two people in the room, it’s 50 cents extra. Once this goes on, Harpo sneaks into Mrs. Potter’s room. They hear knocking, so Hammer runs into Mrs. Potter’s room. However, Harpo ran away before he could be caught. At the same time, Chico reenters Penelope’s room. He asks Penelope if “he” left. She wants to know who, and he just replies, “Anybody”. After another knock, Hammer leaves Mrs. Potter’s room, Harpo enters Penelope’s room, and Chico goes into Mrs. Potter’s room. Hammer reenters Mrs. Potter’s room just as Chico reenters Penelope’s room, prompting Harpo to leave Penelope’s room. Hammer runs in a circle before knocking on Penelope’s door and reentering just as Chico runs out again. Harpo calls on the phone of Mrs. Potter’s room, so Hammer runs back into Mrs. Potter’s and almost catches him, though Harpo escapes. Chico comes back into Penelope’s room, but he jumps right under the bed when Harpo gets into the room with him. She hasn’t noticed yet. Despite being in the room with her, Harpo knocks on the main door, and she tells him to come in, so Harpo leaves and Hammer reenters from the side door. Immediately, there’s another knock, so Hammer goes under the bed, prompting Chico to get out from the bed and to crawl to the other side. The knocking was just a bellhop delivering the ice water she wanted. She thanks the bellhop, resulting in Hammer asking from under the bed why she didn’t tip the guy a dime. Mrs. Potter gets back to her room, and Harpo enters with water. She tells him to lay down, so he goes right on the bed and invites her on it. She refuses and tells him to leave, so he does, happily waving upon exiting. She hears a knock, so she says come in. It’s just Harpo again and she wonders what’s wrong with him as he walks right back out the door again.

Hammer leaves Penelope’s room and enters Mrs. Potter’s room, sitting down. Right away, Mrs. Potter asks what he’s doing in her room. Meanwhile, Harpo runs into Penelope’s room, annoys her, and leaves. Hammer locks the side door and takes off his coat just as Mrs. Potter tells him not to. She wants him to leave and goes to the phone. He acts like he leaves by shutting the door, but he runs to hide in the closet as she gets on the phone with the operator. Just then, Hennessey enters the room to look around, and Mrs. Potter has no idea who he is. He says there’s no one in there, so they’re good. However, Hammer pops his head out of the closet to say, “You don’t know where to look”. Neither saw him, so Hennessey asks Mrs. Potter what she said. She just tells him to let her know when he’s done. She leaves the room, but Hennessey goes into Penelope’s room. Hammer follows him into the room, walks directly behind him as he looks around while Penelope approaches, and he goes right back into Mrs. Potter’s room. Hennessey never saw Hammer and assumes everything is okay in there, prompting Penelope to comment she’s not so sure about that. Hammer comes back in to hug Penelope, but Hennessey knocks again. So, Hammer goes under the bed, and Penelope goes into Mrs. Potter’s room. As Hennessey looks around Penelope’s room, Penelope steals the necklace from Mrs. Potter’s room. Once she exits, Hennessey enters Mrs. Potter’s room. Penelope sneaks back into her room and comments “Alone at last” before sitting on the bed. Just then, Harpo pops out of a whole cut out in the bed to scare her.

Regardless of this, Penelope has the stolen the necklace for her and Harvey.

My Thoughts:

In the Marx Brothers’ first feature film, the uneven production of The Cocoanuts is a great showcase for what was to come for the legends of comedy, though simultaneously being an example as to why their crossover into film still needed to smooth out some kinks.

Knowing what audiences came to see, the Marxian antics are top tier. Watching Groucho Marx operating a hotel as cheaply and with as much as irreverence as possible is everything we expect and laugh-out-loud watching. It becomes difficult to decipher if Mr. Hammer wants his business to thrive, if he just doesn’t care, or if he wants to sell off as much land as possible and hightail it out of there (“These lots cost me $9,000 and I’m gonna let you have them for $15,000 because I like you”). If the latter was played with more, it would explain his behavior with guests and would give him a more defined character, but that’s rarely a focus of the early Marx Brothers movies. It’s also part of the fun. Here, Groucho’s Mr. Hammer leads the charge in creating chaos in his own establishment just because he likes messing around and seeing what he can get away with, like making fun of Mrs. Potter’s reward of $1,000 to find her stolen necklace that she admits is worth $100,000. When Chico shouts a bid of $2,000, Hammer jokingly responds “Sold for $2,000!”. It’s the kind of Marx Brothers madness we can’t get enough of and why The Cocoanuts is yet another one of their comedies that stands the test of time. To no one’s surprise, the anarchic energy only increases once Chico and Harpo enter Hammer’s hotel without any money but converse enough with Hammer to finagle themselves a “one room, no bath”. Hammer meets his match with their antics and either balks at Harpo’s unpredictability when left to his own devices or joins in because why not? He also partners with them, especially with Chico. A comical early development has Hammer recruiting Chico and getting him to help fix the auction to drive up the prices from other bidders since he knows Chico could use the money. Naturally, it backfires on the day of the auction because Chico gets too into the bidding (“You hear 9, you hear 10”) and Hammer has to figure a way around it without acknowledging the ploy to the crowd (“I hope all your teeth have cavities”).

The entire sequence is hilarious. It begins with Hammer introducing how they have a little entertainment before they start and emphasizing “very little”, leading to his introduction of Polly and her rendition of “Monkey Doodle Do”. Right after, Hammer settles things down and tells the crowd before the auction begins how there will be sandwiches, though stating right after “… but if there are no lots sold, there will be no sandwiches”. Hammer practically threatens them when he comically poses the question of if the lots don’t double in a year that he’s not sure what they can do about it. Once Chico starts messing everything up, Hammer has a quip after every lot of land “sold” to him and each one is funnier than the last, like him telling Chico to get away from the tree before it dies. The best encapsulation of Mr. Hammer was the moment in which Chico is nowhere to be found when he’s trying to sell Lot 25 and no one in the crowd reacts. Hammer starts offering things on top of it like a year subscription to a magazine because “I’m trying to work my way through college”. With no response, he instead offers a 6-month subscription to go to high school. Following his offer of a lead pencil, he just flips and states “I’ll wrestle anybody in the crowd for $5” before Jamison stops him from taking off his suit jacket. After he threatens to end the auction, he offers the lot overlooking the oceanfront by the tree stump, prompting Bob and Harvey to bid on it, leading to Bob winning following Harpo dropping a coconut on Harvey’s head to stop him from bidding further. It’s hysterical. It’s also magical from a writing sense because there are so many gags and great lines that the viewer will start to look at the film in amazement, wondering how these brothers were able to come up with such comedic gold for as long as they did.

Being that the film is adapted from their Broadway play, the screenplay is very much styled in the same manner with the quick, witty dialogue and interplay between Groucho and Chico being nonstop hilarity like the famous “viaduct” joke (“Why a duck? Why a no chicken” – “You try to cross over there a chicken, and you’ll find out why a duck”), leading to the great callback at the end of the scene. Hammer tries to give him directions to the auction by saying it’s by a wire fence prompting Chico to ask, “Why a fence?”. Hammer is so done with him, there’s no way you’re not smiling at the very least while watching it. It’s timeless humor. For Marx Brothers fans, the film also consists of some of the best examples of utilizing Chico’s foreign persona like Hammer offering to sell him “lots” of land if he helps with the auction, asking Chico if he knows what a “lot” is. Chico doesn’t get it though, thinking he’s talking about the other meaning (“Yeah, it’s too much”). Hammer explains how he doesn’t mean a lot, just a “little lot” with nothing on it to which Chico replies, “Anytime you gotta too much, you gotta whole lot”. Then Chico rattles off his reasoning in hilariously impressive fashion:

“Look, I explain it to you. Sometimes, you no got enough. So, it’s too much, you gotta whole lot. Sometimes you gotta little bit. You no think that’s enough. Somebody else maybe think that’s a too much. It’s a whole lot too. Now, a whole lot, it’s a too much, a too much is a whole lot, the same thing.”

Responding in kind, Hammer just looks at him commenting, “The next time I see you, remind me not to talk to you, will ya?”. It doesn’t get old, and they milk every last bit out of Chico’s ability to misunderstand anything and the map gag, with every single joke hitting. The best one had to have been Hammer pointing out how there are “levees” along the river and Chico asking if it’s the Jewish neighborhood. As expected, the wordplay is top tier and can garner a hearty laugh now just as it did in 1929. That’s talent.

There is a lot of under the radar moments too besides the obvious stuff we tend to recall in terms of Marx lore like Hammer being the MC for the costume party and getting immediately interrupted after saying “ladies and gentlemen” with Chico instinctively reacting with a bid for $200. Another great instance is the fallout of the auction where Hennessey is trying to get answers out of Bob because he suspiciously buys the lot the necklace was found in by Harpo. The no-nonsense Hennessey goes off on how Bob won’t say anything, Harpo is letting on to be a dummy, which leads Harpo to honk his horn and use his cane as a faux paddle to act like he’s on a boat to go backwards ass-first on the ground, and how no one can understand Chico when he does talk, resulting in Chico mumbling angrily. Hennessey then asks if anyone will talk, and Hammer hilariously responds, “I will, but I can’t think of anything”. Despite the relatively disappointing supporting cast outside of regular Margaret Dumont, Hennessey was actually solid, with Basil Ruysdael’s imposing height and low voice being great fodder for the brothers to mess with and agitate. It’s where Harpo shines the most in the film, as his refusal to be intimidated by the ultra-serious Hennessey and constantly poking at him was just as funny as the dialogue. It’s not just with Hennessey either. Harpo steals every scene he’s in. From his using of a mallet to try and break Bob out of jail before just using a key, threatening to slap Mrs. Potter when she tried to kiss him for finding the necklace and subsequently biting Hennessey’s finger when he accuses Harpo of coming up with the plan to get the reward, or Harpo getting up from the dinner table to get a drink anytime someone tries to do a speech in the third act and getting drunk by the end of it, he saved all the slower parts of the film involving the actual plot. Harpo even manages to make the gag of him stealing Bob’s handkerchief over and over again while he talks to Hammer (and stealing Hammer’s underwear somehow at the same time) the simplest, yet most brilliant gag of the entire film.

Making a bit that funny without saying a word is yet another undeniable example as to how truly incredible he was as a comedic performer. Just Harpo smiling at the camera knowing his gag was good makes you laugh. How can someone not cackle when Hammer tries to introduce to everyone at the costume party a “charming little lady”, so Harpo stands up to imitate one before Chico sits him down?

As expected for their first feature, what The Cocoanuts fails to fully deliver on is the non-Marx stuff like the subplot, its supporting characters, and the static musical sequences. Though admittedly tunes like “When Dreams Come True” and “Monkey Doodle Do” will stay in your head, neither the sound quality nor the performances of Oscar Shaw or Mary Eaton fit the expectations of a major film release, especially for the time period. For example, the “Monkey Doodle Do” sequence was lazily done. Eaton’s dancing is unimpressive because all she does is spin a lot, and the background dancers add nothing to what should have been an extravagant performance that magnifies the impact of the song. Actually, their costumes are better than the dancing, which was noticeably sloppy and off a step from the person next to them. Obviously, this movie would have been ten times what it was without the shoehorning of song and dance numbers, but this was all the rage at Hollywood at the time once talkies became a thing, so they didn’t have a choice. Nevertheless, The Cocoanuts from a Marx Brothers material standpoint would have been on par with the brothers’ Paramount films had they gone the route of nonstop madcap comedy because that’s when the movie is at its best. Throwing in these haphazard dance sequences with out-of-sync dancers just stand out for all the wrong reasons, and it takes away from the strengths of the picture. It’s shocking they wouldn’t see this while editing the movie. Today, reshoots would have saved this production easily. One day in the editing room would have told them what’s working with The Cocoanuts and what wasn’t. No test audience needed. Really, this film is probably what influenced the direction of the Paramount films when you think about it. The formula of mixing in romance and music interludes into the narrative didn’t really become as intense of a focus until the brothers made their move to MGM. Though they still had it in the Paramount movies here and there, everyone knows it was nowhere near as heavy of a focus as it was with the MGM productions.

By that time in 1935 with A Night at the Opera, it became clear that they learned what was done in such an underwhelming manner with The Cocoanuts and course corrected it going into the third phase of their careers, which actually makes a weaker Marx outing like The Cocoanuts into a production with a legacy all its own because it HAD to be made to figure out what worked, what didn’t, and what could be done better. Still, it can’t be given a pass here, as the direction fell apart on everything non-Marx. There is little chemistry between Shaw or Eaton, and the viewer isn’t attached to their romance in the slightest. It serves its purpose at moving the plot forward, but it’s probably the least compelling or believable romantic subplot of all the Marx Brothers films. However, I will concede that the ending was quite nice, as was the Marx Brothers all shaking hands and waving goodbye to the audience as the camera zoomed out. That was a nice touch. Going along with this, I may have not gotten into the romance angle, but Eaton did a good job at selling it when Polly cries on Harpo’s shoulder once he offers her ice cream, and he just stares ahead not knowing what to do. It was a cool moment in the midst of the failure of the “forbidden love” angle. Still, Mrs. Potter forcing marriage on her daughter to someone like Harvey is overblown and too theatrical to be taken seriously, and why Bob can’t just tell the group why he bid on the lot of land and instead CHOOSES to suspiciously say nothing when everyone is accusing him of nefarious things is beyond me. You would think he would just explain himself since he didn’t do anything wrong. However, for some reason, he just accepts going to jail. The extended opening song and dance was dumb too and nearly makes the viewer question if they turned on the right movie. They should have just jumped right into Hammer dealing with the bell hops, as it was the perfect way to establish the character and the business he’s running (“If you all stick with me and work hard, we’ll forget about money!”).

One missed opportunity was not leaning more into making the movie a parody of musicals. After the bellhops do their out-of-nowhere dance routine on the steps while Hammer and Jamison watch, Hammer turns to him once they’re done and comically states, “See that? I keep them dancing for their money” before getting the movie back on track. It may have been somewhat revolutionary for the time period to parody a genre that was still finding its legs at the time and continue down this route with the Marx Brothers confusingly responding to the randomness of the musical numbers, but it was more than likely never an option. The closest we get to this idea besides the moment with the bellhops is the joke of the entire cast joining in to sing about Hennessey losing his shirt after the brothers steal it off him. It was amusing because of how stupid it was, and it seems to be purposely poking fun at singing at random times in these movies, especially after Harpo gives it back to him which results in Hennessey singing about how he got the shirt. It fits the ridiculousness of a Marx Brothers movie, but the joke loses its luster not too long into it and feels like they almost had to fill a quota to get in another song and responded in spite with a parodic filler tune to insult said quota.

Thankfully, they make up for it with the costume party dinner and Harvey saying in his speech that he doesn’t know what to say, resulting in Chico to snap, “Well, shut up”. Of course, Hammer comments how this is a splendid suggestion, and the two hilariously shake hands.

The Cocoanuts might not be the best all-around Marx Brothers feature in totality, but the bar is way too high to reach anyway. Even with a portion of the film being weaker in comparison to the humor aspects, the work of Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo is strong enough to carry the film to the finish line with force. It’s one of the best movies of 1929, and it’s still good enough to be placed in the second tier of great Marx Brothers films like Room Service, At the Circus, and others. For fans of the brothers, that’s still very high praise, all things considered.

It reminds me of the story of the Irishman. It’s so funny, I wish I could think of it.