The Marx Brothers take on college football in this recommendation from Great Movies – 100 Years of Film, to coincide with their selection of A Night At The Opera. Groucho comes in to Huxley U as the university’s new president, Professor Wagstaff, mainly to keep an eye on his son, Frank (Zeppo). Frank has fallen for Connie Bailey (Thelma Todd) who is trying to pass on the football team’s signals and plans to pass them on to Darwin U so that they can beat them.

But she’s not so bad, and all four seem to be falling for her.

Wagstaff is advised by Frank that they should get a couple of rings for their team from a local speak easy, leading to a nice bit with the password Swordfish, but mistakenly hires the wrong pair. He secures the questionable services of Baravelli (Chico), who works in the speak easy, and his partner, Pinky (Harpo), who works as a dog catcher.

This one whips along, and clocks in at a bare 66 minutes.

This time around the musical numbers aren’t as jarring, though Harpo’s interlude at the harp, once again, seemed a little trying.

There are a lot of bits in this one I did like. Anytime Groucho is dealing with academia, like with his introduction, or when he takes over teaching a class, both become laugh fests, especially when he, Chico and Harpo pull out pea-shooters, and start a fight in the classroom.

Also highly entertaining is the film’s climax, the big game, where the fellows employee all the tricks they can come up with to make sure they win. Everything from putting a bungee cord on the ball, to using banana peels to trip up the other team. It’s also a really funny visual image to see Groucho running about the field in a leather helmet, his cigar sticking out of his mouth, and the tails from his coat fluttering behind him as he runs about.

This one was really enjoyable, and may go down as my third favorite Marx Brothers films, after Duck Soup and Night At the Opera.

As expected the film has tons of visual gags, wonderful word play, wit and humor, and I laughed my way through the film’s run, once again reveling in the fact that there just isn’t that kind of rapid-fire humor and entertainment to be found anymore. The Marx Brothers always seemed to be the perfect combination of all forms of humor from the high to the low brow, and everyone could walk away thinking the film was funny.

I rather miss that style of film.

Still, there are a couple more Marx Brothers films coming up before I move on to the next title in the Great Movies – 1oo Years of Film book. I’m curious to discover if I enjoy some of the other comedies that are coming up as much as I am enjoying this time with Groucho and his siblings.

Do you have a favorite Marx Brothers moment or routine? I have to tell you I’m enjoying this revisit with them, and one tends to forget how funny they were!