The Cocoanuts

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The first all-talking feature film worth listening to, the Marx Brothers' sound film debut opens as a bit of a yawner until Harpo makes his silent sound debut much like the debut of another very famous silent comic tramp: stalking ladies, wreaking havoc, in a hotel lobby. Notable for:

  1. the sexy-voiced vamp
  2. the suprisingly butt-ugly shoe-faced romantic male lead
  3. one of the few non-Marx musical numbers in a Marx Brothers comedy that overcomes the lure of fast-forward: the wild Ellington/Stravinsky-style arrangement of the catchy syncopated Monkey Doodle Doo.

Online: OK

Related:

Mabel's Strange Predicament

Fans of Mabel's comedy don't like this because the focus is on her charm rather than her comic talents. And although Mabel stars, it's really a showcase for Chaplin - the film where The Tramp was born. But fans of Chaplin's pathos and progressive social commentary don't like to see the lovable Little Tramp obnoxiously drunk, belligerent, lewd, and molesting (though such drunk roles launched Chaplin's fame in the English music halls). So this film has gotten poor reviews. But this work is a gem precisely because it is different - showing how Chaplin's style diverged from American film comics, utilizing small quirky movements and subtle comic expression, not just broad clowning. Actually worthy of the Keystone byline 'farce comedy', and with its subtle humor, this is one for Max Linder fans (both Chaplin and Sennett were big fans): cf. 'Max Takes Tonics' (1911).

Note: there seems to be no agreement on director's credits: Mabel Normand (as claimed by IMDB and Wikipedia), Mabel Normand and Mack Sennett, or Henry Lehman and Mack Sennett.