‘These first five films contain much of their best work: later their concentrated anarchy was dissipated by musical and romantic relief.’

Halliwell also gave credit where it was due, to the writers of the song ‘Everyone Says I Love You’, Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar, who also contributed to the script:

‘…they may well be considered the most formative source of Marxian onslaughts on the values of the early thirties.’

And those onslaughts typically took no prisoners:

‘Marxism has a hard edge, and sympathy for the protagonists is not required: it’s essence, a kind of farcical nihilism, is expressed by Groucho in Horse Feathers, singing his way into the office of college president:

“For years before my son was born,
          I used to yell from night till morn,
   Whatever it is, I’m against it!
                               And I’ve been yelling since I first commenced it,
I’m against it!”’

 

Whilst managing the Rex Cinema in Cambridge, LH claimed partial responsibility for the revival of the zany comedians:

‘The Marx Brothers quickly became our mascots, and we were certainly instrumental in the great Marx revival of the early fifties which spread like wildfire through London and the key cities. We persuaded Paramount to strike one new print of each of the early films. The cost was soon covered, and the prints slowly fell into ribbons, but our whacking takes caused the renter’s percentages to rise…’

Horse Feathers was of course one of those ‘early films’, being the penultimate Paramount production.