"""RJ"" Firefly. Jr. Dennis Fimple was selected to play Grampa Hugo Firefly. He died following filming, and the finished product was dedicated to him. The names of members of the Firefly family were taken from the names of Groucho Marx characters. Captain Spaulding was a character in ""Animal Crackers"" (1930), Otis B. Driftwood was a character in ""A Night at the Opera"" (1935), Rufus T. Firefly was taken from ""Duck Soup"" (1933), and lastly Hugo Z. Hackenbush derived from ""A Day at the Races"" (1937). Despite only allusions to this being made in ""House of 1000 Corpses"", it is more"
"by Groucho Marx, take control and run the country. In the musical number that accompanies Firefly's first day in office, Groucho lets the audience know how things will run, singing lyrics such as ""The last man nearly ruined this place, he didn't know what to do with it / If you think this country's bad off now, just wait 'til I get through with it."" Firefly insults and angers Ambassador Trentino from the neighboring nation of Sylvania, which leads Freedonia into war. When the film was first released, the village of Fredonia, New York, complained about the possible negative impact"
"character—originally named ""Rufus T. ""Firestone""""—eventually became Rufus T. Firefly, while the name of Harpo's character—named Pinky in the final product—was given in the pressbook as ""Brownie"". ""Ambassador Frankenstein of Amnesia"" was quickly changed to Ambassador Trentino of Sylvania. Zeppo's character remained Firefly's son until very late in production, finally becoming Bob Roland, his secretary; also, Mrs Teasdale's niece ""June Parker"" transformed into Vera Marcal, first introduced as Trentino's ""niece"" before ultimately becoming his companion. The Marx Brothers' previous film, ""Horse Feathers"", had been Paramount's highest-grossing film of 1932. Encouraged by this success, the studio suggested on August 2, 1932, that"
"the film might have on them. The Marx Brothers replied ""Change the name of your town. It is hurting our picture."" The satirical depiction of Freedonia is said to have led Benito Mussolini to ban the film in Italy. In the 1960s, Woody Allen, working on ""Candid Camera,"" used Freedonia as a practical joke by asking passersby what they thought of the bid for independence for Freedonia. In the film ""Jabberwocky"" (1977), Freedonia is one of the kingdoms conquered by the King Bruno the Questionable. The American game publisher FASA's name was originally supposed to stand for ""Freedonian Aeronautics and"
"New Yorker"" wrote that the film was ""not great Marx material, not a film that collectors will exhibit as a sample of this era's humor, but again and again the old flash is there."" The film made a profit of only $33,000. Nonetheless, it was among the more profitable Marx Brothers films of this time. The Big Store The Big Store (1941) is a Marx Brothers comedy film in which Groucho, Chico and Harpo wreak havoc in a department store. Groucho plays detective Wolf J. Flywheel, a character name originating from the Marx-Perrin radio show ""Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel"" in"
"trial put aside, Chicolini and Pinky join Firefly and Bob Roland in anarchic battle, resulting in general mayhem. The end of the film finds Trentino caught in makeshift stocks, with the Brothers pelting him with fruit. Trentino surrenders, but Firefly tells him to wait until they run out of fruit. Mrs. Teasdale begins singing the Freedonia national anthem in her operatic voice and the Brothers begin hurling fruit at ""her"" instead. Comparing the original scripts with the finished film, most of the characters' initial scripted names were later changed. Only the names of Chicolini and Mrs. Teasdale were kept. Groucho's"
"Marx Brothers film ""Duck Soup"" (1933) is set in a bankrupt Freedonia. Antal Szerb's ""Oliver VII"" (1943) features a monarch of a fictional Central European state who plots a coup against himself and then flees to Venice in order to experience the life of an ordinary person. In the satire ""The Mouse That Roared"" (1955), the Duchy of Grand Fenwick attempts to avoid bankruptcy by declaring war on the United States as a ploy for gaining American aid. In Vladimir Nabokov's ""Pale Fire"" (1962), the main narrator has the delusion of being the incognito king of a ""distant northern land"""
"Chrysler Theatre"", a truncated version of a play that Groucho Marx and Norman Krasna wrote in 1948. In 1965, Groucho starred in a weekly show for British TV titled ""Groucho"", broadcast on ITV. The program was along similar lines to ""You Bet Your Life"", with Keith Fordyce taking on the Fenneman role. However, it was poorly received and lasted only 11 weeks. Groucho appeared as a gangster named God in the movie ""Skidoo"" (1968), directed by Otto Preminger, and costarring Jackie Gleason and Carol Channing. It was released by the studio where the Marx Brothers began their film career, Paramount"
"""Admiral General Aladeen and Rufus T. Firefly share the same bloodline, representing a more generalized contempt for world leaders of any stripe, whether they don a 'supreme beard' or a greasepaint moustache."" The ""Nashville Scene"" detected ""an echo here of that funniest of xenophobe-baiting funnies, ""Duck Soup""."" The ""Rolling Stone"" claimed that Baron Cohen's film ""dodges soothing convention and ultimately merits comparisons to The Marx Brothers' ""Duck Soup"" and Charlie Chaplin's ""The Great Dictator"". Universal Home Video released ""Duck Soup"" on DVD, unrestored but uncut, as part of a six-disc box set ""The Marx Brothers: Silver Screen Collection"", which includes"
"regarded Leo McCarey, is the highest rated of the five Marx Brothers films on the American Film Institute's ""100 years ... 100 Movies"" list. It did not do as well financially as ""Horse Feathers"", but was the sixth-highest grosser of 1933. The film sparked a dispute between the Marxes and the village of Fredonia, New York. ""Freedonia"" was the name of a fictional country in the script, and the city fathers wrote to Paramount and asked the studio to remove all references to Freedonia because ""it is hurting our town's image"". Groucho fired back a sarcastic retort asking them to"
"in the Paramount promotional film ""The House That Shadows Built"" (1931). The concept of the Marx Brothers being stowaways on a ship would be repeated in an episode of their radio series ""Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel"" (1933) in the episode ""The False Roderick"" and would also be recycled in their MGM film ""A Night at the Opera"" (1935). The essence of Groucho's joke, ""Sure, I'm a doctor—where's the horse?"" would serve as an integral plot element for their film ""A Day at the Races"" (1937). Also repeated in that later film would be the uproarious medical examination that Harpo and"
"its premise involved an unethical lawyer/private detective and his bungling assistant. Groucho Marx played Waldorf T. Beagle (later renamed Waldorf T. Flywheel), and Chico played Emmanuel Ravelli, the same name as the Italian character he played in the film ""Animal Crackers"" (1930). Mary McCoy played secretary Miss Dimple, and it is thought that Broderick Crawford also appeared as various characters. Groucho and Chico shared a weekly income of $6,500 for appearing in the show. During the Great Depression, this was considered a high sum for 30 minutes' work, especially since radio scripts required no memorization and only a few minutes"
"thought the news would be a further detriment to his health. Groucho died four months later on August 19, at age 86. Gummo and his wife Helen are interred next to each other in the Freedom Mausoleum at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Gummo's older brother Chico is in a crypt across the hall from them. His grandsons are actors Gregg Marx, Chris Marx, and actor/producer Brett Marx, who as a child actor appeared as ""Jimmy Feldman"" in 1976's comedy film ""The Bad News Bears"". When Richard J. Anobile asked Groucho in ""The Marx Bros. Scrapbook"" which"
"Groucho Marx Julius Henry ""Groucho"" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, writer, stage, film, radio, and television star. A master of quick wit, he is widely considered one of America's greatest comedians. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born. He also had a successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game show ""You Bet Your Life"". His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, glasses, cigar, and"
"lead roles are performed by professional Marx Brothers soundalikes: Michael Roberts as Groucho's Flywheel and Frank Lazarus as Chico's Ravelli. Other cast members include Lorelei King playing all the female roles, with Spike Milligan and Dick Vosburgh guest starring. The scripts for the 1990 series were adapted by Mark Brisenden for a modern British audience, and the performances were directed by Dirk Maggs. Rather than each episode being a direct remake of an individual American episode, the 1990 episodes often included material from two or even three different 1932 episodes, and occasionally with additional jokes from Marx Brothers' films. The"
"free to over 4,200 inner city schools nationwide. ""The Unspoken"" (1999), Marx's first feature film, features performances from Russian star Sergei Shnirev of the famed Moscow Art Theatre, and Harry Lennix, most known for ""Get on the Bus"", ""Bob Roberts"", ""Titus"", ""ER"", and ""The Matrix"". Three of Marx's films premiered at the New York Film Festival. Having dedicated his life to the making and promotion of independent films, Marx repeatedly returns to work with disadvantaged and misunderstood communities: people of color, abused children, the working poor, welfare recipients, prisoners, the elderly, and ""at risk"" youth. His films show a passion"
"he became an actor on the New York stage. He received his first credited role in motion pictures in the Bob Hope ""Going Spanish"" (1934). He relocated to Hollywood in 1938 and had bit parts in films such as ""Idiot's Delight"" (1939), and larger roles such as ""House of Frankenstein"" (1944, as gypsy leader Fejos), Bob Hope's ""Where There's Life"" (1947, as King Hubertus II) and ""Double Dynamite"" (1951, as Groucho Marx's long-suffering boss). His many short subject appearances include a few stints as Robert ""Mickey"" Blake's father in the Our Gang series. He has a brief appearance in ""Casablanca"""
"the 1932 film ""Horse Feathers"", Groucho performs the film's love theme ""Everyone Says I Love You"" for costar Thelma Todd on a Gibson L-5. Irving Berlin quipped, ""The world would not be in such a snarl, had Marx been Groucho instead of Karl"". In his book ""The Groucho Phile"", Marx says ""I've been a liberal Democrat all my life"", and ""I frankly find Democrats a better, more sympathetic crowd... I'll continue to believe that Democrats have a greater regard for the common man than Republicans do"". However, just as some of the other Democrats of the time, Marx also said"
"travel to New Jersey, and sell them door-to-door. In his last interview, Zeppo joked that his father ""was a very bad tailor but he found some people who were so stupid that they would buy his clothes, and so he'd make a few dollars that way for food"". Marx made a cameo appearance in his four sons' film ""Monkey Business"" (1931), sitting on top of luggage behind the brothers on the pier as they wave to the First Officer, having slipped off the ship without being arrested as stowaways. (In some interviews, the brothers mistakenly attributed this scene to ""A"
"Rescue"". In later years, Barrett starred in many well-known film and TV roles in his native Australia, living on Stradbroke Island, Queensland during the 1970s. He appeared as the Prime Minister (a character who is assassinated) in ""Burn the Butterflies"", and as a miner in ""Golden Soak"". In 1980, he played the part of the controversial Australian historical figure Governor Bligh in the ABC Television production ""The Timeless Land"". He had secondary roles in many other productions, including ""Something in the Air"". Barrett also appeared in such films as ""Don's Party"" and ""The Carmakers"" (about the 1973 release of the"
"Captain Spaulding""—done entirely in French. Groucho Marx Julius Henry ""Groucho"" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, writer, stage, film, radio, and television star. A master of quick wit, he is widely considered one of America's greatest comedians. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born. He also had a successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game show ""You Bet Your Life"". His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated"
"Tomorrow?"". In London he reprised this role, as well as appearing in ""Don's Party"". He played Dr Frank-N-Furter in ""The Rocky Horror Show"" in Melbourne in 1975-77. His most notable screen roles included Bernie Dump in ""The Miraculous Mellops"" The Toadie in ""Mad Max 2"" (1981), Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in the television mini-series ""The Dismissal"" (1983), Sir Frank Packer in ""True Believers"" (1988), and Queensland Police Commissioner Terry Lewis in the ""Four Corners"" TV documentary drama ""Police State"" (1989), which helped to bring about investigations into corruption within that state's police force and political system. He was nominated for"
"Chico give opera singer Madame Swempski (Cecil Cunningham). According to Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne, a sequel was planned for this film that would continue the gangster theme. During the development of that film, aviator Charles Lindbergh's son was kidnapped and killed by what was believed to be gangsters. The writers quickly shifted gears and based the brothers' next film very loosely on the Marx Brothers' earlier stage show ""Fun in Hi Skule"", which would evolve into ""Horse Feathers"". Monkey Business (1931 film) Monkey Business is a 1931 American Pre-Code comedy film. It is the third of the Marx Brothers'"
"and was named after him. The unit later became a unit in the British Army. Thomashefsky is buried with his wife, who, though separated from him by 1911, never divorced him, in the Yiddish theater section of the Mount Hebron Cemetery. In the third Marx Brothers movie, ""Monkey Business"", Groucho Marx (in defending his right to hide in a gangster's moll's closet) exclaims, ""That's what they said to Thomas Edison, mighty inventor, Thomas Lindbergh, mighty flyer, and Thomashefsky, 'mighty like a rose'!"" Tribute was also paid in Mel Brooks' 1968 film ""The Producers"" when Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) attributes his"
"and financial crisis of 2008—09. The film asks whether ""(we) should ... accept the crisis as an unfortunate side-effect of the free market"" or whether there is ""another explanation as to why it happened and its likely effects on our society, our economy and our whole way of life."" The film interviews several leading Marx-inspired philosophers and critics including Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri, Nina Power, Jacques Rancière, Peter Sloterdijk, Alberto Toscano and Slavoj Žižek. In addition to its Marxian analysis the film follows """"The Matrix""-themed cartoon adventures of Karl Marx, lost in an Alice-style commodity-induced nightmare with only one way"
"speech worthy of both Chaplin and """"."" Several reviews noted that the Marx Brothers' 1933 film, ""Duck Soup"", inspired parts of Baron Cohen's 2012 film. Scott Tobias of ""The A.V. Club"" noted that ""Admiral General Aladeen and Rufus T. Firefly share the same bloodline, representing a more generalized contempt for world leaders of any stripe, whether they don a 'supreme beard' or a greasepaint moustache."" Scott Wilson of the ""Nashville Scene"" detected ""an echo here of that funniest of xenophobe-baiting funnies, ""Duck Soup""."" Peter Travers of the ""Rolling Stone"" claimed that Baron Cohen's film ""dodges soothing convention and ultimately merits"
"the television series ""Firefly"" by Joss Whedon. Although the series ran for only one season, Universal Studios purchased the rights to the show and turned it into a film, ""Serenity"", in which he reprised the role. He did a few voices from ""Make Way for Noddy"". In 2014, Tudyk took over the role of lead anchor on the live action [adult swim] comedy, ""Newsreaders"". Tudyk appeared as the cult leader, Father, in a two-part episode of ""Strangers With Candy"" entitled ""Blank Stare."" Among several guest spots on popular shows such as ""Arrested Development"", he played a convicted pedophile on a"
"drama critic Frank Rich found Groh """"completely convincing as the brash gold-chain-and-bikini-clad Lothario"""". Other New York City theater credits include ""Road Show"" (1987), and ""The Twilight of the Golds"" (1993). On television, Groh appeared in guest roles on such series as ""Buck Rogers in the 25th Century"", ""L.A. Law"", ""Baywatch"", ""Law & Order"", ""Murder, She Wrote"", ""Melrose Place"", ""The X-Files"", and ""JAG"". His film career includes appearances in ""Two-Minute Warning"" (1976), ""Smash-Up on Interstate 5"" (1976), ""Victory at Entebbe"" (1976), ""A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich"" (1978), ""The Dream Merchants"" (1980), ""The Return of Superfly"" (1990), ""Get Shorty"" (1995),"
"in a television interview that he disliked the women's liberation movement. On the July 7, 1967 ""Firing Line"" TV show, Groucho said, ""The whole political left is the Garden of Eden of incompetence."" ""Marx & Lennon: The Parallel Sayings"" was published in 2005; the book records similar sayings between Groucho Marx and John Lennon. Groucho's radio career was not as successful as his work on stage and in film, though historians such as Gerald Nachman and Michael Barson suggest that, in the case of the single-season ""Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel"" (1932), the failure may have been a combination of a"
"The Big Store The Big Store (1941) is a Marx Brothers comedy film in which Groucho, Chico and Harpo wreak havoc in a department store. Groucho plays detective Wolf J. Flywheel, a character name originating from the Marx-Perrin radio show ""Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel"" in the early 1930s. ""The Big Store"" was the last of five films the Marx Brothers made under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and it was advertised as their farewell film. However, the team would return to the screen in ""A Night in Casablanca"" (1946) and ""Love Happy"" (1949). ""The Big Store"" co-starred singer Tony Martin and Virginia"
"Marx for the rest of his life in public, it was the theme for his television series ""You Bet Your Life"" and was often played when he was introduced as a guest on television shows. At Marx's Carnegie Hall concert in the early 1970s, accompanist Marvin Hamlisch played the song as Marx made his entrance onstage. Spaulding is a famous explorer on return from a trek across Africa to be the guest of honour at a high-society party given by the wealthy Mrs. Rittenhouse (Margaret Dumont). She frequently claims that Spaulding is one of the most courageous travellers in the"
"appeared, sometimes with Chico and Zeppo caricatured, in cartoons starring Mickey Mouse, Flip the Frog and others. In the ""Airwolf"" episode 'Condemned', four anti-virus formulae for a deadly plague were named after the four Marx Brothers. In ""All in the Family"", Rob Reiner often did imitations of Groucho, and Sally Struthers dressed as Harpo in one episode in which she (as Gloria Stivic) and Rob (as Mike Stivic) were going to a Marx Brothers film festival, with Reiner dressing as Groucho. Gabe Kaplan did many Groucho imitations on his sit-com ""Welcome Back, Kotter"" and Robert Hegyes sometimes imitated both Chico"
"and scene in ""Trading Places"" (1983), also directed by Landis. He had roles in several other Landis films including ""An American Werewolf in London"" (1981), ""Spies Like Us"" (1985), ""Innocent Blood"" (1992) and ""Blues Brothers 2000"" (1998). In 2001 he had a voice acting role in the Pixar film ""Monsters, Inc."" as Randall's scare assistant, Fungus. In 2005, he had a minor part in the Columbia film ""Zathura"" as the voice of the robot. Other cameos have included playing a surgeon in scenes cut from the theatrical release of ""Superman III"", ""The Muppet Movie"", ""The Great Muppet Caper"", ""The Muppets"