The Marx Brothers – mustachioed, stogie-smoking ring-leader Groucho, chatty, Italian-accented con man Chico, silent skirt-chaser Harpo and, early on, relatively “normal” matinee idol Zeppo – first got their start as a vaudeville comedy act at the turn of the 20th century. They would go on to conquer the Broadway stage before landing in films when “talkies” took off.
Zeppo would drop out of the act after five films, becoming an engineer and a talent agent. But his older siblings would continue their frenzied verbal and visual hilarity on the big screen until 1949, when the medium of television beckoned and competed for eyeballs. Groucho would host a TV version of his radio game show, “You Bet Your Life,” for 11 seasons on NBC and appeared on Dick Cavett’s TV talk show in the late ‘60s. That is when their Marx Brothers’ anarchistic approach to humor and word-play takedowns of hypocrites and stuffy high-society...
Zeppo would drop out of the act after five films, becoming an engineer and a talent agent. But his older siblings would continue their frenzied verbal and visual hilarity on the big screen until 1949, when the medium of television beckoned and competed for eyeballs. Groucho would host a TV version of his radio game show, “You Bet Your Life,” for 11 seasons on NBC and appeared on Dick Cavett’s TV talk show in the late ‘60s. That is when their Marx Brothers’ anarchistic approach to humor and word-play takedowns of hypocrites and stuffy high-society...
- 9/30/2023
- by Susan Wloszczyna, Chris Beachum and Misty Holland
- Gold Derby
Mel Brooks was born in 1926, prior to the advent of talkies and television. He grew up worshiping the vaudevillian likes of Groucho Marx, Al Jolson, and George Jessel. Given the anarchic, anything-for-a-laugh quality of his best movies, you'd think Brooks' allegiances would be tightly aligned with Groucho. But while he's on the record with his affection for the Marx Brothers' work, he was especially enamored of Eddie Cantor.
For most people in this day and age, Cantor is a name more than a personality. The worst that can be said about him is that he was a song-and-dance man who, like Jolson, mimicked African-American entertainers in blackface to bolster his appeal. But Cantor was a born, trailblazing Jewish entertainer, and his comedic rambunctiousness kicked down the door for people like Brooks, who lacked the patience to craft a meticulously structured screwball masterpiece like Ernst Lubitsch's "Trouble in Paradise" or...
For most people in this day and age, Cantor is a name more than a personality. The worst that can be said about him is that he was a song-and-dance man who, like Jolson, mimicked African-American entertainers in blackface to bolster his appeal. But Cantor was a born, trailblazing Jewish entertainer, and his comedic rambunctiousness kicked down the door for people like Brooks, who lacked the patience to craft a meticulously structured screwball masterpiece like Ernst Lubitsch's "Trouble in Paradise" or...
- 1/19/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
"Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years." It's an LL Cool J lyric but it applies to one Geoffrey Rush, renowned Australian stage and screen actor. One of the few people who have earned an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy, and a Tony Award, Rush's resume is extensive and varied.
Following an early career on the stage with the Queensland Theater Company, Rush gained universal acclaim in a breakthrough performance in 1996 with "Shine," snagging that Best Actor Oscar. Roles of great gravitas would further cement his fame, like that of sneaky spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham in Shekhar Kapur's 1998 drama "Elizabeth" and the militant Javert in Bille August's 1998 film adaptation of "Les Miserables." Rush has also kept critics on their toes with oddball roles like that of Stephen Price (a fantastic nod to Vincent Price) in the 1999 remake of "The House on Haunted Hill." The kiddies...
Following an early career on the stage with the Queensland Theater Company, Rush gained universal acclaim in a breakthrough performance in 1996 with "Shine," snagging that Best Actor Oscar. Roles of great gravitas would further cement his fame, like that of sneaky spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham in Shekhar Kapur's 1998 drama "Elizabeth" and the militant Javert in Bille August's 1998 film adaptation of "Les Miserables." Rush has also kept critics on their toes with oddball roles like that of Stephen Price (a fantastic nod to Vincent Price) in the 1999 remake of "The House on Haunted Hill." The kiddies...
- 11/25/2022
- by Anya Stanley
- Slash Film
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