Marx Brothers Double Feature

Marx Brothers historian, podcaster, and author Noah Diamond and Marx fan and Muppet historian Craig Shemin will introduce the films.

The Cocoanuts 

1929, 96 mins. U.S. Dirs. Robert Florey, Joseph Santley, Restored DCP. With Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, Oscar Shaw, Margaret Dumont, Kay Francis. The Marx Brothers bust out of the gate to become film stars with their comedy debut, an anarchic delight set at a resort hotel during the Florida land boom of the 1920s that adheres to no conventions of narrative or politesse. Filming The Cocoanuts during the daytime in Astoria while performing the original stage production of Animal Crackers on Broadway at night, the Marx Brothers become cross-media sensations, ensuring their successful transition from stage to screen. Based on the stage play by Morrie Ryskind and George S. Kaufman. 

Animal Crackers 

1930, 98 mins. U.S. Dir. Victor Heerman. Restored DCP. With Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, Lillian Roth, Margaret Dumont. At a high-society, Long Island soiree, thrown by the stuffy Mrs. Rittenhouse (Dumont), famous explorer Captain Jeffrey Spaulding (Groucho) explains how he shot an elephant in his pajamas. This is just one of an endless series of indelible jokes in this adaptation of the Marx Brothers’ final Broadway smash. Filmed at Paramount’s legendary Astoria studio, Animal Crackers shows the Marx Brothers ascending to new levels of zaniness. 

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / free for MoMI members at the Senior/Student level and above. There is a $1.50 transaction fee per ticket for all online purchases. The cost of admission may be applied toward a same-day purchase of a membership. 

Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission.