Animal Cackers"Why A Duck?" @ marx-brothers.org |
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Animal Cackers"Why A Duck?" @ marx-brothers.org |
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After close to three years of running "The Cocoanuts" at the Lyric Theatre, the Marxes opened their third Broadway hit, "Animal Crackers" on October 23, 1928. This was to be the last show the brothers would do on the stage (not counting tryouts for various MGM films in the middle and late 1930's); from here on out they were to be screen comics almost exclusively. While "Animal Crackers" was in performance at the 44th Street Theatre, the brothers took "The Cocoanuts" to Paramount's studios in Astoria, Queens, to make one of the earliest talking features for this studio. Performing during the day on the film version of "The Cocoanuts" and at night in the stage version of "Animal Crackers," this was an incredibly busy period in their career.
This was also a turning point in entertainment in this country. Vaudeville was on the way out, and talking pictures were on the way in. In a year (one year and one day after the opening of "Animal Crackers," to be exact) "Black Tuesday" would usher in the beginning of the longest and most dire economic slump in recent history, wiping out the fortunes of the Marxes in the process, and in part causing insomnia that would plague Groucho for the rest of his life. But the depression years were also years of major success in the film industry and would prove to be the most successful years in the Marx Brothers' career.
Here are a couple of bits from the stage version of "Animal Crackers" that didn't make it into the motion picture.
Unless we tell you who we are, you'll never guess;
We're not Napoleon or da Vinci.
A lot of people think we are, but none the less,
We're not Napoleon or da Vinci.
We're not even Washington or Lincoln,
Jefferson or Alexander Carr;
You'd be wrong whoever you begin on
So we'll let you in on who we are.
So stand by, unseen listeners. (Bugle call)
Chorus:
We're four of the three musketeers.
We've been together for years.
Eenie, meenie, minee, (horn),
Four of the three musketeers.
We live by the sword, by the sea, by the way,
And we fight day and night,
And we sleep night and day,
My country 'tis of thee,
Land of the light wines and beers.
We're cheered from Cologne to Algiers.
Each time our motto appears,
It's one for all and two for five.
We're four of the three musketeers.
Patter:
When the Queen needs recreation and she strolls along the path,
Where are we? Right by her side.
When she's filled with jubilation or consumed with raging wrath,
Where are we? Right by her side.
We've sworn that we'd shield and protect her.
We're her guardsmen, true and tried.
When she gets up in the morning and she slips into her bath,
Where are we? Far from the old folks at home.
Second Chorus:
We're four of the three musketeers.
We've been together for years.
Athos, Pathos, Mathos, (horn),
Four of the three musketeers.
We fight for the King, for the Queen, for the Jack,
And we're first at the front
When the front's at the back.
Three cheers for Richelieu,
Here's how we give him the cheers. (Business)
The foe trembles each time it hears
This motto ring in its ears.
It's one for all and two for five.
We're four of the three musketeers.
A Few Lines
by Groucho Marx
Did you ever sit and ponder as you walk along the strand,
That life's a bitter battle at the best;
And if you only knew it and would lend a helping hand,
Then every man can meet the final test.
The world is but a stage, my friend,
And life is but a game;
And how you play is all that matters in the end.
For whether a man is right or wrong,
A woman gets the blame;
And your mother is your dog's best friend.
Then up came mighty Casey and strode up to the bat,
And Sheridan was fifty miles away.
For it takes a heap of loving to make a home like that,
On the road where the flying fishes play.
So be a real-life Pagliacc' and laugh, clown, laugh.
©1995-2006, Frank M. Bland
The pages under www.marx-brothers.org/whyaduck were originally created by Frank Bland for his site www.whyaduck.com. Frank did kindly give me permission to use the contents of his site.
If you find text referring to "I" or "me" on pages under www.marx-brothers.org/whyaduck, this will usually refer to Frank.
