Episode 18: Marx Brothers: Unsolved

In our latest episode, we examine some unsolved Marx Brothers mysteries. Put on your deerstalker hat and join us on this journey into confusion.

Official description: "Marx Brothers scholar Stewart Tryster returns as we try to explain curious moments in the Marxes' films and career. Who was that in the dark in Animal Crackers? Did pressure from Italians result in the pigeons being cut from A Day at the Races? What edible substance made up Harpo’s A Night in Casablanca hair? We speculate, jump to conclusions, and ignore facts that go against our theories…so you know you’re getting the most solid info anywhere."

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Footnotes for this episode:

Here's the photo Stewart mentions, taken on the set of Monkey Business, and featuring Frenchie, Harpo, Chico, and possibly Zeppo?

And here's the photo Noah mentions, of the Six Mascots in 1910, featuring Groucho as Hans Pumpernickel, performing "Schnitzelbank":

Bonuscast | The Jay Hopkins Interviews: Volume 2 - Erin Fleming

Before Jay Hopkins became internationally famous as the special guest on Episode 15 of the Marx Brothers Council Podcast, he was already beloved as social media gadfly and leader of the Marx Brotherhood. During the Brotherhood's golden age, Jay conducted numerous exclusive interviews with noteworthy figures from the Marx Brothers universe. Jay has generously agreed to allow some of those interviews to be released here as bonus episodes. These are the Jay Hopkins Interviews.

[In case you missed it, we previously issued Volume One in this series, Jay's 1979 interview with You Bet Your Life creator John Guedel.]

Official description: "The second in our exclusive series of vintage interviews from the archives of Marx Brotherhood founder, Jay Hopkins. From 1979, Jay talks with the infamous Erin Fleming, Groucho’s secretary, personal manager, and companion in his final years. Erin details day-to-day life with Groucho, as well as the celebrities and events she seemed to crave. She’s opinionated, charming and infuriating. It’s a unique and revealing look at the complex woman who became the center of a storm of controversy."

Note for early birds: When a new episode is released, it might not be immediately available at all the locations below. If you click a link and this episode isn't there yet, try another, or try to be patient! And above all, don't worry.

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Episode 17: Hail and Farewell

Apologies in advance, friends, if we don't dislike Room Service quite as much as you do. Anyway, listen to us talk about it for two hours, and let us know if the experience causes you to: a) like Room Service more, b) like Room Service less, or c) hate the Marx Brothers Council Podcast and vow never to spend another minute listening to these three babbling wiseguys. We hope it's a) or b), and that this episode doesn't drive you to your death just as it drove Leo Davis.

Official description: "This month we take a deep dive into the misunderstood Room Service, perhaps not the best Marx film, but the one with the most interesting backstory…as well as the most frustrating compromises. Matthew enlightens us on how it almost became more of an authentic Marx vehicle, and how it almost became less of one. Bob is surprised by his reaction to the film, while Noah leads post-graduate courses on New York theater, and the word frowsy.  Special guest stars: Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick."

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Footnote for this episode:



See you next month! Till then, godspeed and hail and farewell, but definitely not jumping butterballs.

Episode 16: (After) The End of the Marx Brothers

The picaresque career of the Marx Brothers had many beginnings and many endings. Just as the three decades beginning in 1905 were filled with various "this is our big break!" breakthroughs, there was a repetitive, meandering quality to their final efforts as a team. Their "farewell picture," The Big Store (1941), was followed not just by two more Marx Brothers movies, but by a ragtag series of film and television projects which occasionally succeeded in putting more than one Marx Brother in the same place at the same time.

In this sixteenth episode of the Marx Brothers Council Podcast, we examine the Brothers' joint efforts following the release of what was technically the last Marx Brothers movie.

Official description: "Though the Marx Brothers stopped performing together after 1949’s Love Happy, that didn’t stop the constant stories, rumors, and plans of future projects. This month we take a look at the Marxes' 1950s post-career, which included a few moments when they did reunite. Bob comes up with a unique (and probably stupid) theory about The Incredible Jewel Robbery, while Matthew admits to a Marx appearance that he can’t be bothered to watch. Later, we are joined by Marx and Re-Marx author Andrew T. Smith for a closer look at the aborted Deputy Seraph project."

Note for early birds: When a new episode is released, it might not be immediately available at all the locations below. If you click a link and Episode 16 isn't there yet, try another, or try to be patient! And above all, don't worry.

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Footnotes for this episode:

• Michael J. Hayde on the five Marxes' Tonight appearance
  
• Bela Chaney's Deputy Seraph edit
  
• The Television Scripts of Philip Rapp, edited by Ben Ohmart, from BearManor Media. (This is the book which contains the pilot script for Deputy Seraph.)
  
• Noah's United Nations song

Bonuscast | The Jay Hopkins Interviews: Volume 1 - John Guedel

Before Jay Hopkins became internationally famous as the special guest on Episode 15 of the Marx Brothers Council Podcast, he was already beloved as social media gadfly and leader of the Marx Brotherhood. During the Brotherhood's golden age, Jay conducted numerous exclusive interviews with noteworthy figures from the Marx Brothers universe. As hinted in Episode 15 of the podcast, Jay has generously agreed to allow some of those interviews to be released here as bonus episodes. And so, we now inaugurate a series within our series: Welcome to The Jay Hopkins Interviews.

The official description: "The first in our exclusive series of vintage interviews from the archives of Marx Brotherhood founder, Jay Hopkins. From 1979, Jay talks to You Bet Your Life creator and producer John Guedel about the genesis of the show, how it was put together each week, and how the show library was on the verge of being discarded in the early ’70s before John and Groucho came to the rescue...which in turn, led to its huge revival."

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Episode 15: This Magnificent Display of Effusion

The Great Marx Brothers Renaissance of the 1970s is the subject of our fifteenth episode, which includes our conversation with Marx Brotherhood leader and Marx Brothers Council stalwart Jay Hopkins, as well as an excerpt from one of Jay's fabled interviews (in this case, with You Bet Your Life producer John Guedel).

Here's the official description: "Founder of the legendary Marx Brotherhood fan club, Jay Hopkins, joins us for a look at the 1970s Marx renaissance. What caused it? Could it happen again? What was Nat Perrin’s apartment number? We examine Groucho’s part in the movement, as well as his curious relationship with Erin Fleming. Jay tells of his experiences with the Brotherhood, as well as his firsthand interviews with important Marx figures…at least the ones he didn’t scare off."

Note for early birds: When a new episode is released, it might not be immediately available at all the locations below. If you click a link and Episode 14 is still the most recent one on the list, try another, or try to be patient! And above all, don't worry.

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Footnotes for this episode:

• Adam Gopnik on "The Forty-Year Itch"
• Robert Bader on the 1972 Evening with Groucho LP
• Erik Lundegaard on the Marx Brotherhood
• Groucho in San Francisco, 1972:

That brings us down to the end of another one -- see you next month!

Episode 14: Look at Chicolini

In our fourteenth episode, we focus for the first time on one Brother in particular. He may look like an idiot, and talk like an idiot, but don't let that fool you -- he really is the most mysterious and elusive of the three, four, or five Marx Brothers. Trav S.D. (No Applause - Just Throw Money, Chain of Fools, Travalanche) joins the panel to shoot the breeze about shooting the keys.

Official description: "We are joined by writer/performer/bon vivant Trav S.D. for an in-depth analysis of the world of Chico. We examine his strengths, weaknesses, contradictions and roller skating. Is he the most underrated of the three, or the most overrated of the four? And where does he fit alphabetically…you’re going to be surprised. Along the way we’ll enjoy some classic piano and misquote our favorite lines."

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Footnotes for this episode:

- Ed Liu on "The Chico Marx Effect"

- Les débuts de Chico Marx au Roller Catch: