Episode 94: The British Eyles (featuring Allen Eyles)

There’s a special place in our hearts for anyone who’s written a great book about the Marx Brothers, and Allen Eyles has written two. His original pioneering study, The Marx Brothers: Their World of Comedy (1966), was the first book of its kind. He returned to the subject decades later with the more expansive Complete Films of the Marx Brothers (1992).

Mr. Eyles is also the author of books about James Stewart, John Wayne, Humphery Bogart, Hammer Films, Sherlock Holmes, and The Wizard of Oz, but as Matthew notes in this episode, our Brothers are the only comedians in the Eyles library.

We finally had a chance to speak with Allen Eyles this spring, and we think you’ll be delighted to meet this man whose name you’ve known since you first went looking for the Marx Brothers at your local library.

Note for Patreon subscribers: The new bonus segment, a discussion of the recently-released Harpo record, will be available any day now!

Note for non-Patreon subscribers: Subscribe to the MBCP on Patreon! You’ll get instant access to all of our bonus segments, plus (at the higher levels) our monthly postcard in the mail, fabulous gifts, and, of course, more.

Official description: “We’re proud to welcome Allen Eyles, author of 1966’s The Marx Brothers: Their World of Comedy — the first book to seriously analyze the team’s output — and its successor, 1992’s The Complete Films of the Marx Brothers, for his first-ever podcast on these landmark works.

“The conversation ranges from Eyles’ favourite (see what we did there) British comedians to his accidental status as the world’s foremost authority on the missing Horse Feathers footage. Along the way, he recalls the Herculean efforts needed to study Marx films in the pre home-video era, and reflects on his evolving opinions of the Brothers' filmography.”

Note for early birds: When a new episode is released, it might not appear at all of the locations below right away. If you visit your favorite podcast provider and the previous episode is still the most recent one you see there, be patient! And above all, don't worry.

Episode 93: A Day at the Races Resaddled (featuring the Marx Brothers Council)