Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9786305078135
Format: AC-3, Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 6305078130
Label: Universal Studios
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: Universal Studios
Region Code: 1
Release Date: April 08, 1998
Running Time: 97 minutes
Sales Rank: 78317
Studio: Universal Studios
Theatrical Release Date: August 28, 1930
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Editorial Review:
Description:
Those madcap masters of mayhem, the Marx Brothers, are at it again in this zany laughfest. When a valuable painting turns up missing at a party, Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo help find it--with outrageous results.
Amazon.com essential video:
This second Marx Brothers classic has Groucho playing Captain Spaulding (an inside joke pertaining to a renowned Hollywood drug pusher), whose song 'Hooray for Captain Spaulding' became his signature anthem. Despite its staginess, it has some hilarious gags as the boys try to solve the mystery of a stolen painting among the high-society crowd. Some of the highlights include Groucho's African lecture about shooting an elephant in his pajamas, and a wacky card game between Harpo, Chico, and the always-gullible Margaret Dumont. The musical interludes here don't seem as awkward as in later films. It's really quite charming watching Chico and Harpo show off their graceful talents. --Bill Desowitz
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Tusks are looser in Alabama
The depression is finally arrived and the Marx Brothers are having it easy more than ever, stealing silverware and paintings and anything they can set their fingers on. When the rich are living well, they know how to throw a party in their fancy homes and invite all kinds of funny characters that are nothing but funny and have absolutely nothing in common except their grotesqueness. But beware the musicians or artists you may invite because you may invite trouble more than music. And the four siblings are adding their touch of delirium tremens to that alco-hole which is no waterhole though there is no alcohol in this prohibition blind alley that is as dark as the wine cellar in which you keep the roof of the house for the chimneys not to get wet when it rains. And they play on the dumbness of one, I mean muteness though I do not reject dumbness for that Harpo the harpist that is as dumb as my thumb, and on the accents of the Chico who is a good pianist and mixes all kinds of linguistic idiosyncrasies, Italian, German, New Yorker, Jewish, except maybe black, and even so at times he is not that clear, especially when everything is alight and he wants to make them dark, or is it the other way round and everything is dark and he wants to make them alight, and he looks for a "flash" and gets across, right out of Harpo's pockets, the "flesh" of a cheek, a "fish", a "flask", a "flush" (of cards of course), a "flitz" of Fly-toxic fluid that will be used at the end of the film, an enchanted "flutz" with six ... Read More
Rating: - Genius Still Apparent
My father was a major Marx Brothers devotee. Over the past few years I've gradually taken the time to become familiar with their oeuvre and have to admit that what most amazes me most is how well they hold up in relation to today's comedies. I think the major reason for this being true is that their shtick is a perfect combination of slapstick and wit. Yes, there's physical humor but there is a wilderness of verbal humor as well. This combination is what makes them appeal to so many people in my estimation.
I really think Animal Crackers is every bit as strong as Horse Feathers which was my previous favorite. I'm surprised I got to this one so late though as I grew up hearing my dad sing the "My name is Captain Spaulding the African Explorer" on numerous occasions. I now finally know what he was cacophonizing about for all those years. The bottom line is that there's nothing dated about Groucho. His wit is straight out of Aristotle. That's not to say that older cultural references such as "Eugene O'Neil" won't perplex younger viewers but hopefully they'll dash to the computer and get an education to go with their belly laugh. I'm very glad that all of these films got converted into DVDs so quickly.
Rating: - The masters!!
Still as funny as ever! Gift for my brother, he was thrilled. Now I need a copy for me.
Rating:  - as good a take on academia as there was (at least til randal jarrell) ...
does it matter that i complain the plot makes no sense? hardly! this was the marx brothers second movie (again based on one of their broadway shows) and the madness of the early films is running rife here. these earliest films are not as polished as the work from a few years later -- theyre just funnier. i leave it up to YOU to determine which is more imnportant in a comedy.
Rating:  - The Marxes' Strange Interlude
The first 15 minutes of "Animal Crackers" (1930) represent the Marx Brothers in top form, with Groucho's "Hooray for Captain Spaudling" an enduring classic. Regrettably, the film soon runs out of steam and the latter Groucho-Chico exchanges become rather tiresome. Harpo's physical viciousness toward Margaret Dumont is decidedly out of character - a miscalculation he would not repeat. Zeppo, on the other hand, manages to upstage Groucho during the famous dictation scene. Director Victor Heerman keeps the camera nailed to the ground - lacking the occasional cinematic flair evident in "The Cocoanuts." The Marxes are always worth seeing, but one wishes this enterprise had turned out better.
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