Customer Reviews (1)

Moderate views on legendary films for non-fans and students
"The Marx Brothers: Their World of Comedy" is essentially a research document for people not immediatly familiar with the classic films of Harpo, Chico, Groucho and (sometimes) Zeppo.The true obsessive Marxist can find better, more doting treatment elsewhere, but the beginning film buff will find solid background material, well-researched biogs on the Brothers, and serviceable summaries of the film plots.Out-of-date, but a good additin to a research collection if found ... Read more

Product Description
Brief sketches of the life and careers of the great talking film comedians of the 1930's: Laurel and Hardy, W. C. Fields, Mae West, and the Marx Brothers. ... Read more

Product Description
In Hello, I Must Be Going, Miss Chandler tells Groucho's story from his birth in New York in 1890, through his career with his brothers on the stage and in films, to his triumph on television in You Bet Your Life and, finally, his death in California in 1977. She highlights the leading ladies in Groucho's life: Minnie Marx, his indomitable mother; Margaret Dumont, the "straight lady" of his best films; and Erin Fleming, the controversial companion of his later years. Miss Chandler also gives us her highly personal recollections as well as her record of the witty rapid fire conversations he had with Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Jack Nicholson, George Burns, Jack Lemmon and many others. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Grouch-y Marx is more like it !!
I have to agree with some of the reviewers in that it seems like Groucho in the twilight of his life was a grouchy old man. The book wastes too many pages talking about people you don't care about (friends of Groucho's) and repeats stories over and over again. At least to me, there weren't enough anecdotes about his life with his brothers and when they were mentioned they were about two paragraphs long. I know this book is about the friends of Groucho and his relationship with them, but still. To me it seemed there wasn't much mention (from Groucho) of his brothers and when he did say something it was the same comment over and over. There is some good insight from a few of his long-time friends but it's few and far between.

I was taken aback by Groucho's treatment of 'civilians' or those who weren't in show business. He didn't like mingling with them and was usually rude to them. Nice. It's us civilians who made you a star and now you look down on them. Typical. I was a very big Marx brother fan (still am) but this kind of changed my outlook on Groucho. And another reviewer is correct in that a lot the interaction between him and his friends was 'kissing up to a legend.' No wonder he thought so highly of himself.

I can (begrudgingly) recommend this book to Marx fans if only to check it off the list of 'Groucho' books to read. But it seems rambling, repetitive, and I found myself rolling my eyes at times. Go read 'Harpo Speaks' if you want a good 'Marx Brothers' book.

good stuff from groucho!
This may sound funny, but i read harpo speaks!by harpo marx,and i thought he was my favorite marx brotherand on film he is definetly one of my favorites and the book was pretty good, but this book I think is as good or better! might bebecause of the co-author , I,m not sure , but its a good read!

A Legend Shares His Memories
This is easily one of the funniest books I've ever read. Not a biography as much as a series of recollections by Groucho of his many years in show business. One hilarious story after another,enough to leave the reader short of breath. It's also a portrait of his later years after the deaths of Harpo and Chico. You really get the idea how close they were by the reverence which with Groucho treats their memories.

A wonderful read

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Celebrities kissing up to a "legend."
The writing style was something new for me in a book, as the author basically documented - verbatim - various interviews with different celebrities on their relationship and take on GROUCHO MARX.Although there was some interesting information, for the most part, I found the constant adulation from Celebrities to the "great Groucho" rather annoying, because it seemed ingenuous after awhile.I also have to admit that Groucho fell from grace a couple of notches for me.I don't know if he was trying to impress Charlotte (the author), but I found many of his comments, remarks and stories self-indulgent, egotistical and somewhat bigotted, as well as quite UNFUNNY.Maybe it's just that at this point in his life he was growing increasingly senile, but whatever the case, I find I now like the man on the screen much more that the man depicted in the book. I look forward to reading "HARPO SPEAKS" as it is often referred to in this book, along with comments from Groucho and other celebrities as to "what a great man, Harpo was."I'll read the book and see for myself if that's true.

Repetitive and disjointed
The book is a collection of loosely connected interviews covering events from Groucho's last years.It is repetitive and offers little insight. ... Read more