Mikael Uhlin's Marxology @ marx-brothers.org
This film was originally developed in parallel with A Day At The Races
by Irving Thalberg. The first outline was logged as early as 15 April
1936 by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby and William Slavens McNutt. In this
version, the Marx Brothers were entangled with a rodeo. A composite
script by Kalmar and Ruby was ready on 19 August 1936, but the project
was cancelled when Thalberg died. It is possible that the song Go West, Young Man, written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby and performed by Groucho in Copacabana (his 1947 feature with Carmen Miranda) is a left-over from the original Go West. When MGM returned to the idea after At The Circus,
it was Irving Brecher who wrote the script. In March 1940 the show went
on the road, playing 103 performances from Chicago to Detroit. A
memorable moment from the stage version appeared in the end, where
Harpo held a long but nonsensical speech, similar to a speech he held
in Fun In Hi Skule.
However, in keeping with his silent image, the scene was never shot.
The trailer for the film presents an alternate angle where Groucho
enters saloon and also features a short close-up that is not in the
film, where Groucho says "It's just like a movie".
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