Mikael Uhlin's Marxology @ marx-brothers.org

The Thrills of Wall Street

Scene 11 - Art Curtain

Marcella Hardie

The famous critic Alexander Woollcott loved Harpo but he certainly didn't care much for anything else. About the introductory song, he wrote: "a touching number called "Wall Street Blues" which is sung, for some reason, by a small, shrill young woman wearing blue sateen overalls. It is not known why. Nor greatly cared".

Scene 12 - Wall Street

After the "touching number", Beauty and Richman enter Wall Street, which is presented in a futuristic design in black and white. Centre stage, in the background, is a giant tickertape machine, with figures representing a bull and a bear in opposite corners. A fairy (Florence Hedges in early shows, Mary Melvin in later) appeared from within the tickertape machine and presented the four thrills of Wall Street. The Tragedy of Gambling had members of the chorus dressed as The Gambler, Cards, Penny, Dice, Dime, Racing, Dollar and Roulette while The Greed of Gold was symbolized as a Gold Coin, in this case a discus player in gold. Alexander Woollcott sarcastically mentioned "lithe young gentlemen covered with gold or bluing", which was an obvious reference to Ledru Stiffler who played the Gold Man in this scene and the Blue Tartar in the Broadway-finale.
The two last thrills of Wall Street was enacted by The Silver Ballet and The Lure of Gambling. The Wall Street-segment finished with "The Plaything of Wall Street", an "Industry".

Richman Come in to Wall St.

Beauty And am I to be crushed like a fly in this monstrous web?

Richman Who knows? If you lose, you lose; if you win I shall share in the profits. It's a thrill either way.

Beauty You tempt me.

Richman The stake I am playing for is you, - - you beautiful doll. Are you listening?

Beauty Yes.

Richman Here Morgan, buy me a thousand shares of oil.

Beauty What kind of oil?

Richman Hair oil, salad oil, any kind of oil.
Bus. of throwing pocketbook off stage
Keep the change.
Pistol shot off stage

Beauty What's all the shooting?

Richman Just another victim.

Beauty Terrible!

Richman Gambling gets into the blood.

Beauty Like drink.

Richman First the thrill of cards. Penny Antie.

Beauty Harmless stakes and pennies roll your way.

Richman Sometimes. Next the rattle of the bones, - - come seven. Dice, - - shoot you a nickle.

Beauty From coppers to nickles.

Richman Next the thrill of the ponies. They're off. At the quarter - - come on you one legged race horse. At the half - - come baby.

Beauty The finish!

Richman She wins!

Beauty Silver winnings.

Richman Next roulette. The spinning wheel with the ivory ball. Dancing over the devil's colors, red and black.

Beauty Playing for gold.

Richman Then comes the big game, - - Wall St.

Beauty The metallic click of the soulless ticker.

Richman Gambler's heaven and hell.

Beauty Within it lurks an evil spirit. Greed for gold.

Richman With gold comes wine, women, song. Easy come, easy go.

Beauty Ah, but with the spending gold takes flight and flies away.

Richman When gold takes flight you build again, from copper to nickle, from silver to gold. Then back to you come the web, the spider, and the fly. Watch, victims will come but they can't beat the game.

"Dice", reproduced from Daily Mirror 24 October 1924

The Tragedy of Gambling The Gambler Harry Walters The Fairy Mary Melvin Cards Gertrude Cole Penny Muriel Greel Dice Mildred Joy Dime Jeane Green Racing Florence Thorpe Dollar Mary Carney Roulette Jane Hurd Gold Coin Gene Spencer The Greed of Gold Gold Man Ledru Stiffler

"Gold Man", reproduced from Daily Mirror 24 October 1924

Silver Ballet
Misses Emery, Meehan, Norris, Parker, Case, V. Spencer, Martin, Arledge

The Lure of Gambling
Cecile D'Andrea and Harry Walters

Scene 13 - The Plaything of Wall Street

Intermission