Recent publications Books / Audio / Video
Marx, Groucho: The Groucho Letters
edited by Arthur Sheekman
Letters to and from Groucho. From Arthur Sheekman's daughter Sylvia Thompson I have the information that "he not only selected the letters, but edited their writing, enhancing it where necessary, and even writing a letter or two"
Marx, Arthur: My Life with Groucho
Expanded edition of "Life with Groucho" (1954). Chapters are added for the time after 1954. The text used for the first chapters is the rewritten version as in the British edition of 1954. The later chapters tell the story of Groucho's final years from Arthur's viewpoint.
Marx, Bill: Son of Harpo Speaks
From Bearmanor Media: "For many years, friends and family have asked me, 'Bill, why don't you write a book about your life? You must have had quite a childhood growing up with your dad, Harpo, and those zany uncles of yours, the Marx Brothers. And what about those weird, maybe fatalistic happenings you've experienced that can only be described as 'too-Hollywood-to-believe?'" - Bill Marx
Chandler, Charlotte: Hello, I Must be Going: Groucho and his Friends
'Charlotte Chandler' is the pen name of Lyn Erhard. "... the book would have been a better (and more truthful) story if Chandler had waited a few years to tell it (once she fell out of Erin's graces)" (teej)
Charney, Maurice: The Comic World of the Marx Brothers' Movies: Anything Further Father?
The publisher advertises this book as "filling an academic void", but others have been there before. The most part of the book is taken up by giving synopsis of the movies. The author is looking at 15(!) Marx Brothers movies by including "Copacabana" and "Double Dynamite". He claims to have not been able to get a copy of "A Girl in Every Port", which is easily available outside the US. There are a few factual errors and typos and a lot of facts are repeated and some seem irrelevant. In general the author doesn't seems to be really interested in the Marx Brothers and the book doesn't add anything to an academic look at their work.
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Folio Society (ed.): The Best of the Marx Brothers
This is a collection of previouly published material. It contains
excerpts from:
Harpo Speaks - About New York
Groucho Harpo Chico and Sometimes Zeppo
The Essential Groucho
The Groucho Phile
Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel
A Day at the Races
A Night at the Opera
Groucho and Me
The Groucho Letters
Harpo Speaks!
Keesey, Douglas: Marx Brothers
Movie Icons Series.
Apart from a short introductory note and a basic chronology and filmography, the main part of this book is a "Filmography in Pictures" with notes on the pictures and quotes from the movies or by people working on them. There are loads of film stills and promotional pictures, a few of which I cannot remember seeing anywhere else before.
Louvish, Simon: Coffee with Groucho
Foreword by Frank Ferrante
Mills, Joseph (ed.): A Century of the Marx Brothers
"Most scholarly work on the Marx Brothers has focused on biographical aspects of their careers and lives; "A Century of the Marx Brothers" suggests a myriad of other useful approaches to their film and stage productions. The collection's eleven essays examine the Marx Brothers' work from a number of critical perspectives ranging from reader-response theory to film semiotics. The contributors include international scholars in a variety of fields, such as literature, cultural studies, performance studies, and film history." (Publisher's information)
Articles include:
- Joseph Mills: "The Faces of Twentieth Century Comedy"
- Renata Jackson: "Who's Your Dada? The Marx Brothers at Paramount"
- Zoë Brigley: "The Big Grey Ir-Elefant: The Play of Language in the Marx Brothers' Scripts and Charles Bernstein's L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Poetry"
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Yahn, Michael A.: The Music of the Marx Brothers
A Bio-Discography of the Works of Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Gummo, and Zeppo Marx
" In the 1930s and 40s the Marx Brothers kept the world laughing in good times and bad with such screen classics as Animal Crackers, Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera. Comedy was always the driving force behind the Marx Brothers team on-screen. Off-screen they were three unique individuals who shared a love of music. Music from Marx Brothers’ plays and movies has been recorded by a variety of artists since the early 1920s, but it may surprise some to learn that the Marx Brothers, themselves, also left behind an impressive body of work on record." (Publisher's info)
Gale, Matthew (ed.): Dali & Film
Exhibition catalogue. Contains an article about Dali's script for the Marx Brothers and an article by Dali about Hollywood and Harpo in particular
Gehring, Wes D.: Film Clowns of the Depression: Twelve Defining Comic Performances
Examines 12 movies made between 1931 and 1939, including Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera (about 15 pages each)
Cohen, Jeffrey: Some Like It Hot-Buttered
From the author: "A man buys a movie theatre to show only comedies (he calls it Comedy Tonight), and in the first novel in the series (Some Like It Hot-Buttered), he professes his love for the Marx Brothers many times, quotes Groucho, and during a few chapters, shows Horse Feathers."
Mayer, Richard: Warhol's Jews: Ten Portraits Reconsidered
Catalogue for the exhibition at the Jewish Museum, NY (16 March - 3 Aug 2008). This series includes a portrait of the Marx Brothers.
Rudahl, Sharon: A Dangerous Woman
"The Graphic Biography of Emma Goldman"
In this comic book illustrating the life of anarchist and radical icon Emma Goldman, the panel signifying her first acquaintance with Marxism features three of the Marx Brothers quoting from "The Communist Manifesto"
Double Dynamite
Starring: Groucho Marx, Frank Sinatra, Jane Russell, et al.
- DVD, Region 1: Warner Home Video, 2008 / Click on flag to order from amazon:
"The Mikado" starring Groucho Marx (1960)
Soundtrack to Groucho's performance on NBC-TV's "Bell Telephone Hour" of Apr 29, 1960. Groucho stars as Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner. The original release included a 12-page libretto. The re-release LP was part of Columbia's Collector Series, but was mono and did not include the libretto.
Other performers include Robert Rounseville (Nanki-Poo), Babara Meister (Yum-Yum), Stanley Holloway (Pooh-Bah), Helen Traubel (Katisha) and Dennis King (The Mikado)
- DRG, 2007 / stereo / Click on flag to order from amazon:
Guest Starring Groucho Marx (2008)
excerpts from radio programmes
- Radio Library, 2008 / Click on flag to order from amazon:
- Radio Library, 2008 / MP3 Download / Click on flag to order from amazon:
Jansens Kino: Die Marx Brothers im Krieg (Duck Soup) /Die 42. Straße (42nd Street) (2008)
Radio-essays by German critic Peter W. Jansen
- Bertz + Fischer, Oct 2008, ISBN: 3 8650 5109 X / Click on flag to order from amazon:
Gabe Kaplan will perform his one-man show Groucho at the Broward Stage Door in Coral Springs, FL, previewing April 2-9 and running April 10-May 11. Call 954-344- 7765.
OnStage Playhouse community theatre in Chula Vista, presents Groucho: A Life In Revue from 9th of May until 7th of June, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8 pm, Sunday at 2 pm 
Frank Ferrante is touring with his show "An Evening with Groucho".
