Forum - Where is everybody?

Posts: 19
From:Bella Coola, BC, Canada
Registered: May 00

BOB SAGET! Yeah! I was flipping through the channels when it came to a "Funniest Home Videos" rerun(which Bob used to host), when it came to me in a flash(it would have come to me in a dream, but a flash was cheaper)! This man is a veteran of television, is used to performing comedy(although the legacy of Groucho demands MUCH better writers), has kept himself pretty fit, easily resembles Groucho(both in and out of costume), and is just about, all around one of THE best choices that I could think of to commemorate Groucho.

Yeah, I did catch Frank Ferrante once before, but his style is too much impersonation to carry over onto the silver screen. That's why they chose Robert Downey Jr. as Chaplin instead of a well-known imitator.

I still think Paul Reubens(I think that's his name), probably better remembered as "Pee-Wee Herman", would be an excellent choice for Harpo(and if the stigma surrounding his theatre house shenanigans has worn off and allowed him success once again, then Bob's can surely be forgiven for hosting a mediocre TV show).

If any new project involving the Marxes is to be done, it had better be done with a lot of heart and respect for what went before! I finally saw "Brain Donors"; not bad, some good lines in there, but I should have been prepared for some letdowns when, barely five minutes into the film, the Harpo character spoke! And pointless speech it was, too! It seems like it was just done to separate him from Harpo's original character and nothing else. And Margaret Dumont's character! I've always thought of her as a very beautiful and regal lady, but here they cast her as a withering old biddy with a lot of money; I KNOW this isn't a Marx Brothers film, but something this close to itself shouldn't make fun of itself from within(...y'know, I almost understood that).

I know that it's kind of pointless to hope for a revival of the Marx Brothers on the big screen, but the way I see it is that if they can hire different actors to play James Bond, then they can hire different actors to play the Marx Brothers. Circumstances differ, of course, and I realise the Marx Brothers' stage personas were direct outgrowths of the Marx Brothers personalities instead of fictional characters, but a great character like James Bond or Mickey Mouse or Groucho Marx doesn't have to die simply because the person originally portraying them is gone.

One can hope, can't he?

OH! And I got a wonderful idea as to who can play Mrs.Dumont! It had me stumped for a little while, but I finally hit the nail on the hammer when I saw "Mrs.Doubtfire"; Yeah! Robin Williams could pull that off quite easily, his "Mrs.Doubtfire" character is almost a carbon fascimile of ANY character that Margaret Dumont played! That'd be fun, I think! They'd just have to make her a little bit younger, that's all.

[This message has been edited by srtallio (edited 20 June 2001).]