(N.N.): Groucho Marx: Hard Times with Charlie
Chaplin and the Marxes in Vaudeville
(N.N.): Groucho Marx
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People Magazine, 01 Nov 1993
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(N.N.): Fun Fare...a treasury of Reader's Digest wit and humor
with illustrations. Selected by the editors in collaboration with Bob Hope, Bennett Cerf, Groucho Marx, Don Herold, Ogden Nash and J.P. McEvoy. Includes three anecdotes about the Brothers.
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Reader's Digest Association, Inc, 1949
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Adams, Franklin P. (ed.): The Conning Tower Book
Groucho has contributed to Adams "Conning Tower" column
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Macy-Masius, New York, NY, 1926
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Adams, Franklin P. (ed.): The Second Conning Tower Book
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Macy-Masius, New York, NY, 1927
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Bainbridge, John: Garbo
"... has the Garbo story" (Adamson)
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Doubleday & Co., Garden City, NY, 1955
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Beach, Christopher: Class, Language, and American Film Comedy
Amazon description: "... focuses on [...] language, class, and social relationships in early sound comedies by the Marx Brothers, the screwball comedies of the 1930s [...], 1950s comedies [...] and contemporary films [...]. Beach argues that sound and narrative expanded the semiotic and ideological potential of a film, providing moments of genuine social critique and also mass entertainment."
Bergman, Andrew: We're in the Money: Depression America and its Films
Chapter 3: "Some Arnarcho-Nihilistic Laff Riots" "The early Marx Bros. films fall within what Bergman refers to as 'anarchic comedy,' full of chaos, in which meaning and meaningless were fused." (andrease)
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New York University Press, New York, NY, 1971
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Bermel, Albert: Farce: A History from Aristophanes to Woody Allen
Abstract: "In a celebration of the expansiveness and inclusiveness of farce, this book describes the art form rather than defines it. [..] The book reviews a Hollywood-inspired resurgence of farce [..]. The book also discusses the works of such modern masters of farce as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, the Marx Brothers, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, and Monty Python."
Cabrera Infante, Guillermo : Holy Smoke
A history of cigars. Many editions have Groucho on the cover. "... he spends [some] pages discussing Groucho's famous prop." (TFG)
Cahn, William: The Laugh Makers
Minor references to the Marx Brothers
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G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, NY, 1957
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titled: "A Pictorial History of American Comedians", Grosset & Dunlap, New York, NY, 1970
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Cavett, Dick; Porterfield, Christopher: Cavett
Chapter 7
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Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, NY / London, UK, 1974
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Cipa, Matthew: Is Harpo Free? - And Other Questions of the Metaphysical Screen
The preface ("Prelude: Is Harpo Free? Four Ways") is about Harpo.
From the publisher: "'Is Harpo Free?' is a lively appreciation of film and television's ability to artistically explore concepts typical of philosophical metaphysics, such as free will, causality, and personal identity. [...] the book [...] celebrates the artistic ways in which they give life to various metaphysical concepts and how the artistic expression of these concepts and ideas helps us understand ourselves, the world, and our place within it. [...] Films and television programs discussed include 'A Night at the Opera'; 'Run, Lola, Run'; 'Shane'; 'Harvey'; 'Three Colours: Blue'; 'The Americans'; 'Dark'; and 'Fargo'."
Culhane, Shamus: Talking Animals and Other People
Culhane was married to Maxine Marx (Chico's daughter). She and the Marx Brothers get mentioned in a few places.
Cullen, Frank: Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America
Two volumes. Vol. 2 has a very detailed article about the Brothers' career in Vaudeville
DesRochers, Rick : The Comic Offense
from Vaudeville to Contemporary Comedy. "... examines how contemporary writer/performers are influenced by the comedic vaudevillians of the early 20th century ... " (publisher's website)
Doherty, Thomas: Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934
Edmonds, Andy: Hot Toddy: The True Story of Hollywood's Most Sensational Murder
Purports to "finger the killer" responsible for the 1935 murder of popular screen comedienne Thelma Todd; thoroughly researched, yet written more like a crime novel (including lots of speculative dialogue) than a scholarly work. Includes a complete list of Todd's films.
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William Morrow and Company, New York, NY, 1989
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Epstein, Lawrence J.: The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America
"Epstein (A Treasury of Jewish Anecdotes) has done yeoman work to make this enormous subject accessible. His saga includes nearly all the top-level Jewish-American comedians, from the Marx Brothers and Allen Sherman to Joan Rivers and Jerry Seinfeld." (Amazon/Publishers Weekly)
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Epstein, Lawrence J.: Mixed Nuts: America's Love Affair with Comedy Teams from Burns and Allen to Belushi and Aykroyd
"Organizing this work chronologically, Epstein (The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America) provides a lively history of entertainment from early vaudeville through radio, film and television. He's especially good at viewing humor through a sociological prism, showing, for example, how the cynicism of the early Marx Brothers needed to be reworked to accommodate a Depression-era mentality. With FDR's New Deal, Epstein explains, Groucho's character was made more likable. In fact, comedy teams were most popular during America's tough times, such as WWII, when Abbott and Costello delivered much-needed relief." (Amazon/Publishers Weekly)
Epstein, Lawrence J. : American Jewish Films: The Search for Identity
"This is a thematic survey of American films with significant Jewish content that made an important statement about America. Both familiar and lesser known films are included. An introduction discusses why American Jews were attracted to films as audiences, performers and business people, and evaluates how films help audiences think about their lives. The book then focuses on themes and representative and important films, placing them in their cultural contexts. One of the aspects of American Jewish life brought out by the films in general is the tensions between an American and a Jewish identity and between a Jewish identity and a broader human identity." (Publisher's website)
The book has a few pages about the Marx Brothers' movies.
Esslin, Martin: The Theatre of the Absurd
This book deals with absurd theater in general. Some short references are made to the Marx Brothers
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Doubleday & Co., Garden City, NY, 1961, 1969
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Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, UK, 1962
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Etkes, Asher B.; Stadtmauer, Saul: Jewish Contributions to the American Way of Life
Feldman, Ruth Duskin: Whatever Became of the Quiz Kids
there is a brief note about Chico's appearance in the show
Fox-Sheinwold, Patricia: Gone But Not Forgotten
tells what happened in later life to people who once were famous. One chapter is called "Julius 'Groucho' Marx and Brothers"
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Bell Pub. Co, New York, NY, 1981, Library of Congress: 81-067680
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Gallagher, Brian: Anything Goes: Jazz age adventures of Neysa McMein
Keywords: biography, jazz age, mcmein, neysa, Hollywood, Marx brothers, Irving Berlin, high society
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Times Books, New York, NY, 1987
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Gilbert, Ivan: My Brother Married Groucho Marx
well, his brother was briefly married to Melinda
Grierson, John; Hardy, Forsyth (ed.): Grierson on Documentary
"The Logic of Comedy"
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Faber & Faber, London, UK, 1947
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University of California Press, Los Angeles, 1966
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Grote, David: THE END OF COMEDY: THE SIT-COM AND THE COMEDIC TRADITION
Drawing from sources as varied as Plautus, "Arsenic and Old Lace," the Marx Brothers, and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," as well as fifty sit-coms spanning thirty years, Grote examines what and where comedy has been, what it has become on network television, how it got there, and where it appears to be going.
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Archon Books, Hamden, CT, 1983
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Hecht, Ben: A Child of the Century
"... impressions of Harpo" (Adamson)
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Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 1954
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Highby, Mary Jane: Tune in Tomorrow
Subtitled: "How I found the right to happiness with Our Gal Sunday, Stella Dallas, John's Other Wife & other sudsy Radio Serials"
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Ace Publishing, New York, NY, 1966
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Cowles, New York, NY, 1968
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Hoberman, J.; Shandler, Jeffrey: Entertaining America: Jews, Movies, and Broadcasting
Catalogue for the exhibition at The Jewish Museum in New York
(Feb - Sep 2003)
Horton, Andrew: Laughing Out Loud: Writing the Comedy-Centered Screenplay
The Marx Brothers and their movies are mentioned a few times throughout this book. There is also a three page bit headed "Vaudeville and the Marx Brothers"
Horton, Andrew ; Rapf, Joanna E.: A Companion to Film Comedy
Collection of 24 essays exploring film comedy from the silent era to the present
Ingrams, Richard (ed.): I Once Met - Fifty Encounters with the famous
One page stories of people meeting the famous from Rachmaninoff to Winnie the Pooh. One story is about Harpo.
Jenkins, Henry: What Made Pistachio Nuts? - Early Sound Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic
The Marx Brothers belong to the most referenced in this book
Joe, Jeongwon; Theresa, Rose (Eds.): Between Opera and Cinema
Mentions "A Night at the Opera"
Kanin, Garson: Hollywood, Stars and Starlets, Tycoons and Flesh-Peddlers, etc.
Stories from Kanin's time at MGM. Chapter 22 has a short anecdote about Groucho and Harry Ruby
Kaufman, Stanley; Henstell, Bruce (eds.): American Film Criticism: From the Beginning to Citizen Kane
Articles by Seldes, Mosher, Bakshy, Levin, Fadiman (see there)
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Liveright, New York, NY, 1972
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Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 1979
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Kelley, Kitty: His Way
"[In this book you will find] how Barbara conspired to snag Zeppo as a husband. Zeppo was the first man to come into her place of employment (Vegas showgirl) who had the right combination of money, fame and inclination toward picking up women like her. Since she had supposedly made plans to marry for money and glam, she borrowed jewels and fur coats and the like to wear in front of Zeppo, so that he would get the impression she was already wealthy (and didn't just want him for his money and glam). They were married ... and then she met Frank, who was exactly what she wanted to marry in the first place, and since he was available, she took advantage of the acquaintance with him to start dating him, and eventually to divorce Zeppo. Zeppo was, essentially, a stepping stone in her conquest of fame and fortune."
Kerr, Walter: Tragedy and Comedy
"The Clown Gives Scandal"
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Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 1967
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Kerr, Walter: The Silent Clowns
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Da Capo Press, New York, NY, 1975
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Keyser, Gawie: Kijken maakt gelukkig
Knight, Arthur: The Liveliest Art: A Panoramic History of the Movies
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The Macmillan Company, New York, NY, 1957
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Krutnik, Frank: Hollywood Comedians: The Film Reader
Anthology of film theory texts. Contains extracts from Mark Winokur's "American Laughter: Immigrants, Ethnicity and 1930s Hollywood Film Comedy" and Henry Jenkins' "'Fifi Was My Mother's Name': Diplomaniacs, Anarchistic Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic"
Lambert, Constant: Music Ho! A Study of Music in Decline
This book about modern music offers a two-page analysis of surrealism and the Marx Brothers (Chesler)
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Faber & Faber, London, UK, 1937
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Lansky, Jesse; Weldon, Don: I Blow My Own Horn
Reference for the request of the Brothers to destroy the copies of 'The Cocoanuts' (Adamson)
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Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 1957
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Levant, Oscar: A Smattering of Ignorance
"Memoirs of a Mute" "Contains something about Harpo" (Gehring)
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Garden City Publishing Co., Garden City, NY, 1942
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Levant, Oscar: The Memoirs of an Amnesiac
Contains something about Harpo (Adamson)
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G.P. Putman's Sons, New York, NY, 1965
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Levy, Newman: MY DOUBLE LIFE: Adventures in Law & Letters
An engaging memoir by this noted New York City trial lawyer and man of letters. Levy recounts many hilarious episodes of his life as a lawyer and his friendships with the likes of Benchley, Broun, Ferber and the Marx Brothers.
MacGillivray, Scott and Jan: Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven
This book about the child star Gloria Jean has a full chapter devoted to the production of Groucho's "Copacabana," and there also is an account of Gloria's opening night in London in 1947, on the same stage bill with Chico.
Magill, Frank (ed.): Magill's Survey of Cinema: English Language Films (first series)
4 vols.
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Salem Press, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1980
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Magill, Frank (ed.): Magill's Survey of Cinema: English Language Films (second series)
4 vols.
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Salem Press, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1981
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Mast, Gerald: A Short History of the Movies
Chapter 11: "The American Studio Years: 1930-1945"
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Bobbs-Merrill, New York, NY, 1973
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Bobbs-Merrill Educational Publishing Co., Indianapolis, IN, 1981
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Mast, Gerald: The Comic Mind: Comedy and the Movies
Chapter 17: "The Clown Tradition"
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Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1973
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University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1979
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McConnell, Robert: A Theory of Comedy: Comparisons between British and American Comedy in the Broadcast Media
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Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Western Speech Communication Association (Fresno, CA, February 16-19, 1985), 1985
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Misch, David: Funny: The Book
From the publisher's website: "[A] look at the art of comedy, from its historical roots to the latest scientific findings, with diversions into the worlds of movies (Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers), television (The Office), prose (Woody Allen, Robert Benchley), theater (The Front Page), jokes and stand-up comedy (Richard Pryor, Steve Martin), as well as personal reminiscences from the author's experiences on such TV programs as Mork and Mindy."
Moger, Art: Hello! My real name is ...
A collection of celebs and their real names. Keywords: cine George burns Marx brothers Crawford Joan rivers redd foxx Jane darwell Mary wickes mel broks john denver
Mongin, Olivier: Eclats de Rire: Variations Sur Le Corps Comique
Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Jacques Tati, Les Marx Brothers, Laurel Et Hardy, Jerry Lewis
New Yorker Magazine (Introduction by David Remnick): The Complete New Yorker: Eighty Years of the Nation's Greatest Magazine
The Marxes were often featured in this magazine
Rainof, Alexandre: Ionesco and the Film of the Twenties and Thirties: From Groucho to Harpo
Keywords: French literature; 1900-1999; Ionesco, Eugene
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Lamont-Rossette-C.; Friedman-Melvin-J.; Peyre-Henri: "The Two Faces of Ionesco", Whitston, Troy, NY, 1978
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Reaves, Wendy Wick: Celebrity Caricature In America
Publisher's description: "Mae West, George Gershwin, the Marx Brothers, Babe Ruth - these were just a few of the celebrities caricatured in popular American periodicals during the first half of the 20th century. This book presents hundreds of these rediscovered drawings and introduces a type of portraiture based on modern design and a preoccupation with personality-based fame."
Rickman, Gregg: The Film Comedy Reader
Publisher's description: "From the early artistry of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, the madcap antics of the Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers to the satire of the 'Graduate' and the outrageous humour of the Farelly Brothers, the world of film comedy is explored by more than 30 screen critics."
Robinson, David: The Great Funnies: A History of Film Comedy
Minor references to the Brothers
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E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, NY, 1969
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Rosten, Leo: People I Have Loved, Known, or Admired
Keywords: Leo rosten/media bio biography Groucho Marx dr. Freud montaigne media-bio writer
Sarris, Andrew: The American Cinema: Directors and Directions, 1929-1968
Biographies of people in the Movie Business. Has a short biography for the Marx Brothers
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E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, NY, 1968
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Sarris, Andrew: "You ain't heard nothin' yet": the American talking film, history and memory, 1927-1949
The Marx Brothers appear in chapter four: "Actors and Actresses"
Seldes, Gilbert: The Movies Come from America
Chapter 5
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Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY, 1937
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Server, Lee: Screenwriter Words Become Pictures
among many others, Nat Perrin and Irving Brecher were interviewed for this book
Sherman, Allan: A Gift of Laughter
Has something about Harpo
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"Harpo excerpt" in: Reader's Digest, Oct 1965
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Simon, Jean-Paul: Le filmique et le comique
has a filmographie of the Marx Brothers
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(français)
"Ça cinéma", Éd. Albatros, Paris, France, 1979
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Sinatra, Barbara: Lady Blue Eyes: My Life with Frank
Biography of Zeppo's second wife who went on to marry Frank Sinatra
Slide, Anthony: The Vaudevillians: A Dictionary of Vaudeville Performers
Collection of short biographical sketches of vaudeville performers.
Staveacre, Tony: Slapstick: The illustrated story of knockabout comedy
The Marx Brothers are mentioned several times throughout the book
Stein, Charles W.: American Vaudeville as seen by its Contemporaries
This is a collection of articles about Vaudeville. The book contains excerpts from "Groucho and Me" and "Harpo Speaks!". None of the other articles mention the Marx Brothers
Tierny, Tom: Thirty from the 30's - Paperdolls for grownups - Costumes of the great stars
This book has paperdolls of 1930's actors.one sheet has the Marx Brothers in "A Day at the Races"
Tigges, Wim: An anatomy of literary Nonsense
He has the Marx Brothers as an example of nonsense in the tradition of Lewis Carroll
Trahair, Lisa: The Comedy of Philosophy: Sense and Nonsense in Early Cinematic Slapstick
Trav S. D.: No Applause - Just Throw Money
"Writer and modern-day vaudevillian Trav S.D. chronicles vaudeville's far-reaching impact in No Applause--Just Throw Money. He explores the many ways in which vaudeville's story is the story of show business in America and documents the rich history and cultural legacy of our country's only purely indigenous theatrical form, including its influence on everything from USO shows to Ed Sullivan to The Muppet Show and The Gong Show." (from the publisher's website)
Vieira, Mark A.: Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood
About censorship and the Hayes office. It mentions a scene being cut from Horsefeathers, where Harpo is romancing Thelma Todd.
Wagg, Stephen: Because I Tell a Joke or Two: Comedy, Politics and Social Difference
Amazon book description: "... explores the complex relationship between comedy and social difference. In provocative essays, the contributors consider issues of class, ethnicity, age, gender, and sexuality and reveal the ways comedy has been used to sustain, to challenge and to change power relationships in society. Spanning a wide range of genres, texts, and performers, from the Marx Brothers to Lea DeLaria, and from Ozzie and Harriet to Friends, ..."
Wilk, Max: Wit & Wisdom of Hollywood
To quote the preface it's a "giant assortment of jokes, toasts, anecdotes, letters, footnotes and feuilletons".
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Atheneum, New York, NY, 1971
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Wilk, Max: The Golden Age of Television
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Delacorte Press, New York, NY, 1977
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Wood, Ron: Ron Wood by Ron Wood: The Works
has a drawing of Groucho done by Wood, and a lengthy account of accompanying Elliot Gould to Groucho's house on Passover
Young, Jordan R.: Spike Jones and his City Slickers
The Marxes are mentioned in this book only a few times. Groucho and Harpo have appeared on Jones' show.
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Disharmony Press / Moonstone Press, Beverly Hills, CA
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Young, Jordan R.: Biography and Solo Performance
Recreating Famous Lives On Stage
about Frank Ferrante as Groucho and Tovah Feldshuh as Golda Meir
Young, William H.; Young, Nancy K.: The 1930s
American Popular Culture through History series
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