Essay Questions

Why was the film poorly received upon its release?

1933 was not a particularly happy time in American history, and this was mirrored throughout the world. The Great Depression made it harder to laugh at politics; if people wanted to laugh they wanted something more slapstick and less political to make them do so. Many felt that laughing at dictators going to war over nothing in particular was too close to the truth and therefore not something that should be ridiculed. Mussolini, Hitler and France were all taking power in Europe, and their similarity to Firefly and Trentino was inescapable.

Many academics, a rising force in 1933, also felt that laughing at people being pelted with old fruit was beneath them; they preferred more thoughtful, ironic comedies to the Marx Brothers' formulaic slapstick.

Although poorly received at the time, the film is now considered the greatest of all Marx Brothers movies. What is behind this change of heart?

It is always easier to appreciate genius when looking at it through the rear view mirror. What seemed at the time to be an uncomfortable and overly-slapstick look at politicians, their eagerness to warmonger and their lack of moral fortitude is now seen as a witty and satirical allegory of politics and its duplicitous exponents. It is also easier to see each of the characters as a symbol of something in a political situation; Firefly, the inexperienced yet well-funded newcomer; Trentino the bribe-taking, avaricious warmonger; Mrs Teasdale, the donor-come-lobbyist - each of the players in the political scene is in evidence, yet the film is also a slapstick comedy. Now seen as both comedy and war movie, it appreciated far more when looking back at it out of context than it was looking at it at the time of its release.