As long as Amazon Prime will keep suggesting Marx Brothers movies to me, I will continue watching and reviewing them.  However, they are tricky to discuss from a Catholic perspective.  I brought this up when discussing Animal Crackers (1930).  There are no real morals to them, though that is not to say they are amoral.  There is barely any plot in them either, but this is something with which I am generally okay with since their brand of comedy makes up for any lack of sense.  Indeed, one could call what they do controlled nonsense, the films simply providing the framework on which to hang their jokes.  All of this is applicable to Horse Feathers (1932), which is little different from most of their work.  As with many of their titles, it says little about what happens in the story.  All the same, I thank God for their brand of humor, excepting of course when it gets a little too promiscuous.

For the most part, Horse Feathers is good, clean fun, though after Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff (Groucho Marx) is introduced as the new president of Huxley College, he learns that his son, Frank Wagstaff (Zeppo Marx), has been neglecting his studies to spend time with the “college widow.”  Do not worry.  I had to look it up, too.  This is Connie Bailey (Thelma Todd), and she has not had a husband die on her.  A college widow is a woman who lives near an institution of higher learning and dates young men as they matriculate through the university, never settling with any of them.  That is enough context on that subject.  Still, she is germane to the plot because she is in league with Jennings (David Landau), a gambler who is trying to fix the upcoming football game between Darwin and Huxley colleges.  Professor Wagstaff, seeing his school’s reputation suffer a string of defeats to Darwin, wants to buy some ringers to put on the team and finally gain a victory.  Frank tells his dad of a couple of well-known players that frequent a nearby speakeasy.  Unfortunately, Jennings beats Professor Wagstaff to them, recruiting them for Darwin.  Instead, Professor Wagstaff finds Baravelli (Chico Marx), who is an errand boy at the speakeasy, and Pinky (Harpo Marx), the local dog catcher.  If you are at all familiar with the Marx Brothers, you will know how ridiculous of a proposition it is for Professor Wagstaff to bring these two goofballs to Huxley to play football.  At the same time, Professor Wagstaff’s concern for Frank’s involvement with Connie grows . . . until he goes to her house to meet her.  There proceeds a scene where Frank, Professor Wagstaff, Baravelli, and Pinky all trade places, and sometimes sit together, with Connie on her couch, each trying to win her affections.  They do this while hoping to dodge Jennings, who is encouraging this behavior because he wants to get the Huxley team’s signals, thus giving Darwin yet another edge.  The Marx Brothers’ interactions with Connie also give them each an opportunity to show off their musical talents, which is a further staple of their films.  Not to be outdone by Jennings, Professor Wagstaff sends Baravelli and Pinky to kidnap the two Darwin players he had originally targeted.  Being the tall, strong athletes that the would-be kidnappers are decidedly not, they easily turn the tables and lock Baravelli and Pinky in their room before heading to the game.  Baravelli and Pinky escape by cutting a hole in the floor Looney Tunes style, and make their own way to the game.  The late comers get there in time for the second half of the game with the score 12-0 in favor of Darwin.  Inevitably, Baravelli and Pinky get into the match, and do a variety of comedic things.  Even Professor Wagstaff is pressed into service, continuing to smoke a cigar.  Huxley triumphs because a canine runs onto the field.  Pinky climbs into a horse-drawn garbage truck he rode to the stadium to chase the animal, and Baravelli and Professor Wagstaff jump on, too.  They take it across the goal line, and Pinky produces a number of footballs that he places in the end zone, each one counted as a touchdown.  The final scene is of Baravelli, Pinky, and Professor Wagstaff all getting married to Connie.

Of course, the implied polygamy at the end of Horse Feathers is not the most Catholic of endings, but again, this is meant to be a comedy.  Neither is the ungentlemanly behavior of the main characters, outside of Frank’s manners, displayed towards representatives of the opposite sex.  Recently, Pope Francis reiterated the Church’s teachings on sex.  To put it succinctly, the marital act is a good thing, emphasis on “marital.”  Baravelli, Pinky, and Professor Wagstaff all behave like horny teenagers.  Yes, it is played for laughs, and it does not make up the majority of the humor, but it is something that can sometimes stand out in a negative way, particularly to people today.  Another excuse you can give is that it was a different time, one when we saw these kinds of interactions as harmless.  To that I would point out the shocked expressions of either the victims, or the other people in the scene, as to the unsuitableness of such behavior.  Of course, sensibilities can change, and it might surprise you to know that the Church is more responsive to such things than you might realize.  At the same time, She does not lose Her identity as the bride of Christ.  Because the humor is so out of phase, not simply in its treatment of women but with modern audiences, I think this explains why there has not been a sort of Marx Brothers revival in recent years, or a biopic about their lives.  They are a fascinating family, even if they did not adhere to their Jewish roots.  I include that only as a matter of faith since Catholicism’s roots come from Judaism.  This is also getting off track from the movie, but the absence of any sort of religion is something to keep in mind while watching these movies.

As with many older films, and Horse Feathers is no exception, you take the good with the bad.  There is a little bit of bad in this movie as explained in the previous paragraph, but the good far outweighs it.  When I see a Marx Brothers movie that I think you should avoid (and I believe there is one out there), then I will let you know.  In the meantime, keep on watching them.