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The Cocoanuts (1929)
In the Marx Brothers' first film:
- the numerous puns (Groucho
and the famous ice-water routine: "Oh, you want some [ice
water]. Get some onions, that'll make your eyes (ice) water" and "On
this site we're going to build an Eye and Ear Hospital. This is
going to be a sight for sore eyes") and one-liners ("Believe
me, you gotta get up early if you want to get out of bed")
- the many insults and attempts by corrupt real estate
salesman and leering Hotel de Cocoanut manager Mr. Hammer (Groucho
Marx) at courting wealthy widow Mrs. Potter (Margaret Dumont): ("Are
you sure your husband's dead?...Tonight, when the moon is sneaking
around the clouds, I'll be sneaking around you. I'll meet you tonight
under the moon. Oh, I can see you nowyou and the moon. You
wear a neck-tie so I'll know you" and "Your eyes, your
eyes, they shine like the pants of a blue serge suit. That's not
a reflection on youit's on the pants")
- the crazy 'swapping bedrooms' scene between two adjoining
or connecting hotel rooms
- the non-sequitur reenactment of Willard's famous "Spirit
Of 76" painting in the hotel lobby
- the famous tongue-twisting, precisely-timed "viaduct"/"Why
a Duck?" routine between con man guest Chico (Chico Marx) and
Hammer with a wet blueprint: (Hammer: "Now here is a little
peninsula and here is a viaduct leading over to the mainland."
Chico: "Why a duck?")
- the rigged Florida land auction scene led by Hammer:
("Ill wrestle any man here for five dollars!" and "You
can have any kind of a home you want to. You can even get stucco.
Oh, how you can get stucco"; and "A new boom sweeps clean" -
and his personal guarantee: "If these lots don't double in value
in a year, I don't know what you can do about it") during which
Chico did most of the bidding
- the "I Want My Shirt" scene after the brothers
had played tic-tac-toe on Detective Hennessey's (Basil Ruysdael)
undershirt
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Groucho (Mr. Hammer) with Wealthy Widow (Margaret Dumont)
Swapped Bedrooms Sequence
"Why a Duck?" Routine
Rigged Land Auction
"I Want My Shirt"
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