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Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Zeppo Marx, Thelma Todd ... see more see more... , David Landau , Florine McKinney , James Pierce , Reginald Barlow , E.H. Calvert , Robert Craig , Edward J. Le Saint , Marx Brothers , Nat Pendleton

If ever there was an archetypal Marx Brothers comedy, it was the team's 1932 offering Horse Feathers. Groucho Marx is cast as Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the newest president of Huxley College. A... read more read more...s he delivers his introductory speech before the assembled student body ("As I look out among your smiling, eager faces, I can readily understand why this college is flat on its back"), he maps out his plans for the future by singing those deathless hits Whatever It Is, I'm Against It and I Always Get My Man. He then has a powwow with his son Frank (Zeppo Marx), who has been a Huxley student for 12 years. Frank tells his old man that Huxley has had a new president every year since 1888, the year the college won its last football game. The only way to save the establishment is to hire a couple of good football players, Mullen and McHardie (Jim Pierce and Nat Pendleton), who hang out at the local speakeasy. With his usual efficiency, Professor Wagstaff signs up the wrong men for the Huxley team: Baravelli (Chico Marx), the ice man/bootlegger, and Pinky (Harpo Marx) the dog catcher. Meanwhile, gambler Jennings (David Landau), who has all his money bet on Darwin College in the upcoming Thanksgiving Day football game, instructs his girlfriend Connie Bailey (Thelma Todd), the college widow, to get her hands on Huxley's secret football signals. This leads to a frenetic four-way courtship in Connie's apartment, as Wagstaff, Baravelli, Pinky and Frank duck in and out of doors and windows to romance the heroine. Later on, Baravelli and Pinky try to kidnap Mullen and McHardie to keep them out of the Big Game, only to end up kidnapped themselves. Miraculously, all four of our heroes show up at the Huxley-Darwin game in time, achieving victory through some of the most creative cheating in gridiron history. Written by such renowned wits as S. J. Perelman, Will B. Johnstone, Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, Horse Feathers is a comedy smorgasbord, offering generous doses of all four Marx Brothers performing some of their best-ever material. Who could not love a film in which, just before Chico Marx launches into his obligatory piano solo, Groucho saunters up to the camera and growls "I've got to stay here, but that's no reason why you folks can't go into the lobby until this thing blows over"? In addition, this is the film that introduced the semi-satirical romantic ballad Everyone Says I Love You, which was used over six decades later as the title of a Woody Allen picture. Unfortunately, current prints of Horse Feathers are incomplete, with nearly five minutes of comedy material missing; the search goes on for a pristine, uncut negative. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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86% liked it

7,772 ratings

Critics

96% liked it

25 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 7 min.

Directed by: Norman McLeod, Norman Z. McLeod

Release Date: January 1, 1932

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DVD Release Date: October 10, 2000

Stats: 423 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (423)

  • ajv2688
    September 12, 2010
    ajv2688
    Incredibly funny! Although there are scenes that are a bit long or too silly, the ending in particular, the movie overall is fun and very very funny.
  • cancercapricorn2002
    May 13, 2010
    cancercapricorn2002
    This movie for me is the funniest of the Marx Brothers comedies. From the opening moments, when Groucho assumes control of Huxley College, and sings his new policy to the assembled professors, " Whatever it is, I'm against it", to the riotous football game at the end, this movie ... read moreis a total delight.

    Chico does one of his funniest Italian con man roles, with Harpo doing some of his most inspired silent clowning, communicating by showing his tattoos, acting out in mime routines what he thinks, and blowing his usual horn. One of the most hilarious scenes has Groucho dropping in on a class ,and taking over from the professor. His attempt to deliver a lecture on anatomy is interrupted by Chico and Harpo, assaulting him with bean-shooters. When Groucho discovers the old time circus acrobat poster hung up in front of the blackboard, and demands to know who the culprit is, Harpo tearfully confesses, after Groucho has asked Chico if it's his picture, and Chico responds," I don't think so, it doesn't look like me." There's a surprisingly bawdy undercurrent of humor involving college president Groucho and his son Zeppo, vying for the attentions of the " college widow", Thelma Todd. Her gangster husband walks in, and demands to know what the various men are doing there. Chico quickly improvises, and declares that he's the music teacher, there to give Thelma a lesson. The suspicious husband makes Groucho stay to listen to the alleged singing lesson, which includes some truly delightful interplay between Thelma and Chico.

    One of the most enjoyable aspects of the movie is the vintage Prohibition humor, involving speakeasies and bootlegging. Prohibition was still in effect when this movie was new, and there's a whole sequence set in the local speakeasy, with Chico taking phone orders for booze, and filling differently labeled bottles of whiskey with the exact same hooch. The classic password sequence, with Chico minding the peephole, and denying Groucho admittance, is Marx Brothers zaniness at its best.

    As for the climactic football game...well, you just have to see it.
  • garyX
    January 27, 2010
    garyX
    The brothers join a college football team to beat their bitter rivals in an important game but vampish Thelma Todd does all she can to spoil their chances. Following the formula of barely organized insanity and songs, Groucho supplies the wise cracks, Harpo and Chico the slapstic... read morek and Zeppo the dodgy acting and worse singing as per. Groucho's constant one liners are amusing but it misses his partnership with the absent Margaret DuMont and he even takes time out to side with the audience and mock the musical interludes. Harpo's slapstick is accordingly juvenile, but as is always the way with genuine comic geniuses, they manage to make even the weakest material funny. It barrels along with little thought to plot or logic and is really just a series of sketches, but it's an always pleasantly amusing snapshot into an era long gone; and the Marx Brothers are always guaranteed to make me howl at least a couple of times over the space of an hour!
  • arashxak
    December 3, 2009
    arashxak
    Some of the jokes fall flat but the whole thing is absolutely hilarious
  • SirPant
    November 10, 2009
    SirPant
    I've always felt the Marx Brothers one big problem is that they didn't have the right stooges or fall guys, it often let their big jokes down even though they were hilarious. This is my favourite Harpo Marx film, he's definitely at his best - as were the songs!
  • moonrivers
    February 5, 2009
    moonrivers
    in 1932 the world faced a grim future with imminent economic collapse, world war, global warming and the rise of socialism...and didn't make a lot of sense to a lot of people, feeing like the end of the world (hey...that sounds very familiar!). the answer to all that confusion: ... read morethe marx brothers.
    what was the point of it all?
    nothing.
    watch the demise of logical rationale in possibly it's truest form...
    and forget about global warming.
    it's forgotten about you.
  • fb1619601747
    January 2, 2012
    fb1619601747
    This is a pretty funny Marx Brothers movie. Maybe not as good as say, Duck Soup or A Night at the Opera, but still worthwhile. Harpo never gets old.
  • staindslaved
    July 16, 2011
    staindslaved
    I'll never understand why Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera get all the love when the funniest Marx Brothers film is unquestionably Horse Feathers. Every scene is full of side splitting lines from Groucho and the famous Swordfish sequence is one of their all-time greats. An un... read moreder-appreciated classic.
  • cacutshaw
    February 5, 2008
    cacutshaw
    Hilarious. I remember Sunday Morning Funnies playing on TV (when we didn't go to church, which was rare) and I always loved the Marx Brothers, especially this one (though Abott and Costello were my faves).
  • smootysveen
    June 1, 2007
    smootysveen
    I know this one came first, but it's basically Duck Soup on a college campus. Groucho is crowned, Chico and Harpo are brought into help, Zeppo sings a little bit, there's a climactic battle made up of several short skirmishes, and they end it by beating up on the woman they were ... read moreall after in the first place. But I guess plot is the reason we watch these movies is it?

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Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
October 18, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

The madcap Marxes, in one of their maddest screen frolics. Full Review

Mordaunt Hall
January 28, 2006
Mordaunt Hall, New York Times

Some of the fun is even more reprehensible than the doings of these clowns in previous films, but there is no denying that their antics and their patter are helped along by originality and ready wit. Full Review

Don Druker
January 1, 2000
Don Druker, Chicago Reader

This 1932 release was the first Marx film to take on the Depression, and the brothers manage to satirize everything from education to prostitution and bootlegging. Full Review

Randy White
January 2, 2011
Randy White, Common Sense Media

The Marx Brothers at their wacky best. Full Review

August 31, 2010
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The Marx Brothers bring their special brand of anarchy to the world of college football in this wonderfully madcap comedy. Full Review

Steve Crum
February 18, 2008
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com

Funny Marx Bros classic, featuring four brothers on a tear at college.

Phil Villarreal
October 29, 2006
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star

Under the loose but capable direction of Norman Z. McLeod, the Marxes leap from one lunatic set piece to the next. Wagstaff talks over, below and around everyone he meets. Full Review

David Nusair
February 28, 2006
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

...[there's an] overall feeling of pointlessness at work here. Full Review

February 9, 2006
Time Out

The Brothers have never been so chaotic or so aggressively funny. Full Review

Cole Smithey
December 12, 2005
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Witty, funny and great.

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Facts

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    • Prof. Ouincy Adams Wagstaff: What ever it is I'm against it.
    • Barovelli: You sing-a high.
    • Connie Bailey: Yes, I have a falsetto voice.
    • Barovelli: That's-a funny; my last pupil, she got-a false set-a teeth.
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Horse Feathers Trivia

  • From which Marx Brother's film does this quote come from: Hey diddle, diddle, the cat and the fiddle This a-time we go uppa da middle!  Answer »
  • In the Marx bros. movie "Horse Feathers", what is the password to get into the speakeasy?   Answer »
  • movie quotes "I think you've got something there, but I'll wait outside until you clean it up."  Answer »
  • Which Marx Brothers comedy featured the word "swordfish" as the password?  Answer »
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