Episode 50: The Gods Look Down and Laugh (Our Animal Crackers Deep Dive featuring Heidi Gassel)
Not every Marx Brothers fan would name Animal Crackers when asked which film is their favorite, but as it happens, all three of your hosts would. And so would our especially special guest, Heidi Gassel. Animal Crackers is our favorite "by a mile," as Matthew puts it in the Annotated, because it seems to us the best available record of their work as performers. And that is why we say: Hooray, hooray, hooray!
Official description: "Our final plunge into the official Marx canon brings us to Animal Crackers and Bob’s favorite non-manicuring gal, Heidi, joins us for the ride.
"Your hosts have made no secret that this stands atop their ranking of Marx films, and here we go in-depth why…while also admitting it’s not really a good film at all. We discuss the differences with the original Broadway play, and compare the movie to their maiden film voyage, The Cocoanuts.
"We laud Animal Crackers' stellar writing, supporting cast, and even the sets, but have nary a good word for Art Garfunkel…or whatever his name is.
"So, if you can stand a couple of hours of us slobbering over this film, you’re in for a treat."
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Footnotes:
As mentioned in the episode, here are some photos from the Marxian wedding of Bob and Heidi Gassel:
And even some video of the happy event!
