The Marx Brothers talkie debut was this stiff stage adaptation (they could have carted the sets right from the Lyric on 42nd over to Astoria, Queens) of their second B’way hit and they remain alarmingly funny & anarchistic in their only pre-Depression pic. Along with a nonsensical story about Florida land speculation & a stolen necklace, it’s fun to see the film come to something of a complete stop for the klutzy dance routines & forgotten Irving Berlin(!) tunes which preserve a lost era for us. Margaret Dumont & Basil Ruysdael (he’s the original singing detective) were retained from the stage cast of 1925 while Kay Francis (with the usual dropped 'R's and a flat flapper's chest) is wickedly good as the sexy thief. The lovebirds, Oscar Shaw & Mary Eaton, must be seen (and heard) to be believed.
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