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'Cocoanuts' production in 1927 later becomes a movie
By Mark J. Price
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Monday, Oct 27, 2008
Sold-out crowds struggled to catch their breath when four crazed comedians staged a madcap musical at Goodyear Theater in 1927.
The Marx Brothers — Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo — headlined a national touring production of The Cocoanuts, which had recently concluded its run on Broadway after 377 performances. Written by George S. Kaufman, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, the show was an outlandish satire of the Florida land boom of the Roaring Twenties.
The Marxes, who ranged in age from 26 to 40, arrived at Akron's Union Depot with a cast of 100, an orchestra of 25 and ''positively three solid carloads of scenic splendor.'' Although the New York boys had performed in vaudeville for 20 years, they had yet to make the transition to motion pictures and were still honing their trademark characters.
Opening night in Akron was Halloween. The three-day engagement, Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, featured evening shows Monday through Wednesday, plus an afternoon matinee on the closing day. Tickets cost 75 cents to $3.85.
''There may be funnier shows than the Marx Brothers' Cocoanuts playing at the Goodyear, but I have certainly failed to see them,'' Akron Times-Press critic Evan Williams Jr. gushed Nov. 1, 1927. ''In fact, I doubt if there could be anything funnier on the stage. The audience was in continual uproar Monday night and one could hear chuckles as the cash customers were leaving to go home.''
In the role of a Florida hotel manager, Groucho made wisecracks as he prowled the stage in a long-tailed suit. He wore horn-rimmed glasses and a greasepaint mustache, walked with an exaggerated stoop and carried a big cigar.
''You are now in Cocoanut Manor,'' Groucho told the audience. ''One of the finest cities in Florida. Of course, we still need a few finishing touches, but who doesn't? This is the heart of the residential district. Every lot is a stone's throw from the station. The only reason we haven't got a station is because we haven't got any stones.
''Eight hundred beautiful residences will be built right here. They are as good as up. Better. You can have any kind of house you want to. You can even get stucco. Oh, how you can get stucco. Now is the time to buy while the new boom is on. Remember, a new boom sweeps clean, and don't forget the guarantee. If these lots don't double themselves in a year, I don't know what you can do about it.''
The high-minded Williams almost felt guilty for chuckling.
''I have always thought of a pun as the lowest form of humor,'' he confided to readers. ''Strange enough, most of Groucho Marx's best laughs come from puns — some of them pretty terrible but put over in a laugh-provoking way. And I found myself laughing with the rest.''
Beacon Journal critic Edward Gloss bestowed high praise on the impish Harpo Marx, who played a mute vagabond in a red wig and oversize clothes. The harp-playing comic communicated solely through gestures, whistles and honks on a horn.
''Harpo Marx has perfected pantomime, perhaps the most difficult medium of mirth provoking,'' Gloss wrote Nov. 1, 1927. ''Although he occupies the stage as much of the time as any of his brothers, he makes no use of his voice. His ability to purloin articles of more or less value from other players is a great aid to his portion of the job in keeping everybody happy.''
Keeping composure
A hotel clerk in the show, Zeppo Marx served mostly as straight man. He maintained his composure while his brothers gyrated wildly around him.
''Zeppo has a role that calls chiefly for assistance to the other three, but he is probably invaluable in this,'' Gloss wrote.
Actually, the youngest Marx was destined to quit the act in a few years to join older brother Gummo in a talent agency. Actress Margaret Dumont, who played a hoity-toity character on the tour, would remain a great foil for the comedy team.
Portraying a drifter in The Cocoanuts, Chico Marx wore a pointed hat, played the piano and spoke in an Italian accent. Many of the show's jokes were generated by confusion over language.
Staying alert
In fact, the most famous line from The Cocoanuts wasn't in the script. The Marx Brothers were famous for improvising dialogue to get bigger laughs, so cast mates had to stay on their toes because the lines might change from city to city.
Somewhere along the national tour, the brothers ad-libbed a classic exchange.
Groucho: ''And here is the viaduct leading over to the mainland.''
Chico: ''Why a duck? Why-a no chicken?
In Akron, we'd like to think that the North Hill Viaduct somehow inspired the line. The giant, concrete bridge — only 5 years old in 1927 — was a major landmark. Plus, drivers sometimes felt like they were playing chicken when they traveled across.
The curtain fell Nov. 2 on The Cocoanuts, ''the funniest musical revue ever to play Akron,'' according to the Akron-Times Press.
Local audiences enjoyed their sneak preview of comic genius. In two years, they would experience deja vu as the show returned — on the big screen at Akron's Colonial Theater.
In 1929, Paramount Pictures adapted the stage show as the Marx Brothers' first feature-length movie.
One of the first musicals adapted for talking pictures, it arrived only a few months before the Wall Street crash triggered the Great Depression.
National moviegoers howled and screamed with laughter just like Akron theatergoers. The Marx Brothers were on their way to becoming comic legends in Hollywood.
Why a duck?
Why not.
Mark J. Price is a Beacon Journal copy editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or send e-mail to mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.
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Comments
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Posted 03:50 AM, 10/27/2008
(Paul) More great memories from Mark. I would love to have seen the Marx brothers live. Born in the early forties I did get to see Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and Abbot n Costello (soap box derby) and best of all The Three Stooges at the Palace theater. My dad took me to see 'A Night at the Opera' when the Falls State theater first opened and left me with a great movie memory. I took my son to the Civic theater to see Marx bros. movies and he enjoyed them as I did. We own them all on DVD. I do remember when "Love Happy" came out around 1949, Raymond Burr had a bit part as a thug. There was nothing like sitting and laughing with an audience and watching them on the big screen. It must have been really something to watch them live.
Posted 10:20 AM, 10/27/2008
Mark Price, More good articles from the past. Keep them coming...
Tom Halfhill
