The Marx Brothers

The Marx Brothers
Bibliography

Books and articles which mention the Marx Brothers in a larger context

(N.N.): Groucho Marx: Hard Times with Charlie
Chaplin and the Marxes in Vaudeville

(N.N.): Groucho Marx
- People Magazine, 01 Nov 1993

(N.N.): Fun Fare...a treasury of Reader's Digest wit and humor
with illustrations. Selected by the editors in collaboration with Bob Hope, Bennett Cerf, Groucho Marx, Don Herold, Ogden Nash and J.P. McEvoy. Includes three anecdotes about the Brothers.
- Reader's Digest Association, Inc, 1949

Adams, Franklin P. (ed.): The Conning Tower Book
Groucho has contributed to Adams "Conning Tower" column
- Macy-Masius, New York, NY, 1926

Adams, Franklin P. (ed.): The Second Conning Tower Book
- Macy-Masius, New York, NY, 1927

Bainbridge, John: Garbo
"... has the Garbo story" (Adamson)
- Doubleday & Co., Garden City, NY, 1955

Beach, Christopher: Class, Language, and American Film Comedy
Amazon description: "... focuses on how language, class, and social relationships in early sound comedies by the Marx Brothers, the screwball comedies of the 1930s [...], 1950s comedies [...] and contemporary films [...]. Beach argues that sound and narrative expanded the semiotic and ideological potential of a film, providing moments of genuine social critique and also mass entertainment."
- Cambridge Univ Press, 2001, ISBN: 0 521 00209 5 / Click on flag to order from amazon:

Bergman, Andrew: We're in the Money: Depression America and its Films
Chapter 3: "Some Arnarcho-Nihilistic Laff Riots" "The early Marx Bros. films fall within what Bergman refers to as 'anarchic comedy,' full of chaos, in which meaning and meaningless were fused." (andrease)
- New York University Press, New York, NY, 1971
- Harper & Row / Harper Torchbooks, New York, NY, 1972, ISBN: 0 06 131948 1 / 15th printing 1988
- Ivan R. Dee, 1992, ISBN: 0 929587 85 5 / Click on flag to order from amazon:

Bermel, Albert: Farce: A History from Aristophanes to Woody Allen
Abstract: "In a celebration of the expansiveness and inclusiveness of farce, this book describes the art form rather than defines it. [..] The book reviews a Hollywood-inspired resurgence of farce [..]. The book also discusses the works of such modern masters of farce as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, the Marx Brothers, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, and Monty Python."
- Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL, 1990, ISBN: 0 8093 1645 5

Cabrera Infante, G.: Holy Smoke
A history of cigars. "... he spends a full seven pages discussing Groucho's famous prop." (TFG)
- Harper & Row / has a picture of Groucho on the dustjacket

Cahn, William: The Laugh Makers
Minor references to the Marx Brothers
- G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, NY, 1957
- titled: "A Pictorial History of American Comedians", Grosset & Dunlap, New York, NY, 1970

Cavett, Dick; Porterfield, Christopher: Cavett
Chapter 7
- Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, NY / London, UK, 1974
- Bantam Books, New York, NY, 1975, ISBN: 0 553 02044 7

Culhane, Shamus: Talking Animals and Other People
Culhane was married to Maxine Marx (Chico's daughter). She and the Marx Brothers get mentioned in a few places.
- New York, NY, 1986
- Da Capo Press, New York, NY, 1998, ISBN: 0 306 80830 7 / Click on flag to order from amazon:

Doherty, Thomas: Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934
- University Presses of California, Columbia and Princeton, 1999, ISBN: 0 231 11094 4 / (hardback) / Click on flag to order from amazon:
- University Presses of California, Columbia and Princeton, 1999, ISBN: 0 231 11095 2 / (paperback) / Click on flag to order from amazon:

Edmonds, Andy: Hot Toddy: The True Story of Hollywood's Most Sensational Murder
Purports to "finger the killer" responsible for the 1935 murder of popular screen comedienne Thelma Todd; thoroughly researched, yet written more like a crime novel (including lots of speculative dialogue) than a scholarly work. Includes a complete list of Todd's films.
- William Morrow and Company, New York, NY, 1989

Esslin, Martin: The Theatre of the Absurd
This book deals with absurd theater in general. Some short references are made to the Marx Brothers
- Doubleday & Co., Garden City, NY, 1961, 1969
- Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, UK, 1962

Etkes, Asher B.; Stadtmauer, Saul: Jewish Contributions to the American Way of Life
- Northside Publishing, 1996, ISBN: 0 9644430 0 7
- Northside Publishing, 1996, ISBN: 0 9644430 1 5

Feldman, Ruth Duskin: Whatever Became of the Quiz Kids
there is a brief note about Chico's appearance in the show
- Chicago Review Press

Gallagher, Brian: Anything Goes: Jazz age adventures of Neysa McMein
Keywords: biography, jazz age, mcmein, neysa, Hollywood, Marx brothers, Irving Berlin, high society
- Times Books, New York, NY, 1987

Gilbert, Douglas: American Vaudeville. Its Life and Times
(reference in Arce: Groucho)
- McGraw-Hill / Whittlesey House, New York, NY, 1940
- 1963, ISBN: 0 486 20999 7 / Click on flag to order from amazon:

Grierson, John; Hardy, Forsyth (ed.): Grierson on Documentary
"The Logic of Comedy"
- Collins, 1946
- Faber & Faber, London, UK, 1947
- University of California Press, Los Angeles, 1966

Grote, David: THE END OF COMEDY: THE SIT-COM AND THE COMEDIC TRADITION
Drawing from sources as varied as Plautus, "Arsenic and Old Lace," the Marx Brothers, and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," as well as fifty sit-coms spanning thirty years, Grote examines what and where comedy has been, what it has become on network television, how it got there, and where it appears to be going.
- Archon Books, Hamden, CT, 1983

Hecht, Ben: A Child of the Century
"... impressions of Harpo" (Adamson)
- Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 1954

Highby, Mary Jane: Tune in Tomorrow
Subtitled: "How I found the right to happiness with Our Gal Sunday, Stella Dallas, John's Other Wife & other sudsy Radio Serials"
- Ace Publishing, New York, NY, 1966
- Cowles, New York, NY, 1968

Ingrams, Richard (ed.): I Once Met - Fifty Encounters with the famous
One page stories of people meeting the famous from Rachmaninoff to Winnie the Pooh. One story is about Harpo.
- Oldie Publications Ltd., London, UK, 1996, ISBN: 1 901170 02 0

Jenkins, Henry: What Made Pistachio Nuts? - Early Sound Comedy and the Vaudeville Aesthetic
The Marx Brothers belong to the most referenced in this book
- Columbia University Press, New York, NY, 1992, ISBN: 0 231 07855 2

Joe, Jeongwon; Theresa, Rose (Eds.): Between Opera and Cinema
Mentions "A Night at the Opera"
- Garland Publishing / Taylor & Francis, Inc., 2001, ISBN: 0 81533 450 8 / Click on flag to order from amazon:

Kanin, Garson: Hollywood, Stars and Starlets, Tycoons and Flesh-Peddlers, etc.
Stories from Kanin's time at MGM. Chapter 22 has a short anecdote about Groucho and Harry Ruby
- Viking, New York, NY, 1974

Kaufman, Stanley; Henstell, Bruce (eds.): American Film Criticism: From the Beginning to Citizen Kane
Articles by Seldes, Mosher, Bakshy, Levin, Fadiman (see there)
- Liveright, New York, NY, 1972
- Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 1979

Kelley, Kitty: His Way
"[In this book you will find] how Barbara conspired to snag Zeppo as a husband. Zeppo was the first man to come into her place of employment (Vegas showgirl) who had the right combination of money, fame and inclination toward picking up women like her. Since she had supposedly made plans to marry for money and glam, she borrowed jewels and fur coats and the like to wear in front of Zeppo, so that he would get the impression she was already wealthy (and didn't just want him for his money and glam). They were married ... and then she met Frank, who was exactly what she wanted to marry in the first place, and since he was available, she took advantage of the acquaintance with him to start dating him, and eventually to divorce Zeppo. Zeppo was, essentially, a stepping stone in her conquest of fame and fortune."

Kerr, Walter: Tragedy and Comedy
"The Clown Gives Scandal"
- Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 1967

Kerr, Walter: The Silent Clowns
- Da Capo Press, New York, NY, 1975

Knight, Arthur: The Liveliest Art: A Panoramic History of the Movies
- The Macmillan Company, New York, NY, 1957

Lambert, Constant: Music Ho! A Study of Music in Decline
This book about modern music offers a two-page analysis of surrealism and the Marx Brothers (Chesler)
- Faber & Faber, London, UK, 1937

Lansky, Jesse; Weldon, Don: I Blow My Own Horn
Reference for the request of the Brothers to destroy the copies of 'The Cocoanuts' (Adamson)
- Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 1957

Levant, Oscar: A Smattering of Ignorance
"Memoirs of a Mute" "Contains something about Harpo" (Gehring)
- Garden City Publishing Co., Garden City, NY, 1942

Levant, Oscar: The Memoirs of an Amnesiac
Contains something about Harpo (Adamson)
- G.P. Putman's Sons, New York, NY, 1965
- Samuel French Trade, 1989, ISBN: 0 573 60698 6 / Click on flag to order from amazon:

Levy, Newman: MY DOUBLE LIFE: Adventures in Law & Letters
An engaging memoir by this noted New York City trial lawyer and man of letters. Levy recounts many hilarious episodes of his life as a lawyer and his friendships with the likes of Benchley, Broun, Ferber and the Marx Brothers.
- New York, NY, 1958

Magill, Frank (ed.): Magill's Survey of Cinema: English Language Films (first series)
4 vols.
- Salem Press, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1980

Magill, Frank (ed.): Magill's Survey of Cinema: English Language Films (second series)
4 vols.
- Salem Press, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1981

Mast, Gerald: A Short History of the Movies
Chapter 11: "The American Studio Years: 1930-1945"
- 1971
- Bobbs-Merrill, New York, NY, 1973
- Bobbs-Merrill Educational Publishing Co., Indianapolis, IN, 1981

Mast, Gerald: The Comic Mind: Comedy and the Movies
Chapter 17: "The Clown Tradition"
- Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1973
- University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1979

Rainof, Alexandre: Ionesco and the Film of the Twenties and Thirties: From Groucho to Harpo
Keywords: French literature; 1900-1999; Ionesco, Eugene
- Lamont-Rossette-C.; Friedman-Melvin-J.; Peyre-Henri: "The Two Faces of Ionesco", Whitston, Troy, NY, 1978

Reaves, Wendy Wick: Celebrity Caricature In America
Publisher's description: "Mae West, George Gershwin, the Marx Brothers, Babe Ruth - these were just a few of the celebrities caricatured in popular American periodicals during the first half of the 20th century. This book presents hundreds of these rediscovered drawings and introduces a type of portraiture based on modern design and a preoccupation with personality-based fame."
- Yale University Press, 1998, ISBN: 0 573 60698 6 / Click on flag to order from amazon:

Rickman, Gregg: The Film Comedy Reader
Publisher's description: "From the early artistry of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, the madcap antics of the Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers to the satire of the 'Graduate' and the outrageous humour of the Farelly Brothers, the world of film comedy is explored by more than 30 screen critics."
- Limelight Editions, 2000, ISBN: 0 8791 0295 0 / Click on flag to order from amazon:

Robinson, David: The Great Funnies: A History of Film Comedy
Minor references to the Brothers
- E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, NY, 1969

Rosten, Leo: People I Have Loved, Known, or Admired
Keywords: Leo rosten/media bio biography Groucho Marx dr. Freud montaigne media-bio writer
- McGraw Hill, 1970

Sarris, Andrew: The American Cinema: Directors and Directions, 1929-1968
Biographies of people in the Movie Business. Has a short biography for the Marx Brothers
- U of Chicago Press, ISBN: 0 226 73500 1
- E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, NY, 1968
- Da Capo Press, New York, NY, 1996, ISBN: 0 306 80728 9

Seldes, Gilbert: The Movies Come from America
Chapter 5
- Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, NY, 1937

Server, Lee: Screenwriter Words Become Pictures
among many others, Nat Perrin and Irving Brecher were interviewed for this book
- The Main Street Press

Sherman, Allan: A Gift of Laughter
Has something about Harpo
- 1965
- "Harpo excerpt" in: Reader's Digest, Oct 1965

Simon, Jean-Paul: Le filmique et le comique
has a filmographie of the Marx Brothers
- (fran�ais) "�a cin�ma", �d. Albatros, Paris, France, 1979

Slide, Anthony: The Vaudevillians: A Dictionary of Vaudeville Performers
Collection of short biographical sketches of vaudeville performers.
- Arlington House

Staveacre, Tony: Slapstick: The illustrated story of knockabout comedy
The Marx Brothers are mentioned several times throughout the book
- Angus & Robertson, North Ryde, Australia, 1987, ISBN: 0 207 15493 7

Stein, Charles W.: American Vaudeville as seen by its Contemporaries
Capturing A Period In History And Entertainment, The Music Hall And Vaudeville Days
- Knopf, 1984
- 1985, ISBN: 0 306 80256 2 / Click on flag to order from amazon:

Tierny, Tom: Thirty from the 30's - Paperdolls for grownups - Costumes of the great stars
This book has paperdolls of 1930's actors.one sheet has the Marx Brothers in "A Day at the Races"
- Prentice Hall, 1974, ISBN: 0 13 918755 3

Tigges, Wim: An anatomy of literary Nonsense
He has the Marx Brothers as an example of nonsense in the tradition of Lewis Carroll
- Rodopi, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1988, ISBN: 90 5183 019 X

Vieira, Mark A.: Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood
About censorship and the Hayes office. It mentions a scene being cut from Horsefeathers where Harpo is romacing Thelma Todd.
- Harry N Abrams, 1999, ISBN: 0 8109 4475 8 / Click on flag to order from amazon:

Wagg, Stephen: Because I Tell a Joke or Two: Comedy, Politics and Social Difference
Amazon book description: "... explores the complex relationship between comedy and social difference. In provocative essays, the contributors consider issues of class, ethnicity, age, gender, and sexuality and reveal the ways comedy has been used to sustain, to challenge and to change power relationships in society. Spanning a wide range of genres, texts, and performers, from the Marx Brothers to Lea DeLaria, and from Ozzie and Harriet to Friends, ..."
- Routledge, 1998, ISBN: 0 415 12921 4 / Click on flag to order from amazon:
- Routledge, 1998, ISBN: 0 415 12920 6 / Library Binding

Wilk, Max: Wit & Wisdom of Hollywood
To quote the preface it's a "giant assortment of jokes, toasts, anecdotes, letters, footnotes and feuilletons".
- Atheneum, New York, NY, 1971

Wilk, Max: The Golden Age of Television
- 1976
- Delacorte Press, New York, NY, 1977

Wood, Ron: Ron Wood by Ron Wood: The Works
has a drawing of Groucho done by Wood, and a lengthy account of accompanying Elliot Gould to Groucho's house on Passover

Yacowar, Maurice: I found it at the Movies
has a few pages about the Marx Brothers
- Revisionist Press, New York, NY, 1977

Young, Jordan R.: Spike Jones and his City Slickers
The Marxes are mentioned in this book only a few times. Groucho and Harpo have appeared on Jones' show.
- Disharmony Press / Moonstone Press, Beverly Hills, CA

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