Margaret dumont on the markx brothers5/31/2023 ![]() ![]() She knew exactly what she was doing and she played each part to perfection. Watch any on-screen exchange between Groucho and Margaret Dumont and tell me that she did not get the jokes. Variously, Groucho would attempt to romance Margaret Dumont’s characters for their money (they were frequently wealthy widows), and ignore her romantic advances to chase a younger blonde. Her characters were treated with equal amounts of tenderness and contempt. She was upstanding, proper, an embodiment of the establishment that their anarchic antics could clash with. Throughout the seven films that she made with the Brothers, her character changed as little as theirs did. Groucho later described Margaret Dumont as the fifth Marx Brother. When these plays became the first two Marx Brothers movies, Margaret Dumont was seen as essential in her roles. ![]() She gained a reputation in musicals on Broadway and was introduced to the Marx Brothers in 1925 as the perfect actress to play wealthy socialites Mrs Potter and Mrs Rittenhouse in their plays The Coconuts and Animal Crackers. Personally, I would have imagined her to be left some of her Husband’s fortune so assume that her return to the stage was either to keep herself occupied or to return to her first love. I do not know whether she did so out of necessity or desire. All was to come to an abrupt end when he died in the influenza epidemic of 1918. Her Husband was heir to a fortune in sugar and by all accounts life was pretty sweet. When she played the socialite so perfectly, it was largely due to the fact that she lived that life. She trained in the theatre and operatic arts, appearing on the stage many times before retiring upon her marriage in 1910. Margaret Dumont was born Daisy Baker in 1882. It suits the schtick for the public to believe that she was the genuine article, a woman truly unaware of the humour around her, but I believe that she was just a phenomenal actress. There was a misconception, fueled by Groucho himself, that Margaret Dumont did not get his jokes or the humour of the Marx Brothers. In all of this madness, nothing would be as funny without a straight-woman to act as both cause and reaction to those around her. Chico would be a faux Italian with all the associated lost-in-translation gags (see the Sanity Clause routine) and Harpo would be silent physical comedy accompanied by a horn and a harp. ![]() Groucho would play a figure in possession of some misplaced authority – a lawyer, a doctor, a teacher, a politician – though he was a wise-cracking buffoon. The Marx Brothers movies were ‘structured’ around the misadventures of Groucho, Chico, and Harpo. I couldn’t find a book about Margaret Dumont and that broke my heart a little. Immediately after recording the podcast, in which I said that I would have to write about Margaret Dumont, I hit up eBay and Amazon to order her biography. She was so much more than just a bit part player in Marx Brothers films… wasn’t she? I couldn’t bear to just mention her as a part of a podcast about Groucho. Why? Well, as soon as I mentioned her name I knew that a sidebar or a quick nod would not be enough. In the podcast, I discussed the Brothers AND the blondes who so often shared the screen with them but I barely mentioned Margaret Dumont. I love these films deeply and they are a constant source of joy in my life. The films of The Marx Brothers were a bit part of my childhood and were largely responsible for the development of my anarchic sense of humour, as well as my sense of style. You can listen to that episode on Spotify by clicking here (follow and you will never miss an episode). You can listen to that episode on iTunes by clicking here (please subscribe, rate, and review if you can). In the most recent episode of my new podcast, Fantasy Bakes, I imagined baking a Red Velvet Cake for Groucho Marx.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |