The Marx Brothers as Social Critics: Satire and Comic Nihilism in Their Films »

Martin A. Gardner has worked in advertising and as a writer for The Village Voice, House Beautiful, and Art Business News, among other periodicals. He lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.

The Marx Brothers' films are packed with slapstick and obvious jokes, gags, puns, pratfalls, and mimicry. But beneath the laughs is a serious and biting condemnation of American culture. This book examines historical events, political practices, economic conditions, manners and customs, literary subjects, and popular entertainment as satirized in the films and considers the ways in which the films were relevant in their era and remain so today.

Preface 1

1 An Indifferent World 5

2 Triumphs, Tryouts, and Turkeys: The Film Career 15

3 The Writers 27

4 You Can Get Stucco 40

5 Is It Swordfish? 54

6 The Seven-Cent Nickel 63

7 A Job in the Mint 72

8 A Standing Army 80

9 Dear Old Ivy 89

10 A Coed with Two Pair of Pants 97

11 The Whole Wig 102

12 It's Tough on My Suspenders 113

13 Three Hardboiled Eggs 119

14 Ice Water in 318 127

15 The Main Hungerdunger 136

16 Grand Slam 145

17 A Very Strange Interlude 152

18 A Brace of Woodpeckers 164

19 Upside Down 171

20 Whim Wham 174

App Credits of the Films Discussed 185

Chapter Notes 189

Bibliography 199

Index 209