Marx Brothers Go West

Despite not having a reputation as one of the better Marx Brothers films, I still found this to be a typical MB movie with crazy scenes and a few songs. No, it may not have been as funny as their better-known films of the 1930s, but I didn't think it much below them, either.

It's not as totally outrageous as the boys' earlier stuff but it also has fewer stupid stuff, too. Make no mistake: it has its share of genuinely funny material, both in dialog and in sight gags. The finale is a wild chase scene on a train that is very, very entertaining. That holds true for a wild stagecoach ride earlier in the picture. Once again, Chico comes up with the funniest lines.

I think this is a solid comedy and an underrated Marx Brothers film . If you like "the boys" in their more well-known films, don't pass this one by.

Go West is a solid effort, with its share of funny jokes. There's a good song, which isn't common in the Marx Brothers films, and both the piano and harp numbers are good. The movie slows down big time nearer the end, although some of the train sequence is surreal, especially when it runs into a house. 7/10.

The Marx Brothers' "Go West" is a vastly underrated gem. Admist a few comparatively disappointing later years Marx movies, it was certainly the strongest. I grew up on the Marx Brothers via my father (even though most of them were made before he was born as well), and ended up liking them so much I eventually bought every movie they made, and most of the documentaries, three single Groucho movies, two sets of 'You Bet Your Life' episodes, and even 'The Story of Mankind,' featuring the three primary brothers, though in small parts in separate segments...(Many books by and/or about them too.) In any case, I'm a huge fan. Even with all this, I admit that there are a handful of pretty weak Marx films. Love Happy was pretty awful on most levels, though little Harpo bits, and one or two Groucho lines give it its only very brief redemption. The Big Store was also pretty fairly terrible, with again, the only worthwhile notes being a few Groucho quips, and a few Harpo physical bits. Room Service and At The Circus as well suffered, as all their movies after the big MGM ones (Opera & races) did, due to the studios lack of interest and confidence in putting money and attention into the productions. Room Service and At the Circus both felt like they should've and could've been more, though each had a handful or more of perfectly enjoyable moments. And re-watching A Night in Casablanca (which at least a little more time and money was put into for what she really be considered their true final film, rather than the slapped together for quick cash 'Love Happy', which was originally a Harpo solo project), I've come to realize that Casablanca is stronger than I remembered, but still felt stale for much of it compared to their classics. So I suppose I better get the reason for this review-- So, in the middle of all these lesser like, later years fare, came Go West (in 1940). And I have to say, it has gotten an unfair rap from fans, critics and Groucho himself (though he was that way about much of their movies, sadly). I think, even with it's slapdash absurdity and overwrought gags, that it holds up better, and has better, more solid comedy than any of they other movies after A Day at the Races. In fact, and I know I'm essentially alone in saying this, but, I actually find it more entertaining than A Day at the Races (I think). There are some brilliant moments/lines for three brothers that felt more akin to there early madcap movies (the best ones), and I even enjoy the silly songs, and western pastiche elements, and the physical gags are stronger than the movies before and after as well. In any case, fans (and critics too) should give it another watch, and just let it try to entertain you, it really is a lot of fun, and hilarious.

I have a real soft spot for "Go West". It's a little less frantic, has a

mellow vibe and it's obvious they enjoyed making it. I liked the

songs and many of the sequences, particularly the "outfitter" and

also the train sequence which is such a metaphor for modern life

(they are in such a hurry to "get there" that they totally destroy and

burn the entire contents and structure of the train so when they

arrive at their destination there is nothing left but skeletal

wreckage). This alone is worth any other disappointments the film

may hold for you. I would say, don't skip over this one. And, to get

to the required 10 lines, I will say it again: don't skip over this one.

LOL

Patchy but still fairly enjoyable Marx Bros. vehicle. Their unique brand of comedy adapts reasonably well to the Western format though, at the end of the day, a lot more could have been done with this situation; the film suffers in comparison with their 'classic' stuff, but even more so when measured against other comics' brush with the genre – particularly two ambitious Buster Keaton masterworks, OUR HOSPITALITY (1923) and THE GENERAL (1927), and Laurel & Hardy's (more straightforward but) equally delightful and inspired WAY OUT WEST (1937)!

That said, a number of scenes here deliver the goods: the ticket-office sketch at the beginning, the stagecoach ride, the robbery of the safe and, of course, the climactic train 'wreck; on the debit side: the songs in this one are particularly negligible.

My verdict, therefore, is that GO WEST is a worthwhile comedy but a lesser Marx Bros. film.