Horse Feathers

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Horse Feathers

1932,

1h 10m,

Comedy

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Watchlist

96%

28 Reviews

Tomatometer

86%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

28 Reviews

86%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

The Marx Brothers take on higher education and football in this riotous comedy. The newly minted president of Huxley University, Quincy Adams Wagstaff (Groucho Marx), is getting pressure from his son Frank (Zeppo Marx) to improve the football squad at the school. Frank thinks his father should recruit two professional ball players, so Huxley can finally defeat their gridiron rival, Darwin. But when Wagstaff hires the wrong guys, suddenly a pair of bootleggers are wreaking havoc as undergrads.

Critics Consensus

Horse Feathers finds the Marx Brothers in fine madcap form, taking aim at an array of timely targets while serving up classic set pieces.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Oct 18, 2008

The madcap Marxes, in one of their maddest screen frolics.

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Mordaunt Hall

New York Times

Jan 28, 2006

4/5

Some of the fun is even more reprehensible than the doings of these clowns in previous films, but there is no denying that their antics and their patter are helped along by originality and ready wit.

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Don Druker

Chicago Reader

Jan 1, 2000

This 1932 release was the first Marx film to take on the Depression, and the brothers manage to satirize everything from education to prostitution and bootlegging.

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Tom Hutchinson

Radio Times

Jul 31, 2024

5/5

A classic that is timeless and unmissable.

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Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Nov 17, 2023

5/5

Over 90 years later, Horse Feathers still holds up as one the greatest comedy movies of all time.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Nov 12, 2023

3.5/4

Somehow, the boys manage to incorporate a horse-drawn vehicle into a football game.

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Hagrid P

Jan 16, 2019

In its short run time, Horse Feather manages to bring out some of the Marx Brothers' most gut-busting moments and stands as one of their funniest outings.

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Abraham W

Jul 22, 2017

Horse Feathers is one of the Marx Brothers' best films, and that's really saying something. If anything, you'll probably experience laugh-exhaustion from the multiple witticisms per line. It's just so clever. Harpo and Chico are fun as they always are, but they're in the shadow of Groucho in this film. The script is gold. You can tell it was made for theatre, but the masterful direction perhaps makes the slapstick gags that would lend themselves nicely to the stage work even better on screen. The film shows its age in its lengthy musical numbers that may now bore more joke-thirsty audiences. It's not quite at Duck Soup's level, but it comes a close second for me. A wonderful comedy; entertaining from start to finish.

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Anakin S

Jan 23, 2017

Horse Feathers (1932) C-67m. ??? 1/2 D: Norman McLeod. Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo Marx. Fourth Marx film. Groucho is head of football university, Zeppo is his son; Chico and Harpo are hired as players, hilarity starts. Inspired lunacy with side-splitting football game finale.

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Hermione W

Oct 11, 2014

Humourous, short, random, silly. Great quick wit and dialogue. Joke after joke, pun after pun. Best kind of madness.

Leia R

Feb 3, 2009

If it's not broke, don't fix it. Groucho plays the guitar, Chico plays piano, and Harpo plays the harp. Zeppo was still an equal member of the family in 1932. And Thelma Todd handles them all quite admirably. This'll make you think about going to school again

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Norman Z. McLeod

Director

Groucho Marx

Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff

Harpo Marx

Pinky

Chico Marx

Baravelli

Zeppo Marx

Frank Wagstaff

Thelma Todd

Connie Bailey

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Synopsis

The Marx Brothers take on higher education and football in this riotous comedy. The newly minted president of Huxley University, Quincy Adams Wagstaff (Groucho Marx), is getting pressure from his son Frank (Zeppo Marx) to improve the football squad at the school. Frank thinks his father should recruit two professional ball players, so Huxley can finally defeat their gridiron rival, Darwin. But when Wagstaff hires the wrong guys, suddenly a pair of bootleggers are wreaking havoc as undergrads.

Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Screenwriter: Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, S.J. Perelman, Will B Johnstone
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 10, 1932, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 8, 2020
Runtime: 1h 10m

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