The Marx Brothers Go to School

Abstract

The conflict between progressive education reformers and comic vaudevillians can be observed with the Marx Brothers and their school act. The Marx Brothers, from their beginnings in the third-tier vaudeville circuit where they formed the core comedic trio of Chico, Harpo, and Groucho, will be explored through an evaluation of the ethnic, class, and comic social commentary in their various school acts. I bookend the vaudeville performances of the Marx Brothers beginning in 1910 with Fun In Hi Skule and ending with the 1932 film Horse Feathers (their final incarnation of the school act), examining the three central Marx Brothers, Chico, Harpo, and Groucho, collectively and individually, in order to trace the development of their unique interpretation of this vaudeville routine. ¹