Chico Marx : About Chico

About Chico

Here's a quote from Stefan Kanfer's excellent "The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx" :

"Leonard provided a brightly hued illustration of Freud's observation "A man who has been the indisputable favorite of his mother keeps for life the feeling of a conqueror, that confidence of success that often induces real success."
Leonard was barely five feet six in shoes, and not markedly handsome or expensively dressed. Yet his palpable self-assurance, his air of irresistibility to women, made him a prime seducer, totally impervious to rejection. In show business, too, he never doubted himself, and he conveyed that feeling upward to theater managers, sideways to his brothers, and downward to disbelievers."

One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I'll never know.

Re: About Chico

Kanfer must've gotten straight A's in school.

The one point I've gotta disagree with is "not markedly handsome." I think Chico was pretty darn cute. Of course, that's my own personal preference. Maybe Stefan goes for different kinds of guys.

"And now, I'm going back in the closet...where men are empty overcoats..."

Re: About Chico

Well, Chico is hardly the kind of tall, rugged, handsome type but he's still a very good lookin guy. It's all in the confidence...and that smirk.

But yes, the "confidence of success" I can understand. He was never given the best lines, but he always seemed so sure of himself that he could pull anything off.

Re: About Chico


He was never given the best lines, but he always seemed so sure of himself that he could pull anything off.
In a new script he *counted* the lines the writers gave him without actually reading them, if he had the same amount as Groucho it was alright. So he didn't worry about getting great lines, his off screen activities were much more important during the shooting of a movie. When filming in California, Chico would still quit when the time was 5 o'clock in New York. :))

But he was the real leader of the team as a whole, Chico was responsible for the jump from Broadway to movies, Groucho initially didn't want to take the chance.

One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I'll never know.

Re: About Chico


Chico was responsible for the jump from Broadway to movies, Groucho initially didn't want to take the chance.
LOL, didn't he change his mind pretty quickly after having dinner served on gold plates at Charlie Chaplin's house?

"And now, I'm going back in the closet...where men are empty overcoats..."

Re: About Chico

Could be, it would convince me too. There are so many great anecdotes.

By the way Baravelli the hot lady and completely OT: that Groucho line you're using as signature, the "going back in the closet" thing might be taken the wrong way by people who have never seen Monkey Business... don't you think? Not that there's anything wrong with it.

One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I'll never know.

Re: About Chico

I'm sure Baravelli doesn't care what people who haven't seen Monkey Business think.

Re: About Chico

LOL, never thought of it that way. But MarxBrosFan, having an elephant in your pajamas, my closet should be the least of your worries!

"And now, I'm going back in the closet...where men are empty overcoats..."

Re: About Chico

You could think of an elephant like that... especially with the "one morning" part! But you've got to have a dirty mind for that... And like Groucho I abhor vulgarity ;) And understatements... Damn, we started out so nicely with a quote from a book, and look where we are now!

One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I'll never know.

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Re: About Chico

Try Harpo's "Harpo Speaks!". One of the best and most fun to read of all.

One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I'll never know.

Re: About Chico

I quite enjoyed a book called The Groucho Letters. It's a book of ... I guess it's pretty obvious what it is.

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Re: About Chico

Or my favorites: "Aw you no fool me...there's ain't-a no Sanity Clause."
"I no tink so, it no look like me."
"If we don't practice, we don't play; and if we don't play, that runs into money."

Actually, Good Chico lines are almost too numerous to list. I can't say the same thing about Harpo, though.

Re: About Chico

LOL I love it when Chico said "I no tink so, it no look like me". With Chico, I think it's the way he expresses himself, rather than what he says. It's his attitude.

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Re: About Chico

LOL, I think you nailed Chico pretty well.
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