![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Dreamt I was watching a late Marx Brothers movie called Harum Scarum. The plot —something to do with forged or stolen pearls—seemed more disjointed than usual, with some characters popping up for one scene, never to reappear. Margaret Dumont spent much of it held hostage by the villain—these scenes were played for genuine drama, with Dumont engaged in a battle of wits with her captor. At one point she tried to pass off a bottle of perfume as poison and fake a suicide attempt in order to create an opportunity to escape. It didn’t work, but she was clearly a resourceful and formidable personality when she wasn’t having to deal with Marx Brothers chaos.
The brothers, meanwhile, seemed to be trapped at some family’s party. Thanksgiving dinner, possibly. Groucho was in a corner of the living room hiding out behind a newspaper and occasionally cracking wise to the family’s teenage son. When he mentioned The Doors, I began to wonder just when this movie had been made. Dream Wikipedia claimed 1969, which would have been post-mortem for most of the lead players. No idea if the actual Doors eventually put in a cameo. Probably not, no more that Maurice Chevalier turned up in Monkey Business, but I’d bet they were thrilled to rate a mention.
The brothers, meanwhile, seemed to be trapped at some family’s party. Thanksgiving dinner, possibly. Groucho was in a corner of the living room hiding out behind a newspaper and occasionally cracking wise to the family’s teenage son. When he mentioned The Doors, I began to wonder just when this movie had been made. Dream Wikipedia claimed 1969, which would have been post-mortem for most of the lead players. No idea if the actual Doors eventually put in a cameo. Probably not, no more that Maurice Chevalier turned up in Monkey Business, but I’d bet they were thrilled to rate a mention.
no subject
Date: 2025-08-30 12:50 pm (UTC)From:I'd believe it. In neither of the Wheeler and Woolseys in which I have seen her did she play the Margaret Dumont role and it was great.
Groucho was in a corner of the living room hiding out behind a newspaper and occasionally cracking wise to the family’s teenage son.
This also tracks with Arthur Marx's memoir.
no subject
Date: 2025-09-01 03:28 pm (UTC)From: