THE MADHOUSE OF THE MADHOUSE

The four Marx Brothers that we know from the movies were in a madhouse when they were discovered by Adolph Zukor. In fact, they were isolated from the rest of the madmen, in a separate enclosure that the madmen considered the madhouse of the madhouse. Because even among the madmen there are gradations, and the Marx Brothers made the residents of the madhouse look like sane men and even more lucid than Zukor himself, who was lucidity personified. The Marxs looked like beings from another planet by comparison. And yet, Zukor and the Marxs established a friendly relationship and mutual understanding, thus proving right the saying that “opposites attract”. However, Zukor had to tame them before releasing them in Hollywood. Especially they were a danger to women. When a woman strode past them, they would crouch down and follow her with their tongues out, their eyes wide and their arms dropped almost brushing the ground. If a prettier one passed by, they crawled to the latter. But the craziest of the four was Groucho. He was so crazy that sometimes he even seemed sensible.