From the E-Mailbag…

"Stickmaker" (aka Rod Smith) wrote me…

Your advice about not binging on Tex Avery cartoons reminded me of something that happened when someone at a RPG get-together said he'd never seen a Marx Brothers movie. Another guy and I — both of us at least familiar with the Brothers and their work — started recommending movies. The guy looked thoughtful and said he'd try to watch those the coming weekend.

The other fan and I looked at each other, looked back at him, and in close to a chorus said, "Don't binge on those. You'd never survive."

We both recommended A Night at the Opera as our first choice. Which is probably not surprising.

That's the one I would have picked. There are Marx Brothers snobs who say it's the Paramount films or nothing. While I agree that what's wonderful about the Marx Brothers is more wonderful in their Paramount films, I refuse to whittle their legacy down to just five films, the first of which ain't all that wonderful. A Night at the Opera is, I think, the perfect introductory film for someone who's never seen a Marx Brothers movie.

This is something I've had to think about because my friend Amber has never seen a Marx Brothers movie. One of these days, she's going to accompany me to a performance of Frank Ferrante's show and it would be nice if she saw the real Groucho in action before she sees the impersonator. I could have shown her any of the Marx movies on the DVD player in my den but I also think one's introduction to them should be when one is surrounded by a live, laughing audience. So I may have to settle for whatever film some local theater chooses to show and that seems to mainly be the Paramounts.

Of those, my pick would be Horse Feathers. If someone doesn't love that film, there's no point in showing them any other one. It's like if you go to a new Italian restaurant. You should order the spaghetti and meatballs because if they can't make that wonderful, it's a waste of time to try the veal parmigiana. By the way, A Night in Casablanca has about as many laughs in it as an order of veal parmigiana.

Also by the way: I mentioned that when I went to that Tex Avery marathon, I discovered my limit for Tex Avery cartoons watched in one sitting was seven. I also once went to a marathon of Max Fleischer Betty Boop cartoons and my breaking point on those was five.

A bunch of my friends once went to an all-day screening of all the James Bond films in the order of release. We intended to stay to the end, which then would have meant through Diamonds Are Forever. But by the end of Goldfinger, I began to feel like someone was torturing me to get me to divulge top secret information and I wound up fleeing halfway through Thunderball. Today, I don't think I could make it through a double feature of anything.