Harpo Marx as trickster / Charlene Fix.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fix, Charlene.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Marx, Harpo, 1888-1964--Criticism and interpretation.

Marx, Harpo.

Marx, Harpo, 1888-1964.

Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

vii, 223 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, [2013]

Summary:

"The book demonstrates how Harpo, the sweetest, wildest, most magical Marx brother, accomplishes the archetypal trickster's work. Thirteen chapters examine Harpo's trickster persona closely in each Marx Brothers film. The author demonstrates his luck, foolishness, cleverness, mania, hunger, lust, stealing, shape-shifting, gender-bending, alliance with underdogs, attacks on the powerful, musicality, sympathy for animals, magic, and mischief. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction

The cocoanuts (1929): trickster appears

Animal crackers (1930): the professor professes

Monkey business (1931): not quite chevalier

Horse feathers (1932): dogging football

Duck soup (1933): taking a scissors to war

A night at the opera (1935): cleaning with dirt

A day at the races (1937): it's Gabriel

Room service (1938): gimme shelter, food, and art

At the circus (1939): Swingali's sneeze

Go west (1940): feeding the train the train

The big store (1941): mercantile mayhem

A night in Casablanca (1946): meta Marx

Love happy (1949): trickster's capstone, or hail and farewell

Conclusion: a retrospective montage.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780786471478

0786471476

OCLC:

810120218