Marx brothers biography book

Bader, Robert S.: Zeppo: The Reluctant Marx Brother
From the publisher: "Zeppo: The Reluctant Marx Brother gives a lively account of this checkered life and career. As Robert Bader recounts, Zeppo's lifelong addiction to gambling led him into relationships with several notorious organized crime figures. He would ultimately appear before grand juries more frequently than the camera. Socially, he mixed as easily with mobsters like Mickey Cohen as he did with movie stars like Clark Gable. He was certainly the only Marx Brother who saw the corpse of a friend in a newspaper crime scene photo. Comprehensively researched with the full cooperation of Zeppo's estate—including the first-ever interviews with his two sons — this is a remarkable look at the many lives of Zeppo Marx — even the ones he did his best to keep secret."

(Various): El universo de Los Hermanos Marx
A kind of Spanish "Marx Brothers Encyclopedia".
Description translated from Spanish: "A select group of critics and film scholars give their view of the Marx Brothers' career."
Authors include: Ramón Alfonso, David Felipe Arranz, Victor Arribas, Guillermo Balmori, Joan Bassa, Quim Casas, Luis Alberto de Cuenca, Ramón Freixas, Juan Carlos Laviana, Fernando R. Lafuente, Carlos Marañón, Miguel Marias, Alejandro Melero Salvador, Diego Moldes, Moisés Rodríguez, Oti Rodríguez Marchante, Adrián Sánchez, Gerardo Sánchez, Eduardo Torres-Dulce, Joaquín Vallet, Juan Carlos Vizcaíno

Adamson, Joe: Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Sometimes Zeppo: A Celebration of The Marx Brothers and a Satire on the Rest of the World
"... well researched and well written (and funny) ... his Marx Brothers tome is absolutely heads and tails the best I've read, and I've read 'em all." (WGW) / "Adamson has done a superb job here, not only breaking down each film to discuss its strong and weak points, but detailing the history of each, from conception through filming, with particular emphasis on the scriptwriting phase. Plenty of biographical material, too, and Adamson has taken pains to avoid reprinting popular misconceptions about everything from birth dates to practical jokes, sorting fact from fiction with detailed research and interviews with virtually everyone who worked with the Marxes and was still alive to talk about it. Most of all, Adamson's style is nearly as hilarious as the films themselves; the chapter on Horsefeathers belongs in some anthology on great American humor. Even the footnotes are amusing, one reviewer noted, correctly. " (Robert Rose)

Alion, Yves: Les Marx Brothers

Anobile, Richard J.: Why a Duck?
"An attempt to present the team's film humor in book form, by combining transcripts of dialogue from classic Marx routines with frame blow-ups from the films themselves. A good idea at the time, but now rather obsolete, since videotapes of the films are widely available. Still worth picking up if you happen upon an inexpensive used copy, if only for Groucho's introduction (and for that matter, a well-written preface by Richard F. Shepard). " (Robert Rose)

Anobile, Richard J.: Hooray for Captain Spaulding! Verbal and Visual Gems from "Animal Crackers"
Blow-ups from the film with the dialogue next to the picture or in comic-strip bubbles

Anstey, Robert Graham: The Marx Brothers: their world, their movies, their lives, their humour and their legacy
published by the author's own publishing company

António, Lauro: Irmãos Marx

Arce, Hector: Groucho
"A fairly accurate, unbiased, but not-too-bleak bio. Quite long, and well cited." (Wayne Wong) / "Probably the best thing about it is that it's not the usual puff piece that authorized biographies usually degenerate into. Arce says Groucho told him to "tell it all" and he's certainly done that. He's got some pretty harsh things to say about just about everybody including Groucho and even Minnie but it's clear that he never lost his affection and respect for his subject. If the book has a failing it's Arce's unfortunate tendency to wallow in pop psychology to explain motivations, particularly Groucho's sex life and attitude toward women in general." (John Benz Fentner)

Bader, Robert S.: Four of the Three Musketeers - The Marx Brothers on Stage
From the publisher: "Before film made them international comedy legends, the Marx Brothers developed their comic skills on stage for twenty-five years. In Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers on Stage, Robert S. Bader offers the first comprehensive history of the foursome's hardscrabble early years honing their act in front of live audiences.
From Groucho's debut in 1905 to their final live performances of scenes from A Night in Casablanca in 1945, the brothers' stage career shows how their characters and routines evolved before their arrival in Hollywood. Four of the Three Musketeers draws on an unmatched array of sources, many not referenced elsewhere. Bader's detailed portrait of the struggling young actors both brings to vivid life a typical night on the road for the Marx Brothers and also illuminates the inner workings of the vaudeville business, especially during its peak in the 1920s.
As Bader traces the origins of the characters that would later come to be beloved by filmgoers, he also skillfully scrapes away the accretion of rumors and mythology perpetuated not only by fans and writers but by the Marx Brothers themselves. Revealing, vital, and entertaining, Four of the Three Musketeers will take its place as an essential reference for this iconic American act."

Bardés, César; Iglesias, Jaime; López, Jesús Antonio; Morán, Ernesto Pérez: Sopa de ganso. El libro del 90 aniversario
Published on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of "Duck Soup". Publisher's description: "The book analyzes the different aspects of the film: the actors and their characters, the director, the filming, the comic gags, the dialogues... All accompanied by a great photographic display"

Bego, Mark: The Marx Brothers

Benayoun, Robert: Les Freres Marx
Half of the book is a Marx Brothers biography. The other half contains translations of scenes from several movies.

Bergan, Ronald: The Life and Times of the Marx Brothers

Bertet, Paloma et al.: Groucho Marx (Personajes del siglo XX)
book in a series of biographies of personalities of the 20th century

Blount Jr., Roy: Hail, Hail, Euphoria!
"Presenting the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup, the Greatest War Movie Ever Made"
This book provides a lot of background information about the movie, the people involved and the time when it was made. My main criticism would be that this background information sometimes goes too far — I don't want any speculations why there are more movies with mice than with ducks. As the book goes along Blount stays more on topic and overall it is a good read. He has done his homework, although the book contains a few factual errors. It would have been nice to have bibliography and index.

Born, Simon: Die Marx Brothers und die Commedia dell'arte

Brown, David: The World According to Groucho Marx
A Groucho/Marx Brothers biography interspersed with quotes. The appendix is a collection of quotes, but not all of them sound like Groucho's. No sources are given for any of the quotes.

Chandler, Charlotte: Hello, I Must be Going: Groucho and his Friends
"... the book would have been a better (and more truthful) story if Chandler had waited a few years to tell it (once she fell out of Erin's graces)" (teej)

Charney, Maurice: The Comic World of the Marx Brothers' Movies: Anything Further Father?
The publisher advertises this book as "filling an academic void", but others have been there before. The most part of the book is taken up by giving synopsis of the movies. The author is looking at 15(!) Marx Brothers movies by including "Copacabana" and "Double Dynamite". He claims to have not been able to get a copy of "A Girl in Every Port", which is easily available outside the US. There are a few factual errors and typos and a lot of facts are repeated and some seem irrelevant. In general the author doesn't seems to be really interested in the Marx Brothers and the book doesn't add anything to an academic look at their work.

Collier, Kevin Scott: The Marx Brothers Love Happy Confidential
A compilation of news articles, reviews and pictures

Coniam, Matthew: The Annotated Marx Brothers - A Filmgoer's Guide to In-Jokes, Obscure References and Sly Details
There are lots of scenes in the movies which we nowadays cannot fully understand because they refer to people or events who were well known at the time of filming. Matthew has put together a great collection of material which helps us to understand what is really going on.

Coniam, Matthew: That's Me, Groucho!
The Solo Career of Groucho Marx

Crichton, Kyle Samuel: The Marx Brothers

Deschamps, Hélène; Muizon, Mathieu de : Les Marx Brothers : Les indomptables du cinéma
A biography written for children

Diamond, Noah: Gimme a Thrill
The Story of "I'll Say She Is", the lost Marx Brothers musical, and how it was found

Durgnat, Raymond: The Marx Brothers
Booklet for a retrospective at the Austrian Film Museum with an essay, filmography and film stills. Translation from a manuscript in English, but it is unclear if the English version was also published.

Dwan, Robert: As long as they're laughing: Groucho Marx and You Bet Your Life
Publisher's Note: Robert Dwan (Director of You Bet Your Life), reminisces about You Bet Your Life and remarkable host Groucho Marx.

Eyles, Allen: The Marx Brothers: Their World of Comedy
This was first published in a small paperback in 1966 and only three years later as a hardcover. / "A careful analysis of each of the Marx films; very comprehensive; almost too much so, in fact nowhere near as fun a read as Adamson, and focused almost entirely on what we see on screen rather than how it came to be. On the other hand, it does a very good job of considering the Marx film canon as a whole, drawing comparisons and showing parallels between the various films, rather than taking Adamson's approach of breaking things down into scenes. A good contrast, and worth having." (Robert Rose)

Eyles, Allen: The Complete Films of The Marx Bros.

Fix , Charlene: Harpo Marx as Trickster
From the publisher's website: "The author invites readers to spend time in the pleasure of Harpo's cinematic company while comparing him to tricksters from folklore, myth and legend. 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 of the Marx Brothers' films"

Folio Society (ed.): The Best of the Marx Brothers
This is a collection of previouly published material. It contains excerpts from:
Harpo Speaks - About New York
Groucho Harpo Chico and Sometimes Zeppo
The Essential Groucho
The Groucho Phile
Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel
A Day at the Races
A Night at the Opera
Groucho and Me
The Groucho Letters
Harpo Speaks!

Frank, Josh; Heidecker, Tim; Pertega, Manuela (Illustrator) : Giraffes on Horseback Salad: Salvador Dali, the Marx Brothers, and the Greatest Movie Never Made
From Amazon: "It sounds like fan fiction, but it's true: modern art icon Salvador Dali struck up a friendship with chaotic pantomimer Harpo Marx, which led to a proposed film, Giraffes on Horseback Salad. Rejected by MGM studios, the script was thought lost forever[sic]. But author Josh Frank found it, and with comedian and writer Tim Heidecker (Tim and Eric; Tim & Eric's Zone Theory) and Spanish artist and comics creator Manuela Pertega, he's recreated the film that Dali and the Marx Brothers would have a graphic novel that presents the story in all its full-color, fully cinematic, fully surreal glory."

Freixas, Ramón; Bassa Joan: 2001 Una Odisea Del Espacio - Sopa De Ganso
Book in a series called "Double Features"

Gardner, Martin Allen: The Marx Brothers: An Investigation of Their Films as Satirical Social Criticism

Gehring, Wes D.: The Marx Brothers (A bio-bibliography)

Gehring, Wes D.: Groucho Marx and : Huckster Comedians
Gehring compares these two comedians by their lifes, the characters they played and their films

Greenwood Publishing: The Marx Brothers (a book of 30 Postcards)
Film stills and portraits

Hahn, Matthew: The Animated Marx Brothers
From the publisher's website: "To many people, The Marx Brothers always seemed cartoonish. Small wonder that film animators [...] caricatured them in countless animated appearances in theatrical cartoons. Their animated likenesses have since been wisecracking in television cartoons, direct-to-video movies, fan films, commercials, flip books, avatars, emoji, a slot machine, and two TV pilots so rare they were once thought not to exist.
[...] Matthew Hahn's search for every animated appearance of a Marx brother has trailed longer than Groucho's coattails. His discoveries include the backstories of the studios, moviemakers, and stars, rare test drawings from the Smithsonian Institution National Portrait Gallery, abandoned projects, connections, coincidences, and apocrypha."

Hoberman, J.: Duck Soup (BFI Film Classics)
From the publisher: "Hoberman's analysis provides a historical and political context as well as an in-depth production history, drawing on primary sources and emphasizing director McCarey's prior work along with the Marx Brothers as well as the situation at Paramount, a substantial synopsis, and an account of the movie's initial reception, concluding with its subsequent elevation to comic masterpiece."
"Hoberman provides a lot of background information. This book may not be for the uninitiated, but for any Marx Brothers fan this is a good read." (ST)

Hobsch, Manfred: Film ab: Die Marx Brothers

Hopkins, Jay (ed.): Re: Marx
Magazine of the Marx Brotherhood (founded 1976)

Hoppe, Ulrich: Die Marx Brothers
A (quite incomplete) biography, but has a well researched part about the Brothers German roots. Tries to write in a funny language, but it doesn't always work out well.

Kamphausen, Heiner: Zur Komik der Marx Brothers in ihren frühen Filmen (Paramount 1929 - 1933)
Masters Thesis

Kanfer, Stefan: Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx