Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers on Stage
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.
Reviews (51)
The book I've waited 40 years to read!
I have provided research and reference material to the authors of several books about the Marx Brothers. Many of them were good books in their day. But all now suffer in comparison to Robert Bader’s incredible new book. [Full disclosure: I am proud to have provided research for this book as well.] The problem with other Marx Bros. books is that the authors had a life to live or a publisher’s deadline to meet. Ultimately they had to settle for “good,” or “better than the others,” but it was still a compromise. But Mr. Bader is unique. He has spent several decades doing research on the Marxes. Along the way he published a wonderful anthology of Groucho’s writings, and then a revised and expanded edition a few years later. (To say nothing of the several incredible Marx-related DVD sets he produced, and the commentary on the recent Paramount collection Blu-ray release.) He could have written a great biography several years ago, but instead he continued digging. He has not only dug deeper than any of the rest of us, he has dug deeper than most of us thought was even possible. He has dug deep enough to find the Marx Brothers in four vaudeville acts that we never knew about previously! He is the first person to make sense of the conflicting versions of stories told by Kyle Crichton (their authorized biographer), by Groucho and Harpo in their autobiographies, and by Groucho on various TV shows and in his interviews with later biographers. He has tirelessly dug through contemporary news accounts to finally prove which elements of each story are correct: when and where and how these legendary stories actually took place. It’s not his opinion of which version is funniest or most probable, but the verifiable underlying truth. He has used genealogical research to determine the actual names of fellow performers who were given pseudonyms in early biographies. By doing so he has also been able to determine the intriguing stories of what happened to these cast mates after they left the Marx act. [Harpo’s relationship with Katie Fleming spans several chapters and could have been a book on its own.] He has also been able to identify these cast mates in dozens of previously unpublished photos from Groucho’s and Harpo’s scrapbooks. And by figuring out who exactly was who, he discovered another Nightingale who was never previously identified. Along the journey Mr. Bader has uncovered so many other fascinating stories. As only one example, a poor joke told by Groucho on an obscure TV show has led to an incredible tragic story about their cousin Lou Shean that was never part of the Marxian lore. Mr. Bader began organizing his research into a book perhaps eight years ago. No, he isn’t a slow typist. While writing the book he continued digging, until he tied up as many loose ends as possible. Only when he had answered every question, after numerous drafts, after filling all of the holes in the timeline, did he look for a publisher. It would be nice to think that any of us could have written this book if we’d had enough time, but the truth is that Mr. Bader had the tenacity nobody else has demonstrated, as well as the understanding of how the disjointed pieces actually fit together. Robert Bader intended to write a definitive biography of the Marx Brothers on stage. The end result is the definitive biography of the Marx Brothers, the definitive history of vaudeville as a business, and a fascinating book that I have waited 40 years to read.
Essential, genuinely essential book for all true Marxians
I've been a fanatical Marx Brothers fan for almost 50 years. I've interviewed Groucho on radio. I've read EVERY darn book written by or about them. I thought I knew it all. But this amazing book told me many, man things I did not know. He sweeps away the lies and great-but-untrue stories that fill all the other books, and get down to as much of the truth as could ever be discovered a century after its events. The book is FASCINATING. I can not recommend it TOO highly. Great book.
For Lovers of Great Comedy
This is the best-researched book ever written on the Marx Brothers. Though it only gives cursory discussion of their movies or their private lives, and concentrates mainly on the stage careers that propelled them into the movies, the author spent decades on his research and scrubbed every nook and cranny of vaudeville and Broadway lore to produce this wonderful volume. The total Marxmaniac will also want to read books detailing the Brothers' movie career, including of course the books and articles penned by the Marxes themselves. But even the Marx Brothers gave often inaccurate, exaggerated, or plain fabricated stories about their past. Bader's book renders obsolete many of the previous books on the Marx Brothers, as he destroys the myths and incorrect memories with fact.
I enjoyed this book so much
I enjoyed this book so much, and did NOT want it to end. For the fan of the Marx Brothers, you can buy this book without any fear of it being repetitious or doubling over the same old stories and information you’ve acquired from other books about the team or the individual “players”. Brand-new research, color, history, etc., all pertaining to the years BEFORE the brothers hit the movies big-time. Finally, you can learn in tremendous detail the way in which the Marx Brothers morphed throughout the formative years. In so do doing, they mirrored the tremendous power and scope of the Vaudeville industry during the early years of the 20th Century, and the reader will gain enormous insight into the ways of the Vaudeville culture that so dominated the early years of the last century. Notable too, is the fact that the book includes as near-complete an itinerary of the Brothers' individual stage appearances in a very detailed listing as is possible. Season-by-season information on players, plot lines, locales, theater names, dates, etc..... Incredible coverage. Informative, entertaining, fascinating, educational, revealing, unique, ......FUN! This book, by Robert S. Bader, called "FOUR OF THE THE THREE MUSKETEERS" - THE MARX BROTHERS ON STAGE." Was years in the writing and compilation, and worth the wait. So glad this book exists. Wonderful to discover as well, that after a lifetime of enraptured study, there is still so much to learn about the subjects that I love. Richly illustrated, including many pictures that have previously been unseen by the general public, and also including many contemporary newspaper ads for the Brothers’ various stage appearances.
A Fascinating Read
For anyone interested in the Marx Brothers, and in the history of Vaudeville and variety (and Broadway) in general, this book is a must. Although there are many books on the Marx Brothers, most of them deal nearly exclusively with their Hollywood and post-Hollywood careers, and very little with their stage career, although it was much longer and much more interesting than their movie years: the latter were the end result of their stage success, which culminated on Broadway with an ebullient review by Alexander Woollcott that made them full-fledged stars. Additionally, Robert Bader corrects the romanticized and mostly inaccurate versions of this period of their lives given by the brothers over the years in books and interviews--a work that had been successfully started by Simon Louvish in his excellent biography of the Marx Brothers, "Monkey Business". The scope of Bader's research is amazingly exhaustive, and it gives a fascinating insight into the vaudeville business and touring practices of early 20th-century America. It also confirms that the fabled Minnie Marx, the Marxes' mother, was a rather inept (if driven and enthusiastic) manager, contrary to the legend built over the years by Groucho and Harpo, with the complicity of Woollcott. Robert Bader's book is a very interesting read, and a fascinating one for any Marx Brothers' enthusiasts and old vaudeville scholars and aficionados. It is an important book on the Marx Brothers as well as on American vaudeville and variety.
Paid by the pound?
A towering achievement of Marxian scholarship, this book details every stage production that featured a Marx Brother from Groucho's solo debut in 1905 to the team's dissolution. (Hopefully, Harpo and Chico's nightcub act, TIME FOR ELIZABETH, THE FIFTH SEASON, AN EVENING WITH GROUCHO, and other later productions will be covered in Part Two.) Bader actually goes week by week and tells you what they were doing, where, and with whom. Only a few weeks are unaccounted for, and I believe some of the gaps have already been filled in the revised edition. The films are mentioned in historical context, but the focus is on theatre, a topic that is neglected in most Marx books. Bader has spent decades following the Marxes' vaudeville trail thru all the tank towns and whistle stops, stopping at libraries to read contemporaneous accounts in local papers. The result is an exhaustive account that puts to rest the legends once and for all and prints the truth. He jokes that the hefty tome might well be sold by the pound, but it is a bargain at any price. I look forward to the revised edition, and hopefully the sequel will not take decades.
The Best Ever on the Marx Brothers
The best and most thoroughly researched book on the Marx Brothers. Living now in Illinois (the Quad Cities), I am fascinating by reading about all the small towns in this area where the Marx Brothers performed in their vaudeville days, including Galesburg, where a cartoonist gave them their nicknames while playing poker, and where, in 1913, the brothers played Knox College in baseball and got whipped 14-1. Who knew they formed a baseball team to have fun and kill some time on the road more than 100 years ago? I also like the way the author is able to look through some of the tall tales the brothers told in interviews over the years to find the true story. For a Marx fan like me, this book is solid gold.
Extraordinary research and very well written. If you're a Marx Bros. fan you owe it to yourself to read this!
I thought I knew everything there was to know about the Marx Brothers, but this book shed so much new light on a phase of their career that until now has been shrouded in mystery. Even though the author has a tendency to insert himself (and, in particular, his opinions about the works of other authors he clearly does not respect), it's very well written and engaging. I devoured it from cover to cover, enjoying every page. I was sorry when it ended!
The Greatest Non-Fiction Book Ever Written. Probably.
I’m not saying that this is the greatest non-fiction book ever written. I haven’t read every non-fiction book ever written, so the comparison would be a false one. “Four of the Three Musketeers – The Marx Brothers on Stage” is just the greatest non-fiction book I’ve ever read. If you’ve already read “Harpo Speaks,” “Groucho and Me,” “Growing Up with Chico” and all of the other dozen or so books on the Marx Brothers, this one is the book that lines up all the rest and makes them behave. All the legendary Marx Brothers stories are either debunked or verified. If verified, names, dates and places are detailed. The years of climbing the Mount Everest of vaudeville? There’s a list of all performances. With notations such as the time the fifteen year old Groucho appeared on a vaudeville bill with the twenty-five year old juggler, W.C. Fields. Or the ocean cruise where entertainment was provided by the Four Marx Brothers and Clark & McCullough (my other favorites). Or the stretch of performance dates missed by Chico because of a Mystery Illness – and in a day when performers’ illnesses were specified by the trade papers, speculation is that the womanizing Chico had been caught by a father/brother/husband and that he was recovering from a bullet wound. Harpo’s sojourn as a whorehouse piano player forced to drive a getaway carriage for burglars? The entire court case is detailed. The four sympathetic prostitutes who gave Harpo train fare home? All named. MY GOD, THIS BOOK IS FABULOUS. I tracked down one of the theaters where the Four Marx Brothers first appeared after Chico joined the act in 1912. Not a theater anymore, but the building is still there and it’s located around the corner from a theater where I’ve been performing/directing. History! Three details, and I’ll shut up. ************** From the list of vaudeville dates: “May 14-16, 1914 – Galesburg, Illinois – Gaiety Theatre The Four Marx Brothers got their nicknames from comic Art Fisher at a backstage poker game.” ************** A Marx By Any Other Name… The legend is, as with Groucho dropping his onstage German accent in 1917, that Harpo changed his name from Adolph to Arthur due to anti-German WWI sentiment. Not true. Bader reveals that Adolph became Arthur as far back as 1909. Why? Because during the ten years the Marx family lived in Chicago & LaGrange, also based in Chicago was an attorney named Adolph Marks, who specialized in suing vaudeville actors and was roundly despised by same. ************** Zeppo’s Escape. IRVING THALBERG: Do you think three of you should be paid the same as four? GROUCHO: Without Zeppo we’re worth twice as much. I always thought that was a little harsh, even for Groucho; but Bader reveals why the Brothers were touchy about the subject: after leaving Paramount, there was a changing of the guard, and the new executives wanted the Marx Brothers back. Negotiations broke down because Paramount wouldn’t pay the same money for three that they paid for four. And they were far from the only objectors. Yep. The Marx Brothers had trouble getting work without Zeppo. And considering the way they treated him (also detailed in this amazing tome), the only possible conclusion is, “Karma’s a bitch.” If you’re a Marx Brothers fan; if you’re a student of vaudeville (and all of early 20th century entertainment); or you just want to read the Greatest Non-Fiction Book Ever Written… sorry, I said I wouldn’t do that. Sorry… BUY THIS BOOK.
A Marx Brothers to SAVOR - this is ESSENTIAL
I'm 50 pages in and this is already the BEST book on The Marx Brothers I've ever read. The level of 'you are there' detail is astonishing. You can almost smell Frenchy's chicken soup cooking in their crowded New York flat as the five brothers discover show business one by one. I am savoring this superb book, paragraph by paragraph, slowly, lovingly. If you love the Marx Brothers, this is absolutely ESSENTIAL
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