“Horse Feathers” is one of the better-known pictures that stars the Marx Brothers (“Duck Soup”, “Animal Crackers”) and it’s somewhat amusing but it’s far from being a comedic classic. I’m sure you will laugh at parts of it but other parts are a lot less satisfying.

Groucho Marx stars as a new head of Huxley University and he’s eager to improve the place’s football (American football that is) team but accidentally hires the moronic Pinky (Harpo Marx) and the slightly less moronic Baravelli (Chico Marx) instead of two actual football players. It’s all a big build-up to a final football game that involves banana peels, a horse and about every cheating tactic known to man.

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, Groucho Marx is the only funny one. Every time he’s onscreen there is a passion and energy that you just absolutely fall in love with. He is so witty and comes out with some genuinely hilarious comments such as “You’ve got the brain of a four-year old boy and I bet he was glad to get rid of it” and “How much would you want to stand at the wrong end of a shooting gallery?”. Sadly, the film practically grinds to a halt every time that Harpo or Chico appear. Zeppo doesn’t provide any laughs but it’s important to remember that he never tries to be funny.

“Horse Feathers” is littered with one-liners but in-between many of the great one-liners, you have to endure quite a lot of mediocre slapstick. If you love the Marx Brothers and haven’t seen “Horse Feathers” then you should check it out. I’d say the film is about as good as “Duck Soup”, which is probably the most famous of the Marx Brothers films, and I’m aware that I may get some criticism from devout Marx Brothers fans but I don’t really care. If you don’t like any of the Marx Brothers (not even Groucho) then I’d give this one a miss.