I have said before that I’m not that fond of the Marx Brothers (“Duck Soup”, “Animal Crackers”) despite the fact I love Groucho and I’ve said before that I’m not impressed with this final outing starring the comedic group.

In this movie, a private investigator named Sam Grunion (Groucho Marx) recounts one of his cases. We find a bunch of Broadway hopefuls who are given food by a master shoplifter named Harpo (Harpo Marx). Harpo has accidentally stolen a can of sardines that actually contain stolen diamonds. Now it is up to Faustino (Chico Marx) and Harpo to thwart these diamond thieves.

Groucho Marx has a real moustache in this film and not that delightful grease painted one he normally has. Groucho hated this film so much that he considers “A Night In Casablanca” to be the last of the Marx Brothers movies. In fact, Groucho sadly is only in the film for a few minutes, which is a tremendous shame as I think he’s the funniest. Chico is okay. Harpo although not good does provide some minor chuckles with his slapstick although it is no match for Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton’s work. Marilyn Monroe (“Some Like It Hot”, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”) makes her screen debut as an unnamed client of Groucho’s Sam Grunion.

Since the brothers don’t all feature in any of the same scenes can you even consider this a true Marx Brothers movie? If you love the Marx Brothers, don’t mind the fact Groucho’s appearance is brief and don’t mind that at times the movie spends time on characters you won’t care about then you’ll probably enjoy the movie. Also if you’re a major movie fan like me I guess it’s good to be able to check off that you’ve seen both the last of the Marx Brothers films and the first to feature Marilyn Monroe.