Marx Brothers

There are two schools of thought (or laughter) when it comes to the Marx Brothers. Marx Brothers purists prefer to see the comedy team in the low-budget, wild-and-crazy comedies they made at Paramount such as the seminal 1933 political satire "Duck Soup. " Other fans who were raised on their bigger-budget MGM vehicles such as 1935's "A Night at the Opera" believe the siblings were never funnier than when they were at the studio. The American Cinematheque retrospective, "A Night at the Opera: The Marx Brothers on the Big Screen," which opens Thursday at the Egyptian and runs through Sunday, should appeal to both camps.

There are two schools of thought (or laughter) when it comes to the Marx Brothers. Marx Brothers purists prefer to see the comedy team in the low-budget, wild-and-crazy comedies they made at Paramount such as the seminal 1933 political satire "Duck Soup. " Other fans who were raised on their bigger-budget MGM vehicles such as 1935's "A Night at the Opera" believe the siblings were never funnier than when they were at the studio. The American Cinematheque retrospective, "A Night at the Opera: The Marx Brothers on the Big Screen," which opens Thursday at the Egyptian and runs through Sunday, should appeal to both camps.

Louis Marx started his career as an office boy in the toy firm run by Ferdinand Strauss. Marx eventually became a director of the company, but in 1921 he decided to start a company with his brother. The Marx brothers' company specialized in tin toys, electric trains and windup toys. Its colorful toys are popular with collectors. There is some confusion about the Marx toys of the 1940s.

Arthur Marx, a veteran television writer, playwright, celebrity biographer and memoirist who wrote extensively about an often fractious life with his father, comedic legend Groucho Marx, has died. He was 89 and died of natural causes Thursday at his Los Angeles home, said his son, Andy. Marx was the only son of Groucho, who, with his exaggerated eyebrows, mustache and mastery of the lightning-quick, ad-libbed putdown, was the most prominent member of the Marx Brothers. "His father was never far from him," said actor Frank Ferrante, who portrayed the iconic comedian in the 1986-87 off-Broadway production of "Groucho: A Life in Revue," written by Marx and Robert Fisher.

Did you know that Harpo Marx "spoke" in a 1925 silent movie and performed with the Leningrad Symphony in the 1930s? Or that the pilot for Groucho Marx's classic TV series "You Bet Your Life" still exists? Even the most ardent fan of Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo is in for some surprises with the new two-part Disney Channel documentary "The Unknown Marx Brothers." Part 1, titled "On Your Marx, Get Set, Go," premieres Sunday. Part 2, called the "Lost Treasures and Last Remarx," airs Nov. 14.

Saying he was "tired of running," accused "Marx Brothers" bandit Lawrence Lockridge surrendered to federal authorities Tuesday on bank robbery charges after four months as a fugitive. Lockridge, a suspect in up to 11 armed robberies in 1984-86, was arrested on the steps of the federal courthouse in Los Angeles a few days after he telephoned an attorney and announced that he wanted to turn himself in.

Ah! The American institution of vocal harmony and fellowship, the barbershop quartet. It is four mustachioed men wearing straw hats, black pants, white shirts and sleeve garters, hanging around a lamppost singing "Sweet Adeline". . . . Well, not always. A San Fernando Valley-based quartet called The New Tradition has won the 1985 International Quartet Contest for barbershoppers by dressing up like the Marx Brothers, prancing around the stage and singing original comic songs.

Irving Brecher, a comedy writer whose career in radio, television and the movies included writing two Marx Brothers comedies, co-writing the Judy Garland musical "Meet Me in St. Louis" and creating the radio and TV series "The Life of Riley," has died. He was 94. Brecher died of age-related causes Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said his wife, Norma. Comedy writer Larry Gelbart, a longtime friend, remembered Brecher for his great wit.

Jonathan Miller strides down the aisle of the Embassy Theatre, rehearsal site for his much-talked-about production of "The Mikado." He places a bottle each of orange juice and mineral water on the stage edge and pulls a package of trail mix from his pocket--all the while eyeing a background prop and removing his tweed jacket. There is work to be done.

For years, the heirs of Chico and Harpo Marx have squabbled with the estate of the third Marx brother, Groucho, claiming they're getting the short end of the shtick. On Friday, a federal judge said they might have a case. U.S. District Judge Dickran Teverizian blocked distribution of a cartoon version of the Marx Brothers slapstick comedy trio until representatives of the estates cut out the monkey business.

Update: The Beverly Hills home where former owner Groucho Marx left his marks ? initials carved into concrete on the driveway and near the pool ? has sold for $5.8 million, the Multiple Listing Service shows. The 1927 Spanish-style estate had been maintained by the same family for the last half-century. The two-story residence has about 6,000 square feet of living space on more than an acre of grounds with a swimming pool and mature trees, including some fruit trees that Marx planted.

Roy Blount Jr., a prolific author and panelist on NPR's "Wait, Wait ? Don't Tell Me," deconstructs the Marx Brothers' magic in his latest book, "Hail, Hail Euphoria: Presenting the Marx Brothers in Duck Soup, the Greatest War Movie Ever Made. " Why another book about the Marx Brothers? It's a book about "Duck Soup"; I don't think there is a book about just "Duck Soup. " People generally think it's the best Marx Brothers movie. This guy, Bob Miller [Hyperion's founding publisher]

Comics kill, or try to. But what's the motive and the M.O.? Paul Provenza has conducted dozens of interviews on such subjects for a just-published book, " Satiristas!: Comedians, Contrarians, Raconteurs & Vulgarians," created with photographer Dan Dion. What follows are edited excerpts from Provenza's Q&As, which reveal the method and the madness of men and women who inhabit the funny side of the commentariat. Robin Williams Most recent tour: "Weapons of Self-Destruction" in 2009.

SERIES Anderson Cooper 360: The journalist begins a 5 part series examining the leadership of the Church of Scientology (7 and 10 p.m. CNN). Chuck: Casey, Morgan and Awesome (Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez, Ryan McPartlin) try to help Chuck (Zachary Levi) win Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) back, as he prepares for an undercover operation in this new episode (8 p.m. NBC). 10 Things I Hate About You: The comedy series, loosely based on Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew," returns for a second season.

If it seems that every new TV series for young people is about pop music or pop stardom, two shows that begin tonight will do nothing to dispel the impression. In Nickelodeon's "Big Time Rush," four friends from Minnesota travel to Los Angeles to be molded into a boy band. "I'm in the Band," on the boy-centric Disney XD -- "hyper-marketing to boys" is the phrase the network actually uses -- is about a guitar-shredding teenager who talks his way into an aging metal band. Like most screen stories of show-biz kids -- going back to "Babes in Arms" and "Fame" (the series)

The comedies of Aristophanes -- so sanely rebellious, so tastily profane -- are perhaps more tantalizing to us moderns than the ancient Greek tragedies. They are also more theatrically elusive, loaded with topical references that require either heavy annotation or radical adaptation. And the gamboling lyrical intelligence that encourages metaphors to come to life makes it difficult for our prosier sensibilities to keep pace with these hilarious Dionysiac fever dreams. In the wrong hands -- like the stodgy academic translation I read before attending the Getty Villa's new production of Aristophanes' "Peace" -- the zaniness can have a musty, archaeological aroma.

There's something in this book to offend everyone: blacks, Jews, Arabs, Italians, Irish, women. Author William Kotzwinkle, who was most successful with his novelization of "ET: the Extraterestrial," seems to have rebelled against the saccharine sweetness of ET. With a vengeance. Howard Halliday is the editor of Chameleon Publications, a group responsible for the sleaze that clutters most newsstand racks. Their magazines include lurid romances, soft-core pornography, true crime, celebrity drivel, and a pseudo-religious rag for the desperately faithful.

Here's another fine mess Hollywood's gotten itself into: Without the help of a single Ouija board, some long-dead comics may be headed back to a movie screen near you. In the works are new slapstick adventures starring the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers--or more accurately, actors assuming their likenesses, thanks to filmmakers and family members who are convinced the comics' personas are enough to power new motion pictures.

It may take more than 54 minutes in this 66-minute film before the first pigskin flies, but this classic 1932 Marx Brothers movie has provided some of the screen's most indelible images of the game. There's Groucho's madcap leaping tackle from the sideline; Chico's hilarious audibles ("Eany, meany, miney, mo, ready or not, here we go"); Harpo's improvising with a hot dog, bananas and, best of all, a yo-yo football; and, ultimately, the four brothers riding in a horse-drawn garbage chariot to win the big game.

The American Cinematheque is ringing in the new year with a screening today at the Egyptian of the 1946 Frank Capra classic "It's a Wonderful Life," starring Jimmy Stewart, while the Aero goes Marxist with two zany Marx Brothers delights: 1935's "A Night at the Opera" and 1930's "Animal Crackers," in which Groucho performs his signature tune, "Hooray for Captain Spaulding." Capra fest Capra's politico films, 1939's "Mr.