Review: The Marx Brothers – Silver Screen Collection BD + Screen Caps

Nov 042016

For any fan of The Marx Brothers, this Silver Screen Collection of 5 of their great films (or at least ones Universal holds the rights to) is wonderful with good video/audio transfers and a nice selection of bonus features highlighted by a feature-length documentary not to mention commentaries available on each film.

The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection
(1929-33)

Genre(s): Comedy
Universal | G/NR – 408 min. – $59.98 | October 18, 2016

Date Published: 11/04/2016 | Author: The Movieman

MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Various
Writer(s): Various
Cast: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo)

DISC INFO:
Features: 5 Audio Commentaries, Featurettes
Digital Copy: No
Formats Included: Blu-ray
Number of Discs: 3

Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 2.0)
Video: 1080p/Full Frame 1.33
Subtitles: English SDH
Disc Size: NA
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Region(s): A, B, C

THE MOVIES

The Cocoanuts (1929)
A missing necklace and a pair of shady guests interfere with a hotel manager’s romantic pursuit of a wealthy guest and a Florida land auction.

Animal Crackers (1930)
A stolen painting and a couple of shady musicians cannot stop guests at a weekend party from singing “Hooray for Captain Spaulding” when the famous African explorer arrives.

Monkey Business (1931)
When a quartet of stowaways get mixed up with gangsters and a kidnapping during an ocean voyage, they attempt to foil the bad guys in improbably fashion.

Horse Feathers (1932)
The new president of Husley College, Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff, recruits a pair of football players – at least he thinks they are football players – for the big game against a rival school.

Duck Soup (1933)
When Freedonia’s new president, Rufus T. Firefly, declares war on neighboring Sylvania with the help of two of their remarkably inept spies, Ambassador Trentino does not stand a chance!

SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.0/5

This 3-disc set comes housed in digipak form and inside is an essay booklet. 4 Movies are on two discs and one gets its own but includes the featurettes…

Audio Commentaries:

The Cocoanuts – Film Scholar Anthony Slide
Animal Crackers – Film Historian Jeffrey Vance
Monkey Business – Marx Brothers Historian/Author Robert S. Bader and Bill Marx (son of Harpo Marx)
Horse Feather – Film Critic F.X. Feeney
Duck Soup – Film Critic/Historian Leonard Maltin and Bader

The Marx Brothers: Hollywood’s Kings of Chaos (1:19:57; HD) – This is a new documentary about the Marx Brothers and their meteoric rise as Hollywood’s masters of comedic mayhem and features interviews with the Marx family, Leonard Maltin, Dick Cavett and others.

Inside the NBC Vault: The Today’s Show Interviews (16:45; SD) with Harpo, Groucho and Bill Marx featuring rarely seen home movies.

VIDEO – 3.75/5

Each film is show in their original 1.33 full frame aspect ratio and given 1080p high-definition transfers. Although these movies are 80+ years old, and there is some damage in spots, I found this black and white presentation looked pretty good with stark blacks and some decently sharp detail.

AUDIO – 3.5/5

The movies received a basic but serviceable DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono tracks which provided for good dialogue levels and some so-so depth for other elements, though there was some minor pops and hisses. None of them are particularly noteworthy yet still given the film’s ages, it would seem Universal did a fine job.

OVERALL – 3.5/5

Overall, for any fan of The Marx Brothers, this Silver Screen Collection of 5 of their great films (or at least ones Universal holds the rights to) is wonderful with good video/audio transfers and a nice selection of bonus features highlighted by a feature-length documentary not to mention commentaries available on each film.

Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.

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