Just as zany as monkeys going over Niagra Falls in a barrel, this concoction of fast-moving sketches moves so fast, you'll think you're heading over the falls, too. The four brothers are stowaways on a luxury cruise ship heading to New York and for a good 3/4 of this movie, they are doing their best to avoid being caught, even though a good deal of that time is conversing in marvelous double-talk with the ship's crew after them. They infiltrate the captain's quarters, Groucho insults a wealthy socialite (an unbilled Cecil Cunningham) and infiltrates the captain's quarters, and Harpo searches for his missing frog then attacks a passenger in the doctor's office who claims to have a frog in his throat. A magnificent puppet show has Harpo standing in for one of the puppets as crew members stand right near the puppeteer's box, then he makes a hysterical escape much to the viewing kiddie's delight.

Like the later "Hellzapoppin'" and the Zucker Brothers movies of the 1980's, this requires repeat viewings to capture all of the gags or remind you of them, because they follow each other so fast, you will be dizzy trying to take it all in. There's the shell of a plot involving the kidnapping of a mobster's daughter once the ship docks in New York, and of course this leads to more zaniness with the presence of the brothers. There's a classy parody of the Maurice Chevalier craze with all four brothers (including the mute Harpo) trying to get off the ship while pretending to be Chevalier singing "A New Kind of Love". Sexy Thelma Todd, the almost forgotten comical star of a series of Hal Roach shorts, provides some "hot cha cha" as one of the ship's passengers who hides Groucho amongst her wardrobe which leads to some amusing dialog about Groucho being in the closet. This is one of those comedies you might consider buying (available with all of the brothers' Paramount films) because you might find yourself pulling it out on a regular basis.

The Marx Brothers were such a talented bunch that you come up with any story idea and they can carry it the rest of the way.they were so great and one liners and ad libs that one can't help but wonder just how often the script was stuck to.Thw whole idea of these guys being stowaways on a boat,if you go in already familiar with their work,is hysterical just on paper,and the boys deliver well in the final product as always.The only possible exception is Zeppo,who was intended,I suppose,to be the straight man of the bunch,but this never quite worked and is most likely the reason he didn't last with the group professionally.Look for a tragic irony when Groucho says to Thelma Todd,"...you will have to stay in the garage all night..".Years later,Thelma Todd was found dead in a garage under mysterious circumstances.That aside,if you are looking for classic style humor,you will find it here.

Much better than the first two Marx Brothers efforts. This is the first Marx Bros. movie written directly for the screen rather than adapted from one of their Vaudeville shows. The result is a faster pace, a bigger production and a wider variety of scenes. This was exactly what the brothers needed to become more effective on screen. The supporting cast is trimmed down, with Zeppo filling the romantic lead, thus combining two non-funny characters into one. This gives more screen time to Groucho, Harpo and Chico, who are on top of their game here. The comic bits don't drag on too long, and the musical numbers don't kill the momentum; both improvements from their earlier films. The storyline and the rest of the cast are just as bad as always, but what do you expect? The point is that the movie is hilarious and entertaining from beginning to end. Monkey Business is where the Marx Brothers really began to hit their stride.