MovieChat Forums > Animal Crackers (1930) Discussion > In the dark stand ins were used

In the dark stand ins were used

posted 12 years ago by D_Ray_Morton
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Am I the only kne that noticed that in the dark scene when Chico and Harpo are stealing the picture that Harpo, Chico, Groucho & possibly Maggie Dumont are being played my other people?!?! Watch it close and lighten the TV and you can tell that those are not the stars in the dark... But the real voices are used ... I have never heard why this was never mentioned ... 82 years ago and it's like no kne admits it... It's clearly blatant.., possibly their broadway stand ins..,

[–] Lord-Z 12 years ago

I believe I read that Zeppo stood in for Groucho in that scene, some accounts even credits him with an amazingly accurate impression of Groucho, but I haven't heard that the rest of the Marx Brothers should have had stand-ins.

I did some research, and, according to Marxology.com, there is a theory that, in order to get the best picture and sound-quality, the Marx Brothers stood off-screen doing voices, while stand-ins was on screen, to get the best possible combination of picture and sound, though I am not sure why that would be necessary. Or that it was a last-minute reshoot, with one or more of the brothers unavailable, and the sound was recorded later, which even Marxology isn't sure was even possible in 1930. In any case, yes, that almost definently isn't Groucho.