Groucho Marx
anybody know where / when the Groucho Marx cameo is that's mentioned in the Trivia section?
Oddly, I just saw the last ten or fifteen minutes of this film on a great local public access/broadcasting network that I recently found in NorCal. I actually thought I had come in near the beginning so when it ended abrubptly, I found mysellf wanting to study it some. I found most of the comments to not help me at all in figuring out what this movie was actually about, making it no easier to understand the tension between him & his wife, the questionable practices of his young radical supporters (and the film's stance on this subject) & some other odd vibes between him & Peter Boyle's character. I had given up on people's opinions of the film & was going to just rent it or watch for the repeat but noticed your subject and just HAD to check your comment. I'm an absolutely HUGE Marx Brothers fan & think that Groucho in particular may have been more ahead of his time than anyone before or since in the comedy world. Strangely enough, the second I saw your question, I realized in my short amount of time with the film, in an almost entirely missable scene, I had the answer to your query without even having had recognized my aging idol: He's the political pundit that's on TV being interviewed on election night. He's the political pundit who has apparently anticipated the outcomes of races in the past with a %100 accuracy rate based on exit polls, etc. You should double check me on this of course but I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that's my boy.
"Hello, I must be going"
CAPnT
Wrong...Groucho is seen briefly at a cocktail party fundraiser for McKay.
share...which is bizarre because in real life Groucho was a conservative Republican!
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"Maybe I should go alone"
- Quint, Jaws.
I would like to know where you got that information about Groucho being a conservative? He was very anti-establishment in real life, just like in his movies and was vocal opponent of Vietnam (Most (in) famously: " "I think the only hope this country has is Nixon's assassination.")
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It was a TV documentary several years ago. I cant remember what channel etc.
They might have been wrong of course, but the gist of what they said was that - while his publicly spoken views were always cynical attacks on all politicians (in the Groucho style of of being synical about everything - he was, as a private citizen, a GOP voter. Especially as he got older.
_____________
"Maybe I should go alone"
- Quint, Jaws.
Huh, I never heard that. I'll check that out.
Thanks for posting back. For a moment there, I thought I was going to get flamed. You, sir, have restored my faith on the avergae IMDB poster!
Yes. I agree there's no need to flame or be abusive to anyone. You weren't offensive in any way, you just asked a question. So I answered it. No flaming needed.
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"Maybe I should go alone"
- Quint, Jaws.
That's true, is just that I've seen many people overreacting to simple questions like this all around the message boards. I should've checked your profile earlier to know that you are not one such person.
But anyway, I'll stop derailing the topic.
Groucho was a life-long Democrat and rather liberal. There are plenty of well-researched books about him that clearly support this.
You can see him from appearances on Cavett in the late 1960s and early 1970s commenting on current events and he is left-of center. On one show he says he is always baffled by people who are Democrats until they get money and then become Republicans.
What time in the movie does Groucho appear?
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Why would that baffle Groucho? He was smart enough to know the libs want to tax the rich and spread it amongst themselves.
shareIn an appearance on William F. Buckley's "Firing Line" circa 1967, Groucho states that he voted for Franklin Roosevelt his first two terms, but against him in 1940 and 1944. Groucho felt that no one should serve more than two terms, a sentiment expressed by many in those last two elections.
shareSorry this post is so long after yours, but I had to point out that it wasn't unusual for FDR Democrats to vote against him for his third and fourth terms. My parents, who were free speech advocates and somewhat socially liberal, thought similarly. While presidential terms hadn't been limited, my parents were big believers in custom and precedent.
shareDuring this time in history the Democrats were the war mongers and the Republicans were voted in to get us out of Vietnam. Lol, the Democrats almost started a nuclear war with the USSR. Nixon helped to de-escalate both these issues, mostly by using Kissinger. Groucho's remark, (if it was actually true), was made later when Nixon lied and impeachment was in the works.
share1964 Republican candidate Barry Goldwater wanted to drop nuclear bombs on North Vietnam.
How peaceful was that?
Groucho was a noted contributor to liberal causes.
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