Animal Crackers (1930) is the uproarious second feature film from the Marx Brothers, capturing their anarchic Broadway hit on screen. The thin plot, set at a lavish Long Island house party, revolves around the theft of a valuable painting, but serves merely as a clothesline for Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppoβs iconic bits and musical routines.
Groucho stars as the gloriously pompous African explorer Captain Jeffrey T. Spaulding, whose arrival prompts the signature song βHooray for Captain Spauldingβ and the classic βHello, I Must Be Going.β Directed by Victor Heerman, the film is a landmark of pre-Code comedy, packed with surreal gags, social satire, and the brothersβ chaotic chemistry.