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Subject: Re: HARPO SPEAKS
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From: Bill Anderson <billanderson601@yahoo.com>
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moviePig <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote:
> On 12/28/2024 5:25 PM, Bill Anderson wrote:
>> Recently, I finally got around to reading HARPO SPEAKS! (1961), the
>> autobiography of Harpo Marx. It has been a while since I so thoroughly fell
>> in love with a book that I was picking it up at odd hours of the day and
>> night just to discover what new fascinating anecdote would be told next.
>> Harpo and his brothers led remarkable lives that transported them far from
>> their humble roots in New York’s upper east side, and I was delighted to go
>> along for the ride.
>> 
>> The book follows the Marx Brothers through their often dreary experiences
>> in the dregs of the vaudeville circuits to triumphs on Broadway and in
>> Hollywood. As this is an autobiography, obviously the focus of the book is
>> Harpo, and I have to say he led such a rich, extraordinary life that I
>> never cared I wasn’t learning much about the other brothers. I came to
>> like Harpo so much that I seriously regret that but for this book I could
>> never have known him apart from the character he portrayed in film and on
>> television.  I wish I could have hung out with him, lived next-door, had
>> him for a friend. I think he must’ve been a truly decent human being and a
>> terrific raconteur. 
>> 
>> The book did leave me puzzled about a few things though. I mean, I wasn’t
>> expecting a tell-all confessional, but I did wonder at times why I wasn’t
>> getting just a little more of the story.  For a long stretch of his adult
>> life basically it seemed that when Harpo wasn’t working he was hanging out
>> with friends at the Algonquin Hotel or on a small island in Vermont or on
>> the Riviera or maybe a few other places. Was that it? He just hung out with
>> friends playing croquet or cards? Little else?
>> 
>> And these friends, some of the biggest names in the arts and
>> intelligentsia, seemed to treat him like a puppy dog they liked to have
>> around. He never indicated in the book just what it was he brought to the
>> (round) table, other than the willingness to sit quietly and listen. I
>> don’t believe that. I believe he must’ve contributed far more than he
>> admits or otherwise people like George Bernard Shaw would have dismissed
>> him. And as for Alexander Woolcott, who considered himself the shining star
>> of the Algonquin round table, would very many people remember him today if
>> not for his association with Harpo Marx?  Some of the cognoscenti, sure;
>> but people like me? Until I read this book, he was just a name I had heard
>> somewhere. Clearly, there was lots more to Harpo than he let on in his
>> autobiography.
>> 
>> I also wonder why he and actress Susan Fleming began adopting children
>> immediately after they were married. Was it a physical reason?
>> Philosophical? As far as I could tell, the book gave no hint. And sure,
>> whatever the reason, it had to be deeply personal and there was no
>> requirement for Harpo to share it in the book. But that didn’t stop me from
>> wondering. I will say one of the highlights of the book for me was learning
>> about “the story” Harpo and Susan would tell their children at bedtime
>> about how they searched high and low to find just the right babies to bring
>> into their home. Now that was touching. 
>> 
>> I think I wish there had been more in the book about the Broadway shows and
>> the making of the Marx Brothers movies. Well I think I wish that. Maybe
>> Harpo knew best; maybe the stories he did tell were more interesting than
>> any he might’ve been able to tell about the work that went into the act.
>> Maybe. But I still think I wish that.
>> 
>> Am I sounding critical of the book? I hope not. I thoroughly
>> enjoyedreading it and I recommend it to all Marx brothers fans and anybody
>> else looking for an amusing, informative, instructive story about a man who
>> knew how to live.
> 
> You've convinced me to consider it.
> 
> (And I'm reminded to highly re-recommend to any who haven't seen it 
> TIM'S VERMEER, directed and co-written by Teller of 'Penn & Teller'.)
> 
> 
> 

I second the recommendation. The film is revelatory.

-- 
—
Bill Anderson
I am the Mighty Favog