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→From vaudeville to film: rewording
Beginning with 1929's ''The Cocoanuts'' and followed in 1930 with ''Animal Crackers'', the Marx Brothers took to the screen for a series of long-running and widely acclaimed musical comedies. Their 1933 ''Duck Soup'', which took potshots at the tin pot [[dictatorship]]s of prewar [[Europe]], is frequently rated one of the greatest comedies of all time.{{fact}}
Beginning with 1929's ''The Cocoanuts'' and followed in 1930 with ''Animal Crackers'', the Marx Brothers took to the screen for a series of long-running and widely acclaimed musical comedies. Their 1933 ''Duck Soup'', which took potshots at the tin pot [[dictatorship]]s of prewar [[Europe]], is frequently rated one of the greatest comedies of all time.{{fact}}
While Groucho, Harpo, and Chico's characters translated easily to the cinematic medium, Zeppo Marx's straight-man persona did not fare so well. Audiences didn't respond to Zeppo's light touch, preferring the more slapstick comedy of Groucho, Chico, and Harpo, and Zeppo grew bored with the role. After the success of ''Duck Soup'', Zeppo left the act for good.
While Groucho, Harpo, and Chico's characters translated easily to the cinematic medium, Zeppo's straight-man did not fare as well. Audiences did not respond to his light touch, preferring more slapstick comedy. Zeppo had also grown bored with the role, and after the success of ''Duck Soup'', left the act for good.
The three Marx Brothers made a few more films with MGM, such as ''A Night at the Opera'' and ''A Day at the Races'', but the quality of their work began to falter, and the act was essentially defunct by the 1950s. The brothers made one last appearance together on film with cameos in Irwin Allen's ''The Story of Mankind''.
The three Marx Brothers made a few more films with MGM, such as ''A Night at the Opera'' and ''A Day at the Races'', but the quality of their work began to falter, and the act was essentially defunct by the 1950s. The brothers made one last appearance together on film with cameos in Irwin Allen's ''The Story of Mankind''.