Book Review: “That’s Me, Groucho! The Solo Career of Groucho Marx"

The Marx Brothers exploded onto the screen, and their 13 feature films continue to win over new generations. Groucho Marx is the only member of the act who became arguably more successful as a solo comedian, as chronicled by Matthew Coniam’s new book.

While there are plenty of books about Mr. Marx, including Hector Arce’s exhaustive biography “Groucho” and Steve Stoliar’s fascinating look at Groucho’s later years (“Raised Eyebrows”), Coniam’s is the first to look carefully and thoroughly at his work as a solo artist.

“That’s Me Groucho” is perhaps the only book-length study that offers us as deep an assessment of such feature films as “Copacabana,” “Double Dynamite,” “A Girl in Every Port,” and other feature length movies in which Groucho has a role separate from his brothers. Sometimes it is carefully designed to be characteristic of the persona he’d already established. Sometimes it is not. Coniam’s description of Groucho’s approach to each role, the comedian’s creative process, as well as the background of the movie’s production, offers us fascinating insights and history.

Of course a great deal of the book discusses Groucho’s most successful solo venture, the television quiz show “You Bet Your Life.” Surviving the late fifties quiz show scandals that almost destroyed the genre during the late 1950s, “You Bet Your Life” introduced Groucho to a new generation unaware of the movies with his brothers. Wry, witty, engaging, even slightly risqué, Groucho would entertain audiences weekly, first on radion and later on television. The rerunning of the show in syndication during the seventies caused it to enjoy a second wave of popularity with latter day Marx Brothers fans, and it is now one of the many classic highlights in Groucho’s career. All of the details are provided in Coniam’s book.

Along with the aforementioned, we get more information on Groucho’s appearance in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado,” his co-writing the play “Time For Elizabeth” with his friend Norman Krasna, his final appearance with frequent Marx Brothers movie co-star Margaret Dumont on TV’s “Hollywood Palace,” and the opportunities during his later years when his older films attracted a new generation.

As with his previous volume on the Marx Brothers films, this study of Groucho Marx’s solo work is filled with interesting information, most of which has not been discussed in any of the dozens of other books on the comedian. This book is most highly recommended for all libraries, research centers, and fans.

The book is available here.