ANIMAL CRACKERS (1930)

Groucho Marx’s favorite of all his movies was not available in its original form for more than 80 years. The Marx Brothers’ second feature was also their last film adapted from one of their Broadway productions. In fact, Animal Crackers was the play they were performing at night while filming their debut feature, The Cocoanuts (1929), at Paramount’s New York studio. Like their earlier picture, it has a slim plot—centered on the theft of a painting during a posh house party—but that’s just the chosen vehicle for their anarchic brand of humor. Groucho stars as bogus big-game hunter Captain Spaulding (reportedly named for a man who was arrested for supplying film stars with cocaine) and introduced his signature tune, “Hooray for Captain Spaulding.” The pre-Code comedy had to be cut for re-release in 1936, and the original was thought to be lost media. Decades later, a print was found in the British Film Institute and finally screened in 2016.

d. Victor Heerman, 97m, DCP

4K Restoration by Universal Pictures from the 35mm nitrate composite dupe negative provided by the British Film Institute. 4K scanning by Deluxe London. Restoration services by NBCUniversal StudioPost.