100 Years Ago: Harpo’s First (Extant) Movie

March, 1925 marked the release date of the silent comedy/adventure Too Many Kisses, whichcontains the earliest extant footage of a Marx Brother prior to the release of The Cocoanuts four years later.

Too Many Kisses is the only movie in which Harpo ever “speaks”, although — most fittingly — it’s a silent film, so we read his dialogue in intertitles. Set in the Basque country of Spain, it stars Richard Dix, with Harpo as “The Village Peter Pan“. He has one line “You’re sure you can’t move?” But he’s in several scenes of the film and it’s a thrill to see.

Five years ago, the Film Preservation Society released a DVD featuring the restored film and an original score by Harpo’s son, Bill Marx, and all sorts of other extras. Get your copy here.

For more on the Marx Brothers, please readThe Marx Brothers Miscellany: A Subjective Appreciation of the World’s Greatest Comedy Team.