Memorable, crazy movie

Did you people see the same film I saw?

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

After watching this yet another time, I fail to see why this would be below any other Marx movie. I would consider it a close to perfect Marx movie! The non-Marx scenes are few and far between. The movie has good tempo, with only one music scene not involving the brothers (kind of cute, Tony Martin recording a record on the fly for a customer when the record is sold out) and one where they play a minor part. That particular scene, with many young musicians, is notably well planned, with Chico and Harpo making a brief break in the middle, and a choir added halfway in, giving the scene much needed variation.But of course the Marx brothers are the important part, and what scenes they make:Groucho's and Harpo's introduction scene in Groucho's messy office, with a boiling lunch in the desk and Harpo's typewriter gag. - Groucho's "Sing while you sell" number. - The bed department scene. - A marvelous piano duet scene with Chico and Harpo. - Harpo's dream scene. - A great, very funny chase scene at the end, topped by Groucho's bicycle stunt.And still I am skipping over a lot of things. The movie rarely makes me reach for any fast forward, only in the two Tony Martin musical numbers, and even they are pretty good as romantic break songs. As a whole I see a top-notch Marx, not a half-decent one.

When people are asked which is their least favorite Marx Brothers movie, "The Big Store" is one of the most frequent choices. And it's not hard to understand why: this must be the Marx movie with the least comedy content in it - if not in quality, then certainly in quantity. Apart from the hilarious scene near the start where Margaret Dumont tries to explain the case "in detail" to supposedly busy detective Groucho while Harpo is typing loudly and a toaster goes out of control (a sequence that can make you laugh no matter how many times you see it), it's hard to name another classic piece of comedy here. The scene with the 14-member Italian family and the climactic chase inside the store are more chaotic and frenetic than funny (and there's also way too much fast motion used). On the bright side, this film has a better supporting cast than "Go West", "Sing While You Sell" is a grand and catchy number, Harpo and Chico have a delightful piano duet and Harpo's harp-playing scene is pure magic. While in many Marx Brothers movies I find the piano and harp numbers a dull interruption of the comedy, in "The Big Store" they are a welcome relief from the absence of comedy! **1/2 out of 4.

This is my favorite movie ever.These are the highlights for me.From Groucho's singing "Mr. Grover you are just a quack to me" to the end of the "Sing while you sell" reprise. Virginia O'Brien had me laughing on the floor the first time I heard "Rock-a-bye Baby". I just love the way Groucho takes the big production number, a standard vehicle of the time, and makes it signature Groucho. You got to smile.I think this movie has some of the best Groucho/Margaret Dumont banter.Harpo's harp solo is miles ahead of any of his others. It's just plain fun,Although the Tenement Symphony clearly is lacking musically, you have to love the overriding pun. The Tenement Symphony in four flats.

Tony Martin's "Tenement Symphony," although seemingly misplaced in the movie, was great, in that its melody was classic in tone, and Martin's voice only enhanced the overall effect. The "ditzy" chase scenes towards the finale of the film, although exaggerated, and obviously performed by stunt doubles, and stop-action, or jerky photography, were "over the top" for belly laughs. Harpo's mirror-reflection musical moment was a great deep breath of rest from his usual zaniness; it was magic, as was Chico's duet with him. For me, born in 1936, my viewing it at still a tender age of nine or ten only made this little boy happy and delighted with the film. If I were to be critical at the age I am today, I would say, the film doesn't come close to what the Marx Brothers films intended from earlier works...but just see it again through the eyes and heart of the child I was, and you'll agree that, gee; what a funny film the Big Store really was.