Durante started acting in movies in the 1930s. He worked in comedy series with silent movie legend Buster Keaton. He later appeared in "The Wet Parade" (1932), "Broadway to Hollywood" (1933), "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1942, playing "Banjo", a character based on Harpo Marx), "Ziegfeld Follies" (1946), "Billy Rose's Jumbo" (1962, based on the 1935 musical) and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963).