Marx Brothers and Harpo on the show. In Woody Allen's film "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986), Woody's character, after a suicide attempt, is inspired to go on living after seeing a revival showing of "Duck Soup". In "Manhattan" (1979), he names the Marx Brothers as something that makes life worth living. In an episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" Murray calls the new station owner at home late at night to complain when the song "Hooray for Captain Spaulding" is cut from a showing of "Animal Crackers" because of the new owners' policy to cut more and more from shows to
Chico Marx a rendition of "The Beer Barrel Polka". Chico became the unofficial manager of the Marx Brothers after their mother, Minnie, died in 1929. As manager, he cut a deal to get the brothers a percentage of a film's gross receipts—the first of its kind in Hollywood. Furthermore, it was Chico's connection with Irving Thalberg of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that led to Thalberg's signing the Brothers when they were in a career slump after "Duck Soup" (1933), the last of their films for Paramount. For a while in the 1930s and 1940s, Chico led a big band. Singer Mel Tormé began his professional