Monkey Business (1931 film) in Queens, New York City. Upon alighting from the ship, the Marx Brothers' real life father (Sam "Frenchie" Marx) is briefly seen in a cameo appearance, sitting on top of luggage behind the Brothers on the pier as they wave to the First Mate. Sam Marx was 72 at the time, and the appearance was his film debut. He was paid $12.50 each day for two days work. "Monkey Business" was Norman MacLeod's solo directorial debut. One of the sequences in this film involves the four brothers attempting to get off the ship using a passport stolen from famous singer
Monkey Business (1931 film) in the Paramount promotional film "The House That Shadows Built" (1931). The concept of the Marx Brothers being stowaways on a ship would be repeated in an episode of their radio series "Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel" (1933) in the episode "The False Roderick" and would also be recycled in their MGM film "A Night at the Opera" (1935). The essence of Groucho's joke, "Sure, I'm a doctor—where's the horse?" would serve as an integral plot element for their film "A Day at the Races" (1937). Also repeated in that later film would be the uproarious medical examination that Harpo and