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
Marx Brothers regarded Leo McCarey, is the highest rated of the five Marx Brothers films on the American Film Institute's "100 years ... 100 Movies" list. It did not do as well financially as "Horse Feathers", but was the sixth-highest grosser of 1933. The film sparked a dispute between the Marxes and the village of Fredonia, New York. "Freedonia" was the name of a fictional country in the script, and the city fathers wrote to Paramount and asked the studio to remove all references to Freedonia because "it is hurting our town's image". Groucho fired back a sarcastic retort asking them to