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) "the best this family has given us." The film was evidently based on two routines the Marx Brothers did during their early days in vaudeville ("Home Again" and "Mr. Green's Reception"), along with a story idea from one of Groucho's friends, Bert Granet, called "The Seas Are Wet". The passport scene is a reworking of a stage sketch in which the brothers burst into a theatrical agent's office auditioning an impersonation of a current big star. It appeared in their stage shows "On the Mezzanine Floor" and "I'll Say She Is" (1924). This skit was also done by the Marxes