The House That Shadows Built the Marx Brothers, with Davison Clark playing Mr. Lee, Theatrical Producer, which was intended to promote their forthcoming 1931 film "Monkey Business" (Clark later played the role of the frustrated Passport Official in "Monkey Business" and would also appear in the war scene in "Duck Soup"). The segment, containing material which was never included in any other Marx Brothers film, is a re-working of the first scene of their first successful Broadway revue "I'll Say She Is" (1924), which Groucho considered to have been the funniest work in the Brothers' career. Except for a few name changes and additional gags,
Monkey Business (1931 film) while constantly trying to evade the ship's crew. Prior to this development, the film has no real plot, with the Brothers merely causing unending uproar. Except in the credits and in the screenplay, the Brothers' characters have no names in this film. They are referred to simply as "the stowaways". After arriving stateside, one of the gangsters kidnaps the other's daughter, leaving it up to the brothers to save the day. Writers S. J. Perelman and Will B. Johnstone were excited to be working with the Marx Brothers, but producer Herman J. Mankiewicz advised them to lower their expectations, calling