SAAB OF TROY In The State of Independence, pportunities are Around Every CORNER. Groucho Brings Down An Elephant their humor was, or seemed to be, uni- ne of my versally applicable. favorite Epstein and the curators at the movie Jewish Museum feel that these great entrances of comedians ended up with a double all time is Groucho consciousness. Their comedy was Marx striding ... well, informed by their Jewishness but they more like bounding ... could not really state it. onscreen to the strains Maybe so. But I don't know how of "Captain GEORGE they then can account for Groucho's Spaulding" in the CANTOR "schnorrer, " or for the fact that the 1930 film Animal Reality Check Crackers: leading role in the first sound picture was that of a conflicted chazzan in The "Hooray for Captain Jazz Singer. Spaulding, the African explorer. In many ways, I think the American `Did someone call me schnorrer?' public of that age was far more tolerant "Hooray, Hooray, Hooray." of overt ethnic humor than ours is. The tune is familiar to later genera- Look at Fanny Brice and Eddie tions as the theme of Groucho's tele- Cantor. Many of their routines fea- vised quiz show "You Bet Your Life." tured heavy Jewish dialect material. But it is a source of wonder to me The Goldbergs was one of the top- that a quintessential Yiddish word like "schnorrer" could have appeared in a movie made for general release more than 70 years ago. When my wife and I were in New York last summer, we went to an exhibit at the Jewish Museum on the influence of Jews on movies and broadcast- ing. I am impatient with academ- ic analyses of humor or assign- ing it certain ethnic characteris- tics. This is an exercise that usually involves lots of chin stroking and throwing around of words like "alienation" and anxiety. It seems to me that great comedy in every age is always =g4,1.414i1:w1,1„. the work of outsiders telling Groucho Marx the self-important and pompous rated shows of early radio and that was that they are ridiculous. From the wise as ethnic as you can get. slaves in the satire of Juvenal, to the A few moments after singing fools and jesters of Shakespeare, to the "Captain Spaulding," Groucho launch- clowns of Italian comedy. es into a monologue about the joys of The Jews just happened to hit their big-game hunting in Africa. "One stride as sound film and radio came in. morning I shot an elephant in my The Marx Brothers did not play the pajamas. How it got in my pajamas I'll roles of obviously Jewish characters. never know. ), Certainly not in the same way that You can argue that this is the perpet- Woody Allen or Mel Brooks do. ually excluded Jew ridiculing the privi- In his book The Haunted Smile, leged class and its preoccupation with Lawrence J. Epstein wrote that the Marxes, George Burns, Jack Benny and killing things. Or you can say it is inventive word Milton Berle "offered an assimilationist play based on the peculiarities of sen- model based on a subtle contract tence construction of the English lan- offered by the culture: Jewish comedi- guage. I vote for that one. ans. . . were fully accepted so long as Because funny is universal, and I bet Groucho knew that all along. ❑ George Cantor's e-mail address is gcantor@thejewishnews.com SIGN The SAAB AND DRIVE EVENT ATTENTION GM EMPLOYEES: P.E.P. VEHICLES NOW AVAILABLE! GMS MO. 36 mos. $1500 due at signing. Includes first month payment, acquisition fee and transfer plate. • Auto Transmission • Power Locks • Alloy Wheels • Leather Seats • CD Player • Turbo Charged Engine • Power Windows • Active Head Restraint System • No Charge Scheduled Maintenance GMS MO. 36 mos. $1500 due at signing. 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