Harpo speaks! New recordings reveal mute Marx brother chatting with audience

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The comedy legend, who adopted his silent persona because of stage nerves, did occasionally address his audience, as revealed by a new archive release Groucho was the cigar-chomping wit with the improbable moustache, Chico was the piano-playing rustic grifter and Zeppo played the straight man and the lover. But as any Marx Brothers fan knows, Harpo was the pantomime, who cracked up the audience without saying a word, dressed in his tattered raincoat and curly wig. His persona was childlike and mischievous but also musical – he let his harp and his taxi horn do the talking. But now we get to see, or rather hear, a new side to Harpo Marx. A very special recording has been unearthed of Harpo in 1964 speaking to an audience, in character. Arthur “Harpo” Marx was born Adolph Marx in New York in 1888. He started performing with his brothers in 1910, and his nickname probably came about because of his instrument of choice – he was an entirely self-taught musician. By 1915, due to his nerves a...
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The Problem with People review – old-country lark takes on blarney-fuelled family feud

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Paul Reiser and Colm Meaney go into cliche mode when an Irish patriarch wills half his legacy to his son’s unknown American cousin

Never mind people. The problem with this comedy is the cliches. It could not be more Irish if it was dropped into a pint of Guinness and rolled in shamrocks by a dancing leprechaun. The script is co-written by the American actor Paul Reiser, with a very broad sense of humour, though it’s likable enough. Colm Meaney is also on decent form as undertaker Ciáran, whose elderly father Fergus (Des Keogh) has a deathbed request: he wants to heal a rift with the American side of the family that has rumbled on for a couple of generations.

Over in New York, Reiser plays American cousin Barry, a real-estate tycoon. He’s recovering from the double whammy of a heart attack and divorce, which puts him in the sentimental mood for a family reunion. So off he flies, back to the old country. Initially, Barry is charmed by the beauty of the landscape and the quirky locals – among them a B&B owner with Mrs Doyle levels of pushiness and a pair of teenagers constantly putting on terrible American accents. The poor actors seem to have been directed to play it full-on, with exaggerated facial expressions and slightly embarrassing oversize performances.

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