All Harpo Marx's Movie Harp Solos 1929-1949

Silent comedian Harpo Marx (1888-1964) began his career in show business with "absolutely no talent at all," by his own account. After being shanghaied in New York at 14 by his mother, Minnie, into what was at the time a mediocre family singing act, the young man spent years honing his horn-honking, silent harp-playing character while touring the early 20th Century Vaudeville circuit with his brothers Julius, Leonard and Milton, later replaced by Herbert. Eventually the act, now all-comedy, rose to headlining status as the Four Marx Brothers we know today - Groucho, Chico, Harpo and (sometimes) Zeppo.

The team went on to star on Broadway in the 1920s, scoring three huge hits in a row before graduating to movies and cementing their legacy as one of the finest comedy teams of the 20th century. (Zeppo quit in 1933.)

bio by Josh Max

This is the first compilation available anywhere of all of Harpo's harp solos from the Marx Brothers' movies on Youtube. For this project, I used the best quality prints I could find, and some of the music has been boosted volume-wise so the whole video is more or less the same volume and you won't have to adjust your phone or computer. But bear in mind there is only so much you can do with the recording technology of the time, and I am not an audio engineer.

Here are the movies, in order. PS I used the phony harp solo from "Duck Soup" because it was funny.

HONK!

1. The Cocoanuts 00:00 When My Dreams Come True
2. Animal Crackers 02:23 Why Am I So Romantic?
3. Monkey Business 6:05 I'm Daffy Over You
4. Horsefeathers 8:00 Everyone Says I Love You
5 Duck Soup 11:02 "Harpo Plucks The Piano Strings"
5. A Night At The Opera 11:17 Alone
6. A Day At The Races 14:19
7. At The Circus 16:49
8. Go West 19:42
9. The Big Store 24:12
10. A Night In Casablanca 28:11
11. Love Happy Swanee River 31:04