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It’s also notable (at least to me) that he is the “ridiculous” part of the inspiration in the name of this blog (The Millennium Conjectures: A blog of the Ridiculous and Sublime). Thalberg sat down with them, had a potato, and never missed or interrupted another meeting with the Marx Brothers.Julius Henry “ Groucho” Marx (Octo– August 19, 1977) was not only one of the funniest men to ever live, he also played some of the funniest named characters in American movie history. One day, Thalberg came back from another meeting to find Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, and Harpo Marx sitting in his office completely naked, and roasting potatoes on sticks in his office fireplace. Afterwards, Thalberg kept his appointments with the Marx Brothers, but would often interrupt his meetings with them and step out to attend other meetings - again keeping the brothers waiting for hours.
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They pushed the office file cabinets against Thalberg's door, trapping the producer in his office. When Thalberg's secretary went home for the day, the brothers decided they'd had enough.
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One day, during pre-production for A Night at the Opera, Thalberg kept The Marx Brothers waiting for several hours in his secretary's office, while he was in his own office making phone calls. Producer Irving Thalberg would often call people in for meetings, and then keep them waiting in his office for hours while he attended other meetings on the MGM lot. Claypool ( Margaret Dumont), marking the beginning of the film in existing copies. The waiter then crosses over to speak to Mrs. He's joined in song by a waiter who then enters the dining room, where he sings as he serves a man who also gets in a few notes. A street sweeper sings part of the prologue ("Un nido di memorie.") as he greets a man who then hands out opera tickets to a group of children emerging from a store the kids respond with "la-la-la-la-la, verso un paese strano." A "captain" comes down a set of steps, salutes a sentry, then bursts into "Vesti la giubba." There's a lap dissolve to a hotel lobby, where a "baggage man" is rolling a trunk and crooning about "nettare divino" (divine nectar). According to MGM's dialogue cutting continuity, the film originally began (after the opening credits) with the image of a "boat on canal." A superimposed title reads: "ITALY - WHERE THEY SING ALL DAY AND GO TO THE OPERA AT NIGHT." What follows is a musical number featuring bits and pieces from Ruggero Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" performed by "everyday" Italians.
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