Groucho Marx’s Mustache

I’ve recently been watching some old Marx Brothers movies that I don’t think I’ve seen since I was a kid, and I couldn’t stop noticing just how ridiculously fake Groucho Marx’s mustache looked. For some reason, I hadn’t recalled that it was painted on like that. I remembered it having an obviously unreal quality but thought at minimum it was some kind of mock hair pasted on. But this bold black makeup striped across his upper lip (and “bushy” brows as well) is really pushing the boundaries of an audience’s willingness to suspend disbelief. And yet we do…

As a slapstick comedian in the early days of film and an era of intense physical comedy, his painted-on mustache and brows are clearly his clown makeup, his performance mask. (Though it is important to note that they were also well known for their wonderfully outrageous verbal gymnastics.) Perhaps having started as a stage performer, he just continued with the extreme makeup that was needed to make an impact on the live audience sitting at a distance. But on film, the exaggeration is exponential. He was a clever chap, so I feel certain he enjoyed the outlandish aspect of it all and pushed it to the extreme with great intent knowing full well how it read on film.

In many ways, the Marx Brothers were very much ahead of their time. They have a postmodern awareness of the hyper-artificiality of being an entertainer. And in the early stages of film, the Marx Brothers already grasped how to utilize the removed aspect of film. In several of their films from the early 30s, Groucho often breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the film audience. When he breaks that fourth wall, one almost expects him to somehow rip off the mustache. Is that Groucho or Julius Henry Marx expositing on the comedy that has just transpired?

For me, as a child growing up in the 1970s, I was lucky enough to have a small 10 inch black and white TV in my bedroom which I used to spend hours watching old movies and reruns of old TV shows. You Bet Your Life, a game show starring Groucho which originally aired in the 1950s, was a favorite of mine and I believe my first exposure to Groucho. He then sported what I assume was in fact facial hair growing from the follicles on his upper lip. The mask finally became the reality. Did he finally grow into being “Groucho” or did the ‘stache, brows, glasses and cigar sit in a prop box in his dressing room at the TV studio??? Probably a little of both…

It’s actually quite difficult to find a photo of Groucho sans mustache. Ironically, the best one I could find was this one with fellow mustache-adorned icon, Charlie Chaplin – also seen here without his signature hirsute accessory. I suspect few would recognize either of these comedy geniuses in this photo without their simple masks. It probably made life much easier for them being able to go about in public without being recognized by their adoring fans.

(Charlie is second from left, Groucho third from left.)

The classic glasses with fuzzy mustache and caterpillar brows are still a popular gag/costume item. I wonder though if young people know what the original reference is. 

“Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he'll tell you the truth” – Oscar Wilde

Sometimes we all want to wear a mask…