Go West is a 1940 Western-Comedy that starred the three Marx Brothers, Groucho, Chico, and Harpo.
It's 1870. Con-men S. Quentin Quale and the Panello Brothers go west to make their fortunes. The Panello Brothers become the owners of Dead Man's Gulch as collateral for a loan, unaware that Terry Turner has plans to sell it to provide for the owner's grandfather. Soon the deed becomes the most prized object for the Gulch's property value and everyone intends on taking it for themselves, whether it's through clever wordplay or at the end of a guns' barrel.
Not to be confused with the 1925 Buster Keaton film or the 2023 comedy film that both go by the same name.
Provides examples of:
- Anachronism Stew: While the film is set in 1870, there are a few jokes made for the 1940 audience.
- When Quale tries selling a woman a worthless piece of jewelry by claiming how it belonged to the Czarina, she asks him how he got it. He answers that he knows Rasputin personally.
- When Quale and the Panello Brothers sneak in through the second story of the Crystal Palace, Joseph tries to reassure Quale by saying they would telephone for help. Quale tells him that they can't because Don Ameche (who played Alexander Graham Bell in a Bell biopic) hadn't invented the telephone yet.
- When Quale tries selling the same necklace from earlier to a Native woman, she says she would prefer a Cadillac Sedan.Quale: She's been off the reservation.
- Annoying Arrows: When Rusty "voices" his concerns about Native Americans in Dead Man's Gulch, he reveals that he had a massive arrow in his butt.
- Coin-on-a-String Trick: The Panello Brothers manage to con Quale out of 9$ by giving him a 10$ bill on a string when they buy a 1$ hat off of him. They even repeat the gag when he tries selling him a poorly-made jacket.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- Groucho's character S. Quentin Quale is introduced ditching a group carrying his luggage, tricking a line of people buying train-tickets into clearing by claiming that the line starts on the other side of the room and tries gaslighting the box-office attendant into giving him a 70$ ticket for 60$.Quale: This is highway robbery, no wonder you're behind bars.
- The Panello Brothers are introduced when Quale tries to con them into buying a poorly-made hat and jacket combo, only for them to turn the tables and trick him out of all of his money and the hat he kept it in.
- Groucho's character S. Quentin Quale is introduced ditching a group carrying his luggage, tricking a line of people buying train-tickets into clearing by claiming that the line starts on the other side of the room and tries gaslighting the box-office attendant into giving him a 70$ ticket for 60$.
- Everything Is an Instrument: Rusty manages to rig a Native American weaving loom into a makeshift harp, this being the set-up for Harpo's obligatory harp-solo.
- Gold Fever: The whole reason why everyone is heading west is to take advantage of the gold rush. That said, it's a plot of land with no gold on it that everyone's crazy about, mainly because a railroad company plans on building atop it for a fortune.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: "Red" Baxter manages to intimidate Quale by shooting the corks off of six bottles without breaking any of them.
- Mathematician's Answer: When Joseph asks Quale where the train is, Quale tells him "the tracks."
- Screaming Plane Baby: Quale asks a mother why her baby is screaming its head off in the horse-drawn carriage, she responds that it "can't stand the jerks." The Panello Brothers immediately try throwing themselves out of the carriage, only for Quale to stop them.Quale: It's nothing personal, they didn't mean anything by it.
- The Seven Western Plots: Union Pacific story. The conflict revolves around the deed to Dead Man's Gulch, a plot of land that, while bereft of gold for the Gold Rush, is sought after for a new railroad.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Terry Turner and Eve Wilson are in love with one another, but they are members of a pair of Feuding Families. Terry plans on selling Dead Man's Gulch for a fortune to prove to her grandfather that he can provide for her, unaware that he had already had given it to the Panello Brothers for collateral.
- Tipis and Totem Poles: The group stays for the night at a Native American village, bunking in tipis and a totem pole that conspicuously looks like Groucho Marx.
