History Film / HorseFeathers

Directed by Norman Z. [=McLeod=], who'd also helmed ''Film/MonkeyBusiness'' the year before. It's a {{parody}} of ''Theater/TheCollegeWidow1904''.

* CollegeWidow: Probably the only movie centered around this idiom that people still watch.

Directed by Norman Z. [=McLeod=], who'd also helmed ''Film/MonkeyBusiness'' the year before.

The whole thing is, of course, an excuse for the usual Marx family lunacy. It lacked the satirical edge of ''Film/DuckSoup'' and the social relevance of ''Film/ANightAtTheOpera'', but is forever beloved by college professors for its musical statement of administrative purpose: "Whatever it is, I'm against it!" It is also notable for dealing with serious issues of its day, such as the prohibition of alcohol (which ended one year after this film was released) and the rampant corruption in college football, particularly through the use of use of "ringers" (professional or semi-pro players who would be temporarily enrolled at colleges for the sole purpose of playing football)

[[JustForFun/TheOneWith The one where]] the four Marx Brothers play gridiron football to save a college.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Groucho and Thelma Todd share a kayak ride on a lake. Guess which one of them falls into the water.

-->'''Wagstaff:''' Have we got a stadium?
-->'''Professors:''' Yes.
-->'''Wagstaff:''' Have we got a college?
-->'''Professors:''' Yes.
-->'''Wagstaff:''' Well we can't support both. Tomorrow we start tearing down the college.

The whole thing is, of course, an excuse for the usual Marx family lunacy. It lacked the satirical edge of ''Film/DuckSoup'' and the social relevance of ''Film/ANightAtTheOpera'', but is forever beloved by college professors for its musical statement of administrative purpose: "Whatever it is, I'm against it!"

-->'''Groucho:''' Have we got a stadium?
-->'''Professors:''' Yes
-->'''Groucho:''' Have we a got a college?
-->'''Professors:''' Yes
-->'''Groucho:''' Well, we can't support both. Tomorrow we start tearing down the college.
-->'''Professors''' But professor, where will the students sleep?
-->'''Groucho:''' Where they always sleep, in the classroom.
** Later in then movie:
-->'''Groucho:''' Have you ever had any experience as a kidnapper?
-->'''Chico:''' You bet. You know what I do when I kidnap somebody? First I call 'em up on the telephone, then I send 'em my chauffeur.
-->'''Groucho:''' Oh, have you got a chauffeur? What kind of a car have you got?
-->'''Chico:''' Oh, I no got a car, I just got a chauffeur.
-->'''Groucho:''' Well maybe I'm crazy, but when you have a chauffeur, aren't you supposed to have a car?
-->'''Chico:''' Well I had one, but you see it cost too much money to keep a car and a chauffeur so I sold the car.
-->'''Groucho:''' Well that shows you how little I know. I would've kept the car and sold the chauffeur.
-->'''Chico:''' That's no good. I gotta have a chauffeur to take me to work in the morning.
-->'''Groucho:''' Well if you've got no car, how can he take you to work?
-->'''Chico:''' [[InsaneTrollLogic He don't have to take me to work, I no got a job]].

* BedsheetLadder: Done with a rope. Chico and Harpo are locked into an upstairs room by the rival football team, but Harpo luckily has a large piece of rope in his coat. Chico tells him "Tie on-a the bed, throw out the window!" Harpo takes off his tie, drops it on the bed, and throws the rope out the window.
* BigGame

-->'''Baravelli:''' "We're looking for Mullen and [=McHardie=]."
-->'''[=McHardie=]:''' "That's us, what can we do for you?"
-->'''Baravelli:''' "You got a brother?"
-->'''[=McHardie=]:''' "No."
-->'''Baravelli:''' "You got a sister?"
-->'''[=McHardie=]:''' "Yeah."
-->'''Baravelli:''' "Well your sister, she's a very sick man. You better come with us."
-->'''[=McHardie=]:''': "Yeah? What happened to her?"
-->'''Barvelli:''': "She had an accident in her automobile."
-->'''Mullen:''' "She has no automobile."
-->'''Baravelli:''' Well maybe she fall off her horse, I no look very close. Come on, we'll take you in our car."
-->'''[=McHardie=]:''': "You will eh? Well I have no sister."
-->'''Baravelli:''' "That's alright, we no got a car. Come on."

-->''Do you realize what happens if we lose? It means shame! Disgrace! Humiliation! And besides, you're crazy if you don't play the ace!''
* ExactWords: In the speakeasy, Harpo walks by two men playing cards, and one of them says, "Cut the cards." So Harpo does - with an ax.

* ExpensiveGlassOfCrap: Served by a local speakeasy. Chico gets an order for a quart of rye and a quart of scotch, and fills two different bottles from the same jug.
* FakeShemp: During production, Chico shattered his knee in a car crash. As a result, a body double to be used in some of the football scenes, most notably during the shot where the Four Marx Brothers chase a horse-drawn garbage wagon, climb in and head off in the opposite direction; Chico's double is taller than the other brothers by several inches.

* IsThereADoctorInTheHouse: Played with during the BigGame -- after watching his team get clobbered, Wagstaff calls out, "Is there a doctor in the house?" When a man says he's a doctor, Groucho asks, "How do you like the game, Doc?"

* MathematiciansAnswer: When Groucho is teaching a class, Harpo puts a picture of a beautiful woman over the blackboard while Groucho's back is turned:
-->'''Groucho:''' "Baravelli, who's responsible for this? Is this your picture?"
-->'''Chico:''' I don't think so. It doesn't look like me."

* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: The [[TropeNamers trope-namer]], if not the [[TropeMakers trope-maker]]. There was a scene in the film where Harpo entered the speakeasy with his own brand of UsefulNotes/SignLanguage (in this case, running a fish through with a sword and presenting it to the doorman).

* ShaggyDogStory: Chico explains how he goes about kidnapping someone; call them on the phone, and then send his chauffeur. Groucho asks what kind of car he has, and Chico says he has no car, just a chauffeur. Groucho wonders why someone would have a chauffeur without a car, and Chico replies that he couldn't afford both so he sold the car. Groucho says he would have sold the chauffeur and kept the car, but Chico says he needs the chauffeur to take him to work. Groucho asks how he does so without a car, and Chico says it doesn't matter because he doesn't have a job.

-->'''Wagstaff:''' "Have we got stadium?"
-->'''Professors:''' "Yes."
-->'''Wagstaff:''' "Have we got college?"
-->'''Professors:''' "Yes."
-->'''Wagstaff:''' "Well we can't support both. Tomorrow we start tearing down the college."

* TakeThat: Professor Wagstaff's exclamation, "Jumpin' anaconda!" is actually a reference to a company, Anaconda Copper, whom Groucho had invested in heavily. When the stock market crash of 1929 occurred, Marx lost several hundred thousand dollars, hence the curse word in the movie.
* TotemPoleTrench: Chico and Harpo run their professor out of the classroom, and moments later the two return, Harpo in a fake beard on Chico's shoulders, dressed in the professor's mortarboard hat and gown.

** WrittenInInfirmity: Baravelli is sitting down for most of the scene because Chico Marx had earlier been in an accident that shattered his kneecap.

[[TheOneWith The one where]] the four Marx Brothers play gridiron football to save a college.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** (Wagstaff, while pointing to the backside of a horse) "That reminds me, I haven't seen my son all day."
** Also (after renting a canoe), "I wanted to get a flat bottom, but the girl in the boat house didn't have one."
** "For you, I'd make love to a crocodile." (see {{Having A Gay Old Time}}).

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Wagstaff, during Baravelli's piano playing:
-->'''Wagstaff:''' I've got to stay here. But there's no reason why you folks shouldn't go out into the lobby 'til this thing blows over.

* OldFashionedRowboatDate: Wagstaff has a rowboat date with Connie, who is trying to seduce him to steal the Darwin playbook. The dialogue is anything but chaste, and the date ends with her falling into the water and Wagstaff cracking wise rather than saving her. Also, she was the one doing the rowing while Wagstaf sat under the parasol and sang to her.

Directed by Norman Z. [=McLeod=].

Directed by Norman Z. [=MacLeod=].

* ExpensiveGlassOfCrap: Served by a local speakeasy. Chico gets an order for a quart of rye and a quart of rum, and fills two different bottles from the same jug.

* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: The [[TropeNamers trope-namer]], if not the [[TropeMakers trope-maker]]. There was a scene in the film where Harpo entered the speakeasy with his own brand of SignLanguage (in this case, running a fish through with a sword and presenting it to the doorman).