The Big Store

Department Store owner Hiram Phelps has died, leaving half-ownership in the Phelps Department Store to his nephew, singer Tommy Rogers. The other half is left to Hiram's sister and Tommy's aunt, Martha Phelps (Margaret Dumont). Rogers has no interest in running a department store, so he plans to sell his interest in the store and use the money to open a music conservatory. Store manager Grover (Douglass Dumbrille) plots to kill Rogers before he can sell his half of the business, marry the wealthy Martha, then kill her too, becoming sole owner of the Phelps Department Store. Martha is highly suspicious, worried about Tommy's safety lest anyone suspect her of foul play to take over the store. Against Grover's wishes, she hires private detective Wolf J. Flywheel (Groucho) as a floorwalker and Tommy's bodyguard. Between Tommy's romance with store employee Joan Sutton (Virginia Grey) and Flywheel romancing Martha, Flywheel, Ravelli (Chico) and Wacky (Harpo) eventually expose Grover and save Tommy.

The film has two extended scenes. One is in the store's bed department, with novel beds that come out of the walls and floor.

The second takes place near the film's climax, where Groucho, Chico and Harpo escape their pursuers in a madcap chase through the store, involving the elevator, a staircase, chandeliers, roller skates, a mail chute and a bicycle. The elaborate sequence utilized an unusual number of stunt doubles, Mack Sennett-type slapstick stunts and stop motion photography for a Marx Brothers film.

At two points, Groucho breaks the fourth wall. During the "Sing While You Sell" sequence, as he narrates a fashion show, he speaks a few asides, including "This is a bright red dress, but Technicolor is so expensive." Later, he comments, "I told you in the first reel [Grover] was a crook."

As in the previous Marx Bros. MGM films, The Big Store contains elaborate musical numbers, including as the upbeat "Sing While You Sell", led by a singing, dancing Groucho; and the "Tenement Symphony" sung by Tony Martin and a children's choir. The screenwriting team of Kuller, Golden and Fimberg also supplied the lyrics to Hal Borne's original music. The Big Store is the second Marx film with an instrumental version of "Cosi-Cosa" from A Night at the Opera, which can be heard during the moving bed scene. It was also heard in A Day at the Races.

• "If It's You"- Tony Martin (music & lyrics by Ben Oakland, Artie Shaw & Milton Drake)
• "Sing While You Sell"- Groucho, Six Hits and a Miss, Virginia O'Brien and Harpo as a drum-beating snake charmer
• "Rock-a-bye Baby"- Virginia O'Brien
• "Mama Eu Quero"- Chico and Harpo (piano duet)
• "A Whimsical Trio" - Harpo (harp, violin, cello) (by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, using music from the works below)
  • "Mozart's Sonata in C major" - Harpo (harp)
  • "Beethoven's Minuet" - Harpo (harp)
• "Tenement Symphony"- Tony Martin, onstage choir and orchestra, featuring Chico and Harpo

• Groucho Marx - Wolf J. Flywheel
• Harpo Marx - Wacky
• Chico Marx - Ravelli
• Tony Martin - Tommy Rogers
• Virginia Grey - Joan Sutton
• Margaret Dumont - Martha Phelps
• Douglass Dumbrille - Mr. Grover
• William Tannen - Fred Sutton
• Marion Martin - Peggy Arden
• Henry Armetta - Giuseppi
• Anna Demetrio - Maria
• Virginia O'Brien - Kitty
• Paul Stanton - George Hastings
• Russell Hicks - Arthur Hastings
• Bradley Page - Duke
• Charles Lane - Finance Company Agent (Uncredited)
• Adrian Morris - Piano-Mover (Uncredited)
• John Berkes - Janitor (Uncredited)
• Six Hits and a Miss

Reviews of The Big Store were generally positive, but unenthusiastic. Theodore Strauss of The New York Times wrote that "if it lacks the continuously harebrained invention of, say, 'A Night at the Opera,' the boys are still the most erratic maniacs this side of bars. If one were entirely truthful one would have to admit that the picture has many a dull stretch, that the tricks have been overworked, that the boys are slowing down, etc., etc. But with Marxian adherents—among whom we most decidedly belong—the question is simply, Are the Marx Brothers in it? They are."[1] A review in Variety called it a "moderate comedy where dull stretches overshadow the several socko laugh sequences during a bumpy unfolding ... Marx Bros. repeat their familiar antics without much variation from previous appearances."[2] Film Daily suggested that a couple of the chase scenes were "a little lengthy" but still concluded, "A 'laugh clocker' could run a high total checking this and the preview audience seemed to love it."[3] John Mosher of The New Yorker wrote that the film was "not great Marx material, not a film that collectors will exhibit as a sample of this era's humor, but again and again the old flash is there."[4]

The film made a profit of only $33,000. Nonetheless, it was among the more profitable Marx Brothers films of the period.[5]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Big Store

• The Big Store on IMDb
• The Big Store at AllMovie
• The Big Store at the TCM Movie Database
• The Marx Brothers Council Podcast episode discussing "The Big Store"