Dan Rowan & Groucho talk about straight-men

[Democrat64]

Don't you just love it?!

[sweet161402]

Thanks cavettbiter so much for such great memories! love all the greats and Dick Cavett was always so natural.Love seeing Groucho again.

[headphoner955]

Did it take anyone else a good 2 minuets to realize they weren't talking about sexuality ? I'm so embarrassed...

[mdhookey]

Two giants of comedy in the same room. By the way, Dick Cavett's style of natural interviewing is so refreshing for today.

[MottTheWot]

Groucho had Chico and he also had Zeppo, the Marx brothers ran amok in the paramount movies and outside of a Night At The Opera they were stifled and sanitised by MGM, the Zeppo character was continued first with Alan Jones then a whole bunch of nauseating others. They had Chico caring about things at MGM, Chico never cared about anything in the early films and Groucho didn't have a care in the world and that's what made them work. Nobody was immune in those wonderful paramount films.

[TheJediCharles]

The cigarettes just blow me away. They're such a liberal sin these days, regarded as an evil attack on humanity at large. I miss seeing them. I don't even smoke, but when I see it, I see freedom.

[rayjr62]

@TheJediCharles That's funny. When I read your drivel, the first thing I thought about was stupidity. Then projectile vomiting.

[TheJediCharles]

@rayjr62

We're all outwardly defined by two groups. Some people it's an honor to be approved of and liked by, others it's an honor to be scorned by and reviled.

I wear your comment like a badge of honor. Thank you. :)

[wimpylassiter2336]

@TheJediCharles i agree, but i dont think its a liberal thing.

[TheJediCharles]

@wimpylassiter2336

The social, legal, and popular war on smoking is most definitely a liberal, left-of-center, Democrat position, without question.

That doesn't mean there are individual liberals who don't support the movement, or conservatives that that do support it, but to deny the campaign against smoking is couched in liberalism is to deny the obvious.

Apart from that, it's a disgusting movement. It's even listed in movie ratings next to nudity and profanity.

It's become a fanaticism.

[wimpylassiter2336]

@TheJediCharles I like Bill Hicks' opinions on antismokers. I dont know if you have seen a lot of Bill Hicks. I play pool in a league and i play in smoky bars and poolhalls and i have to leave my clothes outside and walk into my house wearing only boxers and immediately shower because my parents are 'offended' by cigarette smoke. Its sometihng people have been taught is bad. Cigarette smoke smells nice, in my opinion, but people will assume things about a persons character if they smoke.

[TheJediCharles]

@wimpylassiter2336

Exactly.

It's really come to the fore-front with me concerning raising my elementary school daughter, and the brainwash implantation she gets about it. She knows we don't smoke ourselves, and her mom is an RRT with horror stories about smokers on their deathbeds, but we still defend a person's right to do it. She'll understand better later, but right now she struggles to understand when I tell her, "it's better a nation of less-healthy free people, than healthy peons."

[ruinawish]

@TheJediCharles Yeah, that is funny. And stupid. Optimistic, but stupid.

[TheJediCharles]

@ruinawish

Not sure if you mean you agree or not, but I'm pleased either way.

[nightsoldier1112]

what an unfunny haelf a faeg!

[alanheadbloom]

smithereens, pl. n. small pieces or fragments [C19: from Irish Gaelic smidirīn,  diminutive from smiodar ]

[cheeriosinabowl]

Talk shows like Dick Cavett's were the REAL talk shows. They felt like a talk show. People actually talked and discussed things.

Today's talk shows feel rushed, full of idle chit-chat with so-called interesting people, who are in most part dull and jaded.

Miss those old shows of Dick Cavett, Merv Griffin, Tom Snyder, Mike Douglas ..... those guys were master interviewers.

[0XX3BFFD9FF188B487DS]

@cheeriosinabowl I think all of you people that whine about the old days, are faggots. yeah, the old was better, but they dead now.

[cheeriosinabowl]

@0XX3BFFD9FF188B487DS

..... Class-less comment from you. Do all us old timers a favour, and piss off.

[michaelm742]

@0XX3BFFD9FF188B487DS Why is it every single conversation about every single subject has to be interrupted by negetive comments from brainless instigating peckerheads with absolutley no life like you?!!!

[sleepypoodle]

@cheeriosinabowl Unfortunately today's chat shows seem to have disintegrated into being all about the host and their insatiable desires to feed their own egos - Jonathan Ross is one of the worst offenders, he can never strike a decent balance between either bullying or 'fluffing' his guests depending on how superior or inferior he feels to them. he is such an inadequate and typifies the bully mentality.

[cheeriosinabowl]

@sleepypoodle

.... true. I have never heard of Jonathan Ross?  British?

[vollsticks]

@cheeriosinabowl You're not missing anything.

[123Thisizit]

A smithereen is bunches of little tiny pieces....

[transfan1988]

I see, he´s one of those guys who think they´re to cool to take a joke. Fuck ´em.

[NicosNicosNicosNicos]

"smithereens - Fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items"

[wiktionary]

[deeryker]

@NicosNicosNicosNicos yes,,,and it is an Irish word,,, its Gaelic,,,used during ww 2 by an irish radion announcer about the blitz in london,,",everything is blown to smithereens"

"

[JLogic72]

Well, the modern version of this style talk show would be maybe, Bill Maher. (Circle pannel of celebrity guests) BUT.... that doesnt compare to this. This is a style that would do well again. Hmmmmm

[Guedingen]

Groucho's unaffected gentleness and generosity get me every time. Many thanks.

[mjworley]

Talk shows need more smoking.

[borch1260]

What stands out is the ease of the conversation. Nothing is forced.

[SimuLord]

Dick Cavett and Mike Douglas had the same style in their talk show---they'd sit right in the midst of their guests, a very social gathering of sorts, whereas Leno and Letterman have inherited Johnny Carson's tradition of sitting apart from the guests and being very in charge of things like an emcee or an impresario rather than one of the crowd. It's an interesting contrast (and testament to Carson's mastery of the form that his is still the standard.)

[RRaquello]

Groucho & Chico traded being straight man to each other. Groucho played straight man to Chico quite a bit.

[KB4QAA]

Bring back real talk shows!!! Carson was fabulous when his show was an hour and a half long and the guests all sat on the couch. Then he cut to one hour of rehearsed questions. pffffft.

[Lampshade51]

The Cavett ABC show of the late 60s/early 70s was a gem. Carson was a great monologist, comedian and personality, but his interviews were his weakness. Cavett excells at a smart interview. Also, the business of keeping all guests on the set to interact is just wonderful. Maybe it is just the era, but the easy pace with extended answers and interactions is great. Today, eveything is bang bang bang with short answers, a clip, and the guest is gone. The Cavett DVDs are really a joy.

[viralkothari2008]

I love the fact that there is no pretense. Nobody's plugging anything. They seem so laid and back. Relaxing, Smoking and having a good time. Closest thing I've seen to this in the present is Craig Ferguson.

[themredweirdoshow]

Sadly, in the 1980s Danny's promising life was cut short. As later happened with Jim Varney, he just couldn't stay away from those damn cigarettes. Thanks a lot, R.J. Reynolds.

[1MoreRoundbrother]

Zeppo is my favorite Marx and straight man.

[mmdaltx]

Groucho was a cranky old fart. 

[yetitracker]

@mmdaltx yes he was...a lot of funny people are in real life. they become known for being funny and are expected to be so by everybody but they have a serious side that is often angry as well.

[ThatRandomBeatle]

Chico was the straight-man?

.....

That is the finest summary of the Marx Brothers' insane world in cinema.

[MegaObserver1]

@ThatRandomBeatle In the movies, Groucho's straight "person" was Margaret Dumont. On TV, his straight man was George Fenneman.

[xXPinkGoddessXx]

I found it very confusing up until a minute and a half when I realised they weren't talking about sexual orientation.

[steve0281]

The only modern show that can even begin to compete with this caliber is QI.

[sbflash311]

Smithereens are fractured pieces.

[MGtzz]

Groucho is so funny and witty and generous here.

[Impowers]

Cavett and Paar were the greatest talk shows hosts. Carson wasn't in the same league.

[mohansen11]

@MegaPepper123 Thank you for clarifying your position. I had originally thought that you were looking at the attitude of the smoker(s) rather than focusing on the liberty that the people had at that time. I get your point now. Again, thank you for the clarification (and, I'm sorry that I missed your point the first time).

[mohansen11]

@MegaPepper123 Sorry that our messages crossed. It's interesting that the pipe/liqueur combo proved a winning combination. That said, I do think you need to consider this particular clip with the mind set of the time. To me, it's hard to see smoking on a show as a reflection of a sense of "liberty" when smoking was strongly encouraged by some of the most wealthy sponsors around.

[mohansen11]

@MegaPepper123 You seem to have misinterpreted the smoking by Groucho Marx (and/or Dan Rowan) by applying today's standards. When this clip was shot, there was nothing special about smoking on TV. In fact, many of the shows were sponsored by tobacco companies, and the more smoking the better for them. More specifically, Groucho Marx, George Burns, and Ernie Kovacs all relied on dollars provided by cigar company sponsors in their work. So, in some cases, smoking was required--not a liberty.

[ag8416]

i love that there is a chick there and no one even gives 2 shits about her presence including the camera man

[mohansen11]

@ag8416 There was no reason to cover the "chick" -- i.e., Erin Fleming -- who was likely "on set" against Dick Cavett's protests. Per imdb: Erin Fleming was a highly ambitious Canadian actress who was Groucho's legal "guardian" from 1969 until his death in 1977 (3 days after Elvis). His family sued to have her removed from that status, saying she was pushing him against his doctors' advice. In the 1990's, she grew increasingly unstable, and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2003.

[neilandrewporter]

the word "smithereen" is derived from the Irish word "smiodar", meaning small fragment.

i knew knowing this language would come in handy one day...

[Raymond09871]

About what year was this?

[wickedcoolally]

@Raymond09871 I'm pretty sure this was Groucho's final appearance on Cavett, which was May 25, 1971

[denniswilsonfan]

I think Steve Martin could stand his own against the Marx Brothers. don't get me wrong I think Groucho and His Brothers are the greatest comedy team that has ever graced any stage or film., but we can't forget the 3 stooges, Red Skelton, Danny Kaye, who also paved the way for today's comedians. then you also had Richard Pryor and George Carlin, the untouchable kings of stand up. Of course if you have noticed I have left out current comedians. theres a few that in time may mature.

[MROSEN62]

Groucho and Dan are both smoking. Both are dead. However, both would probably both be just as dead if they had never smoked.

[mobile513]

@MROSEN62

Bogart on the other hand...

[TheLittleginnie]

@MROSEN62 Love your comment, it made me laugh anyway!!

[maxedwell]

This is an amazing clip. Only now & then do we get to peek beyond the veil that is the manufactured Hollywood/conglomerate interview. Even back in the Golden Age of TV, it was a flood of propaganda (although, less filtered than today's garbage).

Plus, Groucho... the man bridged the era of radio & on into the TV era much like his many talented peers (Red Skeleton being a notable for me). Seeing interviews like this make me wish Cab Calloway, or Charlie Chaplin could have hit TV.

Great upload!

[nitramgnal]

What a human.

[Bellyflops2]

Back in my day we used to pour the coffee in this thing called a cup...then we would drink it if it wasn't too warm. If it was too warm we would wait until it cooled off...then we would drink it.

[veegta83]

Wow Groucho has so much charisma. I'm 26 but celebrities nowadays are so robotic. Compare Muhammed Ali to Tiger Woods. Ali is so good in interviews.

I like Ricky Gervais or Ben Stiller but they don't have the personality.

[benforshay]

@veegta83 yeah check out When We Were Kings

[mikeqc2002]

Back in my day, people used to appear on talk shows.

[golfthewlis]

You know being a straight man was like being in a western. It felt like a western...

[MrElliotpaige]

in my day, they used to have what was called straight men, that was where there was two comedians who had an act working together, and one of the comedians would tell jokes and be funny whilst the other man would not tell any jokes at all, and would instead feed the funny man with lines with wich to bounce jokes of of. These straight men were also called foils or stooges. Now in my day there was a very funny film team called the three stooges, but they werent always the same stooges all the ...

[RoyFive]

Originally when Burns and Allen started their routine, Gracie was intended to be the straight...person and George the funny one, but through trial and error, particularly after finding out Gracie got all the laughs, they reversed the setup.

[barryfunnytv]

From what I've seen, Bud Abbott was the greatest straight man ever.

[HunterMann]

I notice that most talk show hosts appear to have not really read a person's boom, yet they interview them as though they have. I understand ow people like Letterman can be far too busy to read many books, but it makes for such a weak interview when they don't know the subject they are dealing with. True, the intvw with an author is about selling the book, but it should just be a conversation rather than "act".

[HunterMann]

typo: a person's boom...should have said a person's book... hey, i'm no bookie.

[peaulehochon]

vous avez vue les ami(e)s ? il ont tous une cigarette ou un cigare à la main !... Ahhh le bon temps du pas politiquement correcte (et en plus MONSIEUR GROUCHO MARX etait un génie ) !

[EvenEvenOdd]

Not smoking cigar in public has to do with political correctness about as much as not punching a random person in the jaw does.

[Veggieman87]

The question I have is how exactly Chico was Groucho's straightman? I always thought it was the other way around. It always seemed to me that Chico got more jokes in.

[MarioGamerNS]

To me, the joke count seemed more even, but Chico wasn't a strictly straight man. I always seen Zeppo as the straight man, or Doumount when it was female. Maybe Groucho's memory was on the fritz at this age, but Chico was not a straight man.

[Veggieman87]

I'm just curious. I was wondering how exactly those two fit into the straight man-comic relationship.

[EvenEvenOdd]

Harpo Marx, in Harpo's autobiography, refers to Groucho as the straight man.

[chowbok]

I agree, and that was the first thing I thought. Margaret Dumont and Zeppo were Groucho's straight men, Groucho was Chico's straight man.

[leiraman]

subitulos en español, seria genial!

gracias y un saludo

[Pitumisio]

@leiraman Aprender inglés sería más genial. Lo fue para mí y no dudo que lo sería para ti.

[blacksunfish]

Why do we not have REAL talk shows like this anymore?

Leno/Letterman/Conan/etc. will forever stand in the long shadows of their forebears...

[HunterMann]

I think we do have a few: Charlie Rose is one of them. I listen to National Public Radio and I think that much of the true "art of the interview" resides there now, as though it left television and went with the audio-only style of really getting deeper into the interview process, and really mining a much richer final result than most of the quazi-journalists who work today's talk show circuit.

[eddybaby58]

The best talk shows now are on the BBC or ireland's RTE. Check out Tubridy's Late late Show or old episodes of Parkinson's show. Good stuff. Long, uninterrupted interviews with very interesting people...also, Howard Stern does the best interviews on radio. he needs to do them on tv when his Sirius contract expires.

[HunterMann]

Thanks , I'll check out the shows on BBC & RTE. I tried watching/listening to Howard Stern, but he seems to be inconsistent and too often is just another DJ using sex-themed shows to get ratings. Maybe I need to search Stern and the name of people I'd like to hear interviews with. I just find his interviews with bikini bimbos and porn stars so boring.

[JossJossJoss1]

@blacksunfish

Because American talk shows have become a personality vehicle for the host and a simple promotional tool for the guest.

Rather than a platform for dialogue it's an exercise in celebrity-making and advertising.

[blacksunfish]

@JossJossJoss1 ...I agree wholeheartedly

[mobile513]

@blacksunfish

Well, there aren't too many Gorucho's for them to interview, but it has to do with a lot of things. There have been some good talk shows, Tough Crowd, The Tom Green Show, and that one with the gay guy (Graham Norton was it?) but they all got canned. Jon Stewart has some good interview moments. It's sad though. People don't want this anymore I think, unfortunately. We don't want to sit down have people really talk about things and be themselves.

[zangazoo2007]

@blacksunfish I think the attention spans of today are much shorter. We live in such extremes right now. Everyone is on the go, but watching a talk show like this makes me realize that we have changed too much in our habits since the days of these shows.

[whitenegro88]

@blacksunfish how is this talk show any different?

[jmad627]

@blacksunfish I think it is because the only reason guests come on talk shows is to plug their latest project, or do their act/shtick. Plus most celebrities, nowadays, are just too shallow and uninteresting to offer any reasonable conversation. The hosts you mention usually just serve up softball questions or set up jokes. It's all banal now, but you ask a very good question.

[Hoopermazing]

@blacksunfish Because this is the stupidest and most banal generation in at least a century. Next question?

[jackette55]

@blacksunfish Yeah. A talk show is where you sit and talk like you're in a living room eating cookies. The so-called "talk shows" of today are a rushed series of calculated questions and interruptions crammed into a extra small box of restriction.

[ShananagansOnYou]

@blacksunfish

We do it's called THE VIEW, With Whoopie Goldberg LOLOL

[blacksunfish]

@ShananagansOnYou - Now THAT is funny. :)

[hanger55]

@blacksunfish The era ended at Johnny.

[thescarf33]

such strong words coming from chewing gumma... : [/---

[tuxguys]

I hope the observation by Groucho, and the compliment paid by him to Dan Rowan, is not lost on you all: Think about Desi Arnaz on "I Love Lucy;" think about Gleason as Joe the Bartender opposite Frank Fontaine as "Crazy;" Danny Thomas said to Lucy Arnaz in a special, about her dad: "If you don't have a good straight man, you don't have any laughs."

[BronkoScunkadelik]

You will NEVER see a comedic style or charisma like Groucho or his brothers. Not in a million lifetimes!

[JeredRLacks]

@BronkoScunkadelik or the Stooges.

[zangazoo2007]

@BronkoScunkadelik Absolutely right! Every generation has iconic people that change the face of life. There are no comedians today that could hold up to the legendary The Marx Bros.

[Blackjesus3]

@BronkoScunkadelik why not?

[jackette55]

@BronkoScunkadelik That's because you can only have an original ONCE.

[MisterEvasion]

You don't get very many comedians these days who are imitated by others. How many times have we seen Chaplin emulated in some way or as of course they say here, Groucho?

I guess it is because there are far fewer comedians these days that have a specific character that the public view as iconic.

[deonip]

Smithereens comes from the Irish (Gaeilge) word "Smidiríní" - when something breaks in smithereens, that means it shatters into many small pieces

[tate646]

i agree with Cyberfool1, thanks for all these groucho clips! I love his stories!

[MinorMeriwether]

sorry i was just asking a question. damb.

[gumma71]

Straight as in comedy, idiot!

[ferj2001]

Is your mother lesbian?

[zapkvr]

This is what I call a real talk show. None of these guys are selling anything. And Dick Cavett is a natural. He's almost as good as Nichael Parkinson.

[Cyberfool1]

I have been watching your Groucho clips for over an hour now (I'm not done yet), if I forget later, let me Thank You now for uploading all of these great scenes.

[healthenations]

for those who are wondering as was I, a Smitherine is a Gaelic word for a small fragment but they spell it smidirin. learn something new everyday.

[Gefilta]

Erin should have known that one, go bragh.

[Sandy0Gray]

We were bothjust doing the same tights thiang

[bobandrayfan1]

The woman at Groucho's right was Erin Fleming, a woman who lived with Groucho for a number of years and was the subject of a much heated dispute between Groucho and his son Arthur. Arthur thought Erin was trying to fleece Groucho out of his money and there was a court case involving this situation. Arthur was right...a rather sad end to a great man's life. Read "Son of Grocuho" and subsequent books written by Arthur to get a real feel for what it was like to have him as a dad and a friend.

[Sandy0Gray]

bobandraydfa1:

well, yes but i can't sit around here allday typing up Comedy Club lines

[Sandy0Gray]

Brokovitch, since i read it. so what who cares ? I'm sure i dont'

Don't you remember the song, who wants to be a millionaire i dont

[zapkvr]

Yes I read that too.. He was in court almost up until the day he died of pneumonia. Grocho sure had a very bad rrun of luck with the women in his life. I think because no one could ever replace his mother Minnie. She was the classic stage mother but all of the boys adored her.

[scorpdan]

Peter Marshall (from Hollywood Squares fame) said that Dan Rowen was a true S.O.B.  because the producers of HS were considering him for the show; and he told them that he would dump Dick Martin in a second for the chance to have HS. They decided against him in favor of Marshall anyway.

[yardleyaloe]

LOL. Check out Groucho's shirt. Doesn't it look like a pajama top?

[sapphiresanchez]

cool! wht year was these shows?

[simonmoves]

what a great post with groucho--who are their replacements--ans. none exist --there will never be, as these men were one of a kind..the world wasnt screwed up or politically correct somewhat in those days -what about all the 2nd hand smoking in the studio--whew-there would been a riot if that was in 2008--

[AmbientMusic]

Indeed. As if there is anything on television now worth a squirt of piss. Thanks for posting these classic shows with Real Entertainers!

[yardleyaloe]

LOL. Groucho steals the show!