the magic of harpo
meandered around youtube last night
and came upon a clip that had never seen before
some historical background here:
the clip is from may 3, 1961
the show is I've Got A Secret - the program that ultimately brought johnny carson to national attention
ALL the marx brothers were still alive as of may 3, 1961
but not all would survive the year as chico would die in october
so harpo communicating about chico's health is quite telling
as was his communicating that he, himself, was "so-so"
(harpo had already begun a series of heart attacks that made him decide that he should get a book about his life
if for nobody else than his children. harpo would die in 1964)
when jack paar left the tonight show nbc went on a looooong search for a replacement
at one point
for a week
groucho stepped in
groucho initially thought the job might be too taxing but discovered he genuinely enjoyed it
as did nbc and the ratings
groucho let nbc know that - should they still be looking for someone to fill in - he could be persuaded to do so
(nbc almost asked groucho to be the host but decided not to)
during the week groucho hosted - all of his brothers came on as guest at the same time (chico, harpo, gunno and zeppo)
alas - the tape does not survive
nor does the tape of groucho introducing johnny carson as the new host of the tonight show
while carson regularly talked of his beginnings in I've Got A Secret
he neglected to mention Harpo's appearance
here we see harpo coming fully prepared
however - only harpo was.
the host and the panel were completely left out to figure things out on their own
it is the gentleness and magic of harpo that comes through
put bluntly - harpo is in control
can best describe this clip as "char,ming"
but it really is so much more
the marx brothers were amongs the very few comics that sprang from the days of vaudeville and early film
and yet - getting just passed televisions true infancy - when uncle milty was no longer on nor burns and allen and fred allen was gone - still had the admiration of the audience
stay to the very end to see harpo engage with the audience
(hard to believe that the first time he ever faced an audience, harpo literally peed in his pants.)
this made smile
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