The One, The Only: Margaret Dumont

[@MrErsamo]

The fact that Margaret Dumont couldn't stop laughing at Groucho's ad libs during their Hollywood Palace appearance makes it clear that, Groucho's claims notwithstanding, she understood all the jokes.

[@mikedl1105]

The more I see of Ms Dumont, the more I think Groucho was kidding or being sarcastic when he said that. She clearly understood her role as straight woman

[@SuperlunarNim]

@@mikedl1105 Or there was some kind of bad blood out of the public eye and he was casting shade. It's not uncommon that women have had their work downplayed, especially in that era.

[@radicalross7700]

Of course she did. She would have had to be a complete idiot to not realize that she was working with some of the funniest comedians of all time.

[@steveweinstein3222]

This is great. I love Margaret Dumont. Her contribution to the Marx Brothers was outstanding.

[@x.y.8581]

She was even out sometimes lying down!

[@richardhoover4471]

Perfect actress. Never broke character. And that’s almost impossible with the Marx brothers. Perfect diction and fine singing voice when required!

[@jamesfox2579]

I never think of The Marx Brothers without thinking of Margaret Dumont in the same thought.!❤️😁🌷

[@x.y.8581]

Well, that must be a pretty big thought to fit her in as well!

[@Nada-adaN]

Same here.

[@29brendus]

That covers a lot of ground!

[@NeilGastonguay]

Groucho was mistaken; Miss DuMont understood him perfectly, and played off his wackiness perfectly. She is a delight to watch.

[@peterharrison5833]

Ahhh, Margaret DuMont! What a class act!

[@catherinerobilliard7662]

Margaret Dumont had difficulty not stealing every scene she was in, but her consummate method acting held true and she gave each laugh to the comic.

[@salvagemonster3612]

She wasn’t stealing scenes from the brothers. That is a fact

[@beverlyfletcher4458]

How on earth do you keep a straight face acting with them? Deserves an Oscar for that alone...! Brilliant actress and what diction.

[@x.y.8581]

Don't forget Tomtion and Harrytion!

[@rufust.firefly4890]

Groucho always said she never got the jokes.

[@MrKersey]

@@rufust.firefly4890 Groucho was full of BS.

[@TheDoctor1225]

@@MrKersey As so many people are, Groucho was well known for embellishing stories, especially to get a laugh. From this piece of work, as well as others I've seen on her, I have to agree that there's virtually no way she didn't get the jokes.

[@ianwallace16]

Don’t know how she managed to keep a straight face while Groucho was firing his one liners.👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻Margaret

[@velvetbees]

She had perfect elocution. You could understand every word she said.

[@x.y.8581]

With such perfect elocution, she should have run for office!

[@randysills4418]

I believe she had studied opera too...

[@fosbury68]

she went to electrocution school.

[@holland9199]

8/2023 to The most Lovely 🥰 Margaret Dumont 😍 I will always cherish you for life. You and the MARX brothers always brought me out of my deep dark depression (diagnosed) with out fail😇 I am grateful to all of you ☺️🙂😁grateful yours //HG

[@picklesthewise]

Such a great character actor. She was Groucho's funniest screen partner, and there was always something missing whenever she was gone. She also really loved Groucho and the boys, calling them all by their real names - Leonard for Chico, Arthur for Harpo, and "Julie" for Groucho since his name was Julius. The fact that she gave him alone a nickname says that he meant a lot to her.

[@x.y.8581]

"...there was always something missing whenever she was gone." Yes, a large space in the air! And she gave him a nickname because it was just easier then calling him Hungadunga

[@picklesthewise]

@@x.y.8581 😂😂

[@johnq4254]

She knew the part she played and she played it well 👏

[@mikedl1105]

That last clip was brilliant. She didn't have to stay straight the whole time

[@AnthonyScibelliUnsungLegends]

It’s a really fun performance, and it’s interesting to watch how she and Groucho react to each other, and to the live audience

[@davidhaun7767]

This woman was so brilliant and proper. I salute her. Such brilliance!

[@AnthonyScibelliUnsungLegends]

She was really one of a kind

[@davidhaun7767]

@@AnthonyScibelliUnsungLegends No argument brilliant!

[@x.y.8581]

@@AnthonyScibelliUnsungLegends But made up of at least 2!

[@x.y.8581]

Well, you can salute her, but we're gonna have a lot of trouble hoisting her up the flag pole!

[@davidhaun7767]

@@x.y.8581 obviously a true groucho fan!

[@fernandogarajalde4066]

One of the pioneers of 20th century female comedians and attractive elderly ladies. 😎

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

I bet Groucho was deeply touched by her passing.

[@x.y.8581]

...and he never passed on her touching!

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

@TheLogicJunkie you mean in the movies? I've seen this interview previously, to me, he seemed touched by her passing.

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

@TheLogicJunkie I just always liked Groucho and the Marx brothers.

[@Johnny53kgb-nsa]

@TheLogicJunkie I guess you may be right, at least to a degree. I remember my Dad and Mom watching Groucho when I was young, and then I watched you bet your life and movie reruns. Maybe sometimes, we get so attached, or drawn to the good side we see of an actor, that, even though we suspect something may not actually be what it portrays to be, maybe we don't want to accept it. But, should. Thanks for your insight.

[@Mawrdew]

Margaret Dumont had a small, uncredited role in the movie, Auntie Mame. She's one of the actors in the play, Midsummer Madness, when Mame destroys the play with her jingly bracelets that get caught in Vera Charles' gown.

[@catherinehouser3788]

Oh oh oh. Thanks for this info, as I love both!

[@MsLeenite]

It's funny, but I had seen "Auntie Mame" on TV many times without realizing that was Margaret Dumont. Then one time I was just on my way out to the kitchen for something during the Midsummer Madness scene, and heard Margaret Dumont's VOICE loud and clear! I turned back to look the TV and there she was!

[@bunkyman8097]

@Mawrdewok this is weird! I just finished watching Auntie Mame 10 minutes ago. That scene e is quite fresh in my mind. She was the best!!

[@johndoll1511]

The absolute best. I love Margaret.

[@stephenwilliams1269]

One of a kind is the best of ways. I always thought she was great fun.

[@onlythedj2008]

The greatest actress ever!

[@JoJo-ie8sl]

what an amazing character she was.

[@briangoguen8547]

Hard to believe she passed away 2 days after her last performance with Groucho.She looked great.

[@wmshaksper]

She's brilliant.

[@radicalross7700]

I like that in real life, Ms. Dumont called Groucho "Julie".

[@phyllisbarr4766]

loved Margaret Dumont she was the best straight woman ever and didn't even know it

[@jenatlax]

She knew it. 😊

[@jsamc]

She was so cool !!

[@shawnmcculley2995]

Margaret is simply a gem!! If I can't meet her in the next life I'll be so frickin pissed!!

[@death2pc]

Loved her.

[@randysills4418]

It sounds like she had a very good singing voice...

[@wbond6692]

The woman was the quintessential definition of "A Class Act." Her professionalism and grace under scrutiny made her the greatest straight act that any comedian could ask for. Even against the verbal machine gun that was Groucho Marx, and his endless ad libs, she was not one to break a take. They don't make acts like her anymore, and I'm certain her passing is the reason for that. Nobody could replace her, and I wouldn't dare anyone to try. Despite Groucho's penchant for telling stories, just watching them on screen, one can tell that their relationship was an enamored one welded together by undying respect and love for each other. She made him look more respectable, and I would imagine he made her feel like a playful little school girl. More often than not, the best "straight man" in Hollywood, is a job for a woman. Margaret Dumas was the one to hold all the chaos together and be remembered fondly for as long as there is celluloid.

[@massimotoccafondi4288]

sad that no one reminds of you... well Margaret I will... (within a club of remembered souls like you)

[@x.y.8581]

And its such a small club because she takes up so much of the room!

[@justwaiting5744]

"I've got a right mind to join the club and beat you over the head with it."

[@johnhughes2653]

@@justwaiting5744 Why sir, i would never join any club that would accept the likes of me as a member!

[@justwaiting5744]

@@johnhughes2653 GO! And never darken my towels again!

[@mcctravel]

Both - timeless classics

[@aadamtx]

Dumont was hilarious playing another high society snob in SHAKE, RATTLE, AND ROCK (1956), which starred "Touch" (later "Mike") Connors, Sterling Holloway, and a host of great early rock acts, including Big Joe Turner. It might still be uploaded here on YT!

[@emjayay]

She sings her lines, as does Patricia Routledge playing Hyacinth in Keeping Up Appearances - a very different but also somewhat similar character.

[@salvagemonster3612]

Groucho used to talk about Margret not getting the jokes. She just laughed on cue because she was a professional actress. She said she never understood his puns

[@LoreleiMission]

Please read her biography.

[@meryldanziger4870]

Love this delightful, heartfelt and apt tribute. Kudos and thanks!

[@st.charlesstreet9876]

The necessary support from Margaret DuMont . These tributes are really interesting and important! TY for Posting🙂

[@Ryzen_56X]

What a wonderful lady, very sad she pasted away right after the Legends show, bless her soul.

[@Angel-eq9tq]

She was the Queen of Battleaxes and made the Marx Brothers films more enjoyable.

[@solowcello]

And to add to everything else, a beautiful voice!

[@flyingtigerline]

Excellent !!!

[@VicMartino]

Good work done here Anthony Scibelli, The great lady herself would be proud!

[@iantempleton313]

I think she did understood the jokes. She was just very good at being a straight character, which is in part what makes the Marx Brother movies so funny and memorable! Groucho use to refer to her as the “fifth Marx Brother.”

[@lawsonj39]

Groucho's put-down of Margaret Dumont continues to irritate the hell out of me: it was obviously ridiculous. She knew exactly what was going on.

[@x.y.8581]

@wolfen244 How so?

[@x.y.8581]

@wolfen244 You sound sour and bitter - like a cheap whiskey! LOL/peace

[@highstimulation2497]

@@x.y.8581 that he claimed she never understood their jokes.

[@TheDoctor1225]

@@highstimulation2497 I agree. For all his humor, from anything I have read about him (from sources both reliable and otherwise) Groucho could indeed be a very nasty individual. While his comment may have just been aimed at getting a laugh, it does seem like a slight on her and her ability to keep up with them step for step.

[@janebaker966]

I wonder if,as he actually liked her and rated her highly he felt embarrassed at having said or even saying all those lines at her which while funny are actually very cruel and misogynistic (and I'm female and misogynistic),she obviously didn't feel hurt at being comedically slighted as being stupid and unnatractive. She was,you can tell,big hearted and cheerful and knew it was ACTING. But I wonder if that was Grouchos way of coping with it seems a lifeling guilt at verbal cruelty.

[@butchjones1690]

She was class,,,,how she didn’t crack up is beyond me

[@x.y.8581]

Anything else beyond you?

[@gregruland1934]

"I see you right now in the kitchen, bending over a hot stove, but I can't see the stove." Rufus T. Firefly.

[@Drew_D]

Informative, and well done.

[@l.salisbury1253]

She'd also worked with WC Fields (Never Give A Sucker An Even Break), Laurel & Hardy (Dancing Masters) and Abbot & Costello (Little Giant)...

[@tvmonte]

She also worked with Fields in a segment of Tales of Manhatten that was cut out of the original theatrical release but was in the version I saw on KZbin several years ago.

[@ronsena877]

Bravo!

[@michaels.7886]

Superbly done.

[@stephenholmes1036]

A very lovely woman

[@lotteweill]

Nice commentary.

[@michaelrief4424]

Back in the 1970’s a local theater had a weekly showing of Marx movies. They always drew a big audience and as luck would have it the after movie get togethers yielded a few rolls in the sack for me. What a wonderful memory.

[@LazlosPlane]

It is absurd that Groucho tried to convince us that Dumont didn't know what was going on. Don't know why he stuck to that story.

[@vanhetgoor]

No, it isn't! Groucho always stayed in his roll, just like Mrs. Dumont did.

[@LazlosPlane]

@@vanhetgoor I'm confused. Do you mean to say that Ms. Dumont stayed, "in character," off-stage and pretended not to understand the jokes?

[@gordonmcmillan4709]

I think it was a running gag he got stuck in. No way she didn't understand, she was just really, really good at her role.

[@x.y.8581]

@@gordonmcmillan4709 And she had quite a roll...also as anyone knows, he stuck to the story because he stuck to the story.

[@sarahostrinsky4595]

Thank you

[@ZorbaPress]

Brilliant ! ... 'Thanks very much for making and sharing this.

[@robertkincaid]

the perfect foil

[@massimotoccafondi4288]

Margaret Dumont: it's sad no one reminds of you... unfair...

[@AQuietNight]

Margaret Dumont always reminded me of Margaret Dumont. Everything about Margaret Dumont reminded me of Margaret Dumont. Her eyes, her nose, her lips reminded me of Margaret Dumont. How do you explain it?

[@x.y.8581]

@@AQuietNight Hungadunga, Hungadunga, Hungadunga, Hungadunga, Hungadunga, and McCormick explained it in their book "Margaret Dumont Was An Axe Murderer...and Our Friend"

[@Playbyplaymedia]

Well-assembled profile from available resources. Kudos.

[@johnhughes2653]

Translation: She wanted to be a self made woman, but she couldn't get the parts.

[@mitchdakelman4470]

What a wonderful woman. She also appeared in an episode of The Stu Erwin Show

[@viggosimonsen]

She had a very sweet smile - and a very peculiar dialect which almost sounded RP British. I wonder if that used to be common in in certain circles in the US. I have actually noticed that in old recordings. Spoken US English used to sound much more like British English - maybe in certain parts and social groups in the country

[@AnthonyScibelliUnsungLegends]

That style of speaking was called the “Transatlantic Accent,” and it pops up in a lot of American films per-WWII, usually to show that a character is snooty or high class. I think it has kind of interesting history but I don’t know much about it

[@Angel-eq9tq]

Sorry the reply is late but yes, I agree with you similar to Katherine Hepburn and My favourite Bette Davis.

[@prjdaly]

Shocking to discover that her cremated remains festered in a basement vault for 58 years until retrieved in 2023.

[@darrelllancaster9554]

Some of the Marx Brothers best comedy comes from her.

[@esmeephillips5888]

The doyenne of dowagers and the best female stooge in films. Proof that you don't need a broad range or hours of screen time to become unforgettable. Nor do you need to dial it down. Dumont always gave her turns theatrical oomph, and her diction was the precise and mannered kind heard on Broadway, not the whispering or muttering a mike could capture. She flouted movie rules and got away with it.

[@x.y.8581]

0:17- 0:28 How did she walk in that gown without tripping? And notice the girls behind her cracking up.

[@johnhughes2653]

Don't be ridiculous! You can't see the girls behind her.

[@mchoffner8497]

Classic

[@nataliep.9047]

Groucho was such an ass for perpetuating the myth that Margaret Dumont didn't get the joke.

[@Joez86]

Legend

[@margaretgossett1088]

The fith Marx .mg.

[@x.y.8581]

fifth, sixth, and seventh all rolled into one!

[@dantean]

Her character's an archetype, not a trope. Tropes are figures of speech and thus do not wear ladies' underwear. Or any other kind, come to think of it.

[@johnhughes2653]

If she was a figure of speech, she certainly had a lot to say with a figure like that! And what's more, I expect a lot of people don't wear underwear in the trope-ics.

[@stonesinmyblood27]

She made the Marx Brothers funnier and greater ❤️

[@Wanamaker1946]

She was finally as old here as she was portraying most of here life. Notice her reference to “Rittenhouse Manor”? A tip of the hat to her characterization of Eva Stotesbury as (Mrs. Dukesbury).

[@tekay44]

Do one on Vernon Dent, lol, what are the 3stooges, without Vernon, great stuff

[@shawnmcculley2995]

Yep! Vernon was the male version of Margaret in the Stooges.

[@AlanCanon2222]

Yeah. If only I had a time machine, OMG.

[@spencerfrankclayton4348]

3:32 Who are they?

[@AnthonyScibelliUnsungLegends]

I believe that’s Joe Penner (of “wanna buy a duck” fame) and Dan Coleman. The movie is called “Here, Prince!” (Re-released as “You Nasty Man”)

[@rufust.firefly4890]

I can see you standing over a hot stove...I can see you, but I can't see the stove. And I love A NIGHT AT THE OPERA. Too bad she never worked w/the 3 Stooges, like Simona Boniface.

[@michellelekas211]

He thanked her in his Honorary Oscar Speech. His line about her cluelessness re: his humor is just a snappy line, or possibly she was playing him but I doubt it. She was literally the world's best straight woman; she should have hung out with Dean Martin. Look at her with WOW: the Marx Bros, Laurel and Hardy, WC Fields, Abbott and Costello, Dean and Jerry....PS. she looked great in her last performance.

[@greg55666]

You don't think Groucho is joking when he says she didn't get the joke? Teasing her?

[@jaykauffman4775]

I have a bio of her - great lady

[@AustriaGermany]

she worked with WC Fields Too

[@2up3rm4n1]

I think she understood what he was saying. She just didn't understand what about it was supposed to be so funny.

[@ericgoldfarb4870]

How late do you stay ohpum.

[@TonysMusic1974]

Other than using the word "trope" which for some reason I can't stand, this is a great video about a wonderful woman :-)

[@manifestgtr]

Dude…Groucho kayfabed it til the bitter end lol

[@AQuietNight]

She was a great straight woman and she really shined in the Marx Bros movies. If you ever felt any need to support feminists, it probably occurred after Groucho was done with her.

[@rossmartenak5517]

First of all, so called "Margaret Dumont" wasn't her real name. There was nothing wrong with her actual birth name, Daisy Juliette Baker. Furthermore she obviously "sold out" her birth name because of the shallowness of the entertainment industry?! Most likely the change was made as the result of a greedy Business Manager or Studio, with perceived notions of greater recognition accompanied with monetary gains? Secondly and in reality, it's also shows blatant disrespect for one's parents & their family heritage, just to possibly obtain (not necessarily earn) a greater buck?!

[@PiggyXMalone]

The word "homage" is pronounced "hommidge", and not "ommarge". If you hear the latter, you know the commentator is not very familiar with their subject matter and just being pretentious.

[@halc.2899]

That may be Miss Master of Pronunciation but neither is correct as it is pronounced "ommidge."

[@steveweinstein3222]

You're wrong. The "h" is silent, as it comes from French: "oh-mahge." If you're going to be a pretentious pedant, at least get it right!

[@PiggyXMalone]

@@steveweinstein3222 Yes, it comes from French. It isn't pronounced as it would be in French, though, like hundreds of other words that come from French. Go look it up before resorting to name-calling.

[@steveweinstein3222]

@@PiggyXMalone I've never heard it pronounced in any other way; otherwise, it would be confused with the English word "homage," as in "pay homage." Maybe we just travel in different circles.

[@PotterPossum1989]

O-Mahge

[@billj3494]

The sarcasm portion of your brain is either open or closed. Obviously Groucho’s was open and Margaret’s was closed.