The story is slight, but is benefited by lively pacing in the comedy scenes and when the Marx Brothers and Margaret Dumont are on screen. Particularly so in the editing, a notable example being in the "Monkey Doodle Do" scene. For a Marx Brothers film, back when early talkies were still in their infancy, 'The Cocoanuts' is pretty crude technically. When it's not, so any scene featuring the songs or romantic subplot, it isn't so much.
![marx brothers coconuts marx brothers coconuts](http://robertgerardhunt.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Marx-Brothers-Cocoanuts.jpg)
When it's centred on the Marx Brothers themselves, it's top notch. 'The Cocoanuts' is an uneven film, but a lot of fun. However, even a less than classic Marx Brothers film, or one that doesn't see them at their best, is better than a lot of things. There is a sense of finding-feet, and it's not near the classic Marx Brothers films like 'Duck Soup', 'A Night at the Opera', 'Monkey Business', 'Animal Crackers' and 'Horse Feathers'. There is not much else that can be said about 'The Cocoanuts'. After this role, she went on to great stardom in the 1930s-particularly in the Pre-Code days from 1930-1934. By the way, this is Kay Francis' first film. Most others, though, will not be particularly impressed and should try other Marx Brothers films FIRST so as not to be scared away by the cheapness and slowness of this film. Also, fans of the Marxes will find enough to entertain them to make it worth watching. So who would enjoy this film-especially since it has a ton of terrible songs and production numbers? Well, despite this, film buffs will be thrilled to see it because it's the earliest available footage of the Marxes (though they supposedly made a film appearance before this and it was lost). It also lacks the energy and incidental music to give the story life. In particular, the backgrounds are obvious paintings. Secondly, unlike all their later films, this was filmed inside an old film studio on the East Coast and it REALLY REALLY looks like a stage production. This was true of MANY films from 1927-1929, so it is in no way a slam against the Marxes that this occurs. While the brothers are quite funny at times, the film itself really suffers from lousy sound due to its being made at the very beginning of the talking picture era.
![marx brothers coconuts marx brothers coconuts](https://i.redd.it/dpqu4lupuzs41.jpg)
The main culprit for this being a poor Marx Brothers film is time.