Animal Crackers (1930)

Come here for Captain Spaulding, the African explorer whose welcome-home party at Mrs. Rittenhouse's estate gives Groucho one of his most quotable roles and Margaret Dumont an ideal target. The Kalmar and Ruby song that greets him, "Hooray for Captain Spaulding," is the highlight, though many prints carry a trimmed version. The catch is that it is a filmed Broadway show, adapted from their 1928 stage hit, and it looks it: long dialogue scenes, a stiff camera and a stolen-painting plot that nobody cares about. Patience pays off, because the wordplay is as dense as anything they recorded. Watch it once you know you love Groucho talking.