By Jim Seymour
For Variety

CALL it the Holiday Blues, but the only entertainment that’s really made me laugh or caught my eye this past week hasn’t been on DVD or the Big Screen. At the dawn of a new year, I’ve found the perfect antidote to a sometimes crippling malaise by switching to the Turner Movie Channel, which has had the common sense to feature a few fellows who go by the name of Marx.
Given the current political climate on Guam, for which it seems (to this relative newcomer) that the more things change, the more they stay the same, and the financial stasis facing the university, I can’t help but feel peculiarly like a hibernating anarchist. Add to that a president who, after vowing to follow the will of citizens begging for a new direction in Iraq, decides to drag us deeper into the bottomless pit of war, and you get the prescription for something less than optimism for the New Year. Why wouldn’t the Marx Brothers look especially attractive?
Groucho and his brothers have always held the titles of “Captains of Chaos” or “Sultans of Silly.” Call them what you like. And, of course, at this particular point in time, utter mayhem looks awfully attractive. Ask yourselves whether or not you feel especially frustrated that your voice is not being heard; that things seem to be going from bad to worse. Or that it seems as if the same absurd obstacles to progress haven’t even begun to be addressed. I guarantee that many of you will acknowledge a longing to destroy something, to break out into song, or to clear the clutter on your desk by sweeping it all away. Fear not. Should you decide such an action is below your dignity, simply switch on any four or five of the Marx Brothers’ classic films and you will find yourself utterly liberated.
Should you hold a job in a college or business, let me recommend the delightfully irreverent Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff (Groucho) in the 1932 Horse Feathers. Never has administering to college affairs seemed more fun or made less sense. Or if you identify with the absolute nuttiness of collecting “intelligence” (which happens to be in short supply of late), you might be happier spending an hour or so with Ronald Kornblow and his bodyguard Corbaccio (Groucho and Chico) in A Night in Casablanca. It might help you forget (or remind you) of the shenanigans of our own CIA. Or should the whole notion of foreign affairs seems particularly ridiculous to you in 2007, I recommend one of their greatest adventures, Duck Soup. Some of the tomfoolery might seem eerily familiar, considering recent attempts by the Bush administration to snuff out any form of diplomacy.
But, if what you’re really seeking is revolution, anarchy in its purest form, I wholeheartedly urge you to check out Monkey Business, in which Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo play stowaways on a cruise ship. This laugh riot happens to be their first scripted film and their first produced in Hollywood. It also includes one of the most exquisite examples of Harpo on the harp (not to be missed). Come to think of it. Why does total madness and confusion seem completely appropriate when it happens in the middle of an ocean?
Should some of you have absolutely no idea of the identity of the Marx Brothers or how they nearly invented comedy, well, then, you must not walk, but run, to the nearest DVD store where you’ll find most of their hilarious movies in several newly packaged releases. Should you decide not to obey doctor’s orders, I take no responsibility for your actions. Remember, a little bit of anarchy goes a long way. Especially in times like these.