I was supposed to take you directly home, “no stops”… Your brother insisted.” We’ll have a couple of drinks and some dinner.” We weren’t three blocks from Rodeo and Wilshire when Chico said he was hungry, and I should let him off at Frascati’s, a well-known restaurant in Beverly Hills. It’s very close, right here on Santa Monica Blvd. “We’ll go back to the studio, it’ll only take a minute.” We hadn’t been gone two blocks when Chico said that he “had to take a leak”. I thanked the crew, set up a time to see the dailies the following morning, headed for the parking lot and drove off with my famous companion in the back seat. Watching Chico out of the corner of my eye I got my gear together. With that Harpo took my hand, gave me a warm hug and with his other hand, stuffed a $100 bill into my jacket pocket. Chico, with a sleepy nod, confirmed his understanding of the arrangement. He turned to Chico and explained about the dinner and his time problem and told his brother that I was going to drive him “directly home… NO STOPS”. Would I be kind enough to give Chico a ride home.
It seems that Harpo had to be at a dinner in his honor in Palm Springs and needed to leave with his car and driver directly from the studio. On the final afternoon of the shoot, after the “wrap” as they call it, Harpo took me aside and asked if I could do him a favor. Harpo’s chauffer picked up Chico at his Beverly Hills bungalow every morning and brought him home safely every evening.
He had long since lost his license to drive a car. Chico on the other hand was a drinker, a gambler, a womanizer and what people in the business called a deadbeat. Harpo was a wealthy man who had invested wisely, supported many charities and had an excellent reputation. Throughout the filming through take after take, the Marx brothers never complained, often insisting on another take, assuring us that they could “do it better the next time”, and they invariably did. Chico did the sales pitch while Harpo danced across the stage posing with beautiful models and, with simple gestures and facial expressions, did more for that product than any hard selling pitch man. As a condition of the deal Chico was to receive payment equal to his own. However Harpo insisted that we also cast his brother Chico, the family ne’er-do-well. The commercials were originally written for Harpo. The commercials were for another Toni-owned product named Prom.
I met Harpo and Chico Marx during the filming of a series of home permanent commercials at the Desilu Studios. Photos top left to bottom right: Art Linkletter, Ernie Kovacs, Frank Sinatra, Groucho Marx, Ralph Edwards and Tony Martin His brother, Harpo Marx, however was a first class gentleman, whereas brother Chico had a checkered reputation. The wit he exhibited on camera was clever, however that same wit off camera was deprecating. I worked on “You Bet Your Life” starring Groucho Marx. Bing Crosby was mean spirited and Tony Martin was a stuffed shirt. Ernie Ford, Ernie Kovacs and Frank Sinatra were real gentlemen, as was Ralph Edwards. Whereas Art Linkletter was a class act, Arthur Godfrey was, as I mentioned above, a womanizer.
However there were a few people I worked with in the business that deserved that accolade in ways not necessarily associated with their box office appeal. Also I must say that I was not overly impressed with a lot of the people I came across in the business, from the “What Makes Sammy Run” hustler to the inflated ego types overflowing with self-importance.Īt my level, contact with the “stars” was limited. Sure, I had a relative, but he was in Chicago, and his company represented a very indirect route to big-time Hollywood. I came in through the side door, so to speak. You could start as an usher at one of the TV networks, get a job in the mailroom at one of the two big talent agencies (MCA or William Morris) or have a relative in the business.
If money was not important there were three ways for a young man to get into the movie or TV business in Hollywood. Marx Brothers: “Harpo”, “Chico”, and “Groucho”