The
Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in
vaudeville, on
Broadway, and in
motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the
American Film Institute(AFI) as among the
top 100 comedy films, with two of them,
Duck Soup (1933) and
A Night at the Opera (1935), in the top fifteen. They are widely considered by critics, scholars and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century. The brothers were included in
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list of the 25 greatest male stars of
Classical Hollywood cinema, the only performers to be included collectively. (
Source)