This clip of Leo Slezak in Gasparone (1937) made me sorry the man never got to work with the Marx Brothers — he so clearly belongs in the same universe and I could imagine him running the next country over from Freedonia.
As a legit opera star turned movie comic after his retirement from the stage, he more-or-less had the same career path as Margaret Dumont — and now I’m trying to imagine a cisswapped version of the Marx Brothers movies using comediennes active at the time.
Marjorie White definitely could have been one, from the one movie I’ve seen her in (Just Imagine, 1930.)
She worked with the Three Stooges at least once, and while I don’t know if any actress at time would have been allowed to play as weird as Harpo, White definitely had the manic energy. Also she was about 4’10”, and Slezak was something like 6’3” or more and 300 lbs; I’d love to see her gleaming up impishly at him while he looked bewildered.
Thelma Todd worked with the Marx Bros. and starred in a bunch of her own films. Unfortunately both she and White died in 1935.
I can’t recall if I’ve ever seen Patsy Kelly in anything, but she played for Todd’s wisecracking best friend in a bunch of things.
Susan Fleming was pretty funny in a clip I’ve seen from Million Dollar Legs (1932), and can’t seem to find again, but she apparently didn’t like working without the energy of a live audience and quit movies (though she must have like zany comedy, as she ended up marrying Harpo Marx).
My spouse suggests Lillian Roth, who played Margaret Dumont’s daughter in Animal Crackers (1930); I agree she’d be a pretty good Groucho equivalent. Unfortunately I can’t find a good short clip of her in that movie (finding clips that feature any of these actresses is tricky).
Mooncustafer 