Fredonia renews its connection to Hollywood’s legendary Marx Brothers by staging the annual “Freedonia Marxonia: Marx Brothers Film Festival and Symposium,” a two-day gathering that opens, quite fittingly, on Thursday, Oct. 2, the birthday of the bespectacled Groucho Marx.
The festival celebrates the link between the village of Fredonia and the 1933 Marx Brothers’ film “Duck Soup,” which is set in the mythical country of Freedonia. Despite the lukewarm reception the film received in 1933, it enjoys widespread appeal today and is considered a classic political farce. “Duck Soup” holds the No. 5 position on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 funniest American films of all time.
Activities will kick-off with the opening of the Freedonia Marxonia exhibit in Reed Library on Thursday at 3 p.m. Welcoming remarks will be followed by the traditional Freedonia Marxonia group photo at 3:15 pm. Groucho glasses will be provided. There will be cake celebrating the 124th anniversary of Groucho’s birthday. Contest entries in art and journalism (print, video, sound) will be accepted from 3 to 4:30 pm. Marx Brothers look-a-like information will be available in preparation for the look-a-like contest to be held on Friday, Oct. 3.
The exhibit will be on display until Wednesday, Oct. 15.
A Marx Brothers look-a-like contest will be held and winners of all cash prize contests will be announced on Friday at 6 p.m. in McEwen Hall Room G24. The screening of “Duck Soup” – starring Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo – will be held at 6:30 p.m., also in McEwen Hall Room G24. Its run time is approximately 70 minutes.
Fredonia’s inaugural Marx Brothers festival, launched with the help of a committee of students in 1987, attracted international attention and hundreds of visitors. It was revived in 2009 and has been staged annually under the sponsorship of the Hahn Family Freedonia Marxonia Fund of the Fredonia College Foundation.
All activities are free and open to the public. For more information on the event, contact Cindy Yochym at cynthia.yochym@fredonia.edu.
