Brownsville Historian Rene Torres Describes 1912 Marx Brothers Visit to Brownsville in "Brownsville Herald" Letter to the Editor

From the editor:  Local historian Rene Torres always looks for the Brownsville connection. Three years ago, he gave a dissertation at the Brownsville Historical Museum weaving the histories of the United States, baseball and Brownsville into a two hour presentation.  

In a letter published Sunday in the Brownsville Herald's YOUR VOICES section, Torres details events leading to the progression of the Marx Brothers act from serious to burlesque, hinting that the new version of the act may very well have been initiated in Brownsville:


Editor,

Rene Torres talking baseball, Brownsville and
U.S. history at Brownsville Historical Museum

Way back in 1912, the Marx brothers were perfectly sane, but the act they presented didn't click. It was by accident that in the same year they were on stage in Nacogdoces, Texas, and in the middle of their classical musical act when they were interrupted by a runaway mule.

Shouts from outside the Opera House emptied the auditorium as the audience ran out to see what was happening.

I guess you could say the mule created more interest than the Marxes' presentation.

Eventually the people returned to the theater, but what they heard was an angered Groucho.  His sarcastic comments were not-so-kind words that included, "Nacogdoches is full of roaches" and "The jackass is the flower of Tex-ass."

Young Groucho Marx

You would think that the audience would not take his words lightly and get angry, but instead it brought instant laughter.  With this, the Marx family saw potential in becoming a comic troupe.

Harpo's autobiography states that the runaway mule incident occurred in Ada, Oklahoma.  Another account published in the 1930 San Antonio Express states that it took place in Marshall, Texas.

Regardless of where the incident happened, weeks later the brothers came to Brownsville.
Although they were in this city in 1912, their story was published 21 years later.

The only evidence that the Marx Brothers performed in Brownsville comes form an article published in the 1933 city daily with the headlines, "Marx Brothers Got Their Start in Old Brownsville Theater."

The theater mentioned in The Herald story was the Star Theater, which actually was a Spanish langue movie theater, El Teatro Estrella, on 13th Street between Elizabeth and Levee.

Weeks after the mule incident the Marx family showed up in Brownsville with less money than before, as their classical musical act attracted small crowds.  The were broke and had nowhere to go but up.

The Marx Brothers

According to Herald archives, it was here that they changed their act and became famous.  When they took the makeshift state at the Teatro Estrella, people in the audience didn;t know they were witnessing the beginning of the storybook life of the Marx Brothers.

Of the performance, The Herald wrote:  "The brothers began burlesquing their act --they went into it with vengeance and the result was a mad, thoroughly senseless presentation."  The audience was stunned and gave their approval with healthy applause.

This observer could not find any information on the history of the Marx Brothers archives that mentions Brownsville as being where they had their start as comedians.  But I guess we can always speculate that they did.

Brownsville moviegoers of 1933 enjoyed watching the Marx Brothers on the silver screen, as the Capitol Theater brought them to life in their senseless production of "Duck Soup."

Rene Torres
Brownsville