Just watched on YouTube this special episode of "The Hollywood Palace" hosted by Groucho Marx. What was so special about it? Well, besides his 18-year-old daughter Melinda singing her Petulia Clark-like number called "The East Side of Town" as well as a duet with her father, this particular show marked the last appearance of Groucho's frequent movie and stage co-star-not to mention "The fifth Marx Brother"-Margaret Dumont who died not long after this show was taped and a few weeks before this aired. It's the "Hooray for Captain Spalding" number and despite Groucho's claim that Ms. Dumont never got any of his or his brothers' jokes, the real-life wealthy dowager cracks up every time he opens his mouth. By the way, loved the "Peyton Place" reference! There was also a unicycle act called The Four Kents, a Scottish comedian who plays the piano named Don Saunders, African singer Miriam Makeba, flamenco dancer Lydia Torea, and husband-and-wife singing team Gordon and Sheila MacRae (I did not see other scheduled guest Shecky Greene so I must have watched an edited version online). Mr. Marx was entertainingly witty the whole time and hardly seemed old compared to ten years later. If you're a die-hard Marx Brothers fan and are curious about the last team-up of Groucho and Dumont, I highly recommend this episode of "The Hollywood Palace". Update: 10/1/13-I just saw the Shecky Greene segment in which he makes fun of some Chinese restaurateurs and then does a Jolson impersonation. The Chinese segment was amusing at first but threatened to get uncomfortable before he segued to the next thing.
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