Marx Brothers signed Agreement



The film industry has always managed to gather quite an impressive number of collectors who are often interested in memorabilia and items related either to celebrities in the business (actors, producers, directors) or to actual movies. Over the years, RR Auction has sold anything from movie posters or autographed pictures of Hollywood stars to props and even legal documents.

Speaking of legal documents, back in 2015 RR Auction came across an agreement between the Marx brothers and Paramount Productions, dated on May 16, 1933. According to RR Auction a lawsuit actually took place prior to said agreement which was sold in 2015 for $5,017. As it was stated by RR Auction, the lawsuit was intended by the Marx Brothers, as the studio owed them royalties from two of the most recently released films, Monkey Business and Horse Feathers. Both of these films, the first one released in 1931 and the second one in 1932 were box office hits but despite that the studio did not manage to pay the Marx brothers what they were owed.

As a result, as it is mentioned by RR Auction, a lawsuit was intended and the Marx Brothers even threatened to walk out and start their own production studio. Thankfully, the dispute ended with the above mentioned agreement, signed by four Marx Brothers using their given names. In part, the agreement reads: “The undersigned, jointly and severally, hereby promise and agree…that the suit now pending in the Supreme Court in New York County, New York, brought by the undersigned as Plaintiffs against said Paramount Publix Corporation, as Defendant, in connection with the photoplay entitled Monkey Business shall be discontinued, without cost to either party…provided, however, they there shall be reserved to said Plaintiffs the right to prove their claim in the bankruptcy proceedings against said Paramount Publix Corporation for any monies that may be due…by said Paramount Publix Corporation from the distribution of said photoplay entitled Monkey Business…upon the basis of the amount of net profits derived from said photoplay entitled Monkey Business…the undersigned further promise and agree that the amount of net profits derived from the photoplay entitled Horse Feathers…shall be accepted as correct.”

Apart from royalties on Monkey Business and Horse Feathers, the Marx Brothers also agreed to work on an additional film for the studio for a $300,000 flat salary. Thus, the studio released Duck Soup which at the time was considered to be a failure, despite the critical appraisal it is getting nowadays.
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