Shout-Out: In the famous stateroom sketch in A Night at the Opera, one of the unexpected arrivals is a girl looking for her Aunt Minnie. Minnie was the name of the Marx Brothers' mother. Also frequently joining them was the matronly figure of Margaret Dumont, typically cast as a wealthy widow who was a perfect foil for Groucho; he would alternate between shamelessly flirting with her ("Ah, married. I can see you right now in the kitchen, bending over a hot stove...") and viciously insulting her ( "But I can't see the stove."). A common misconception is that Dumont was not a comedy actress, didn't understand the Marxes' jokes, or was exasperated by their antics on set (not helping this was a one man show Groucho did at Carnegie Hall where he falsely spread, if not directly originated, said misconception). The truth is that Dumont (a vaudeville veteran herself) was extremely canny as an actress, and not only understood everything around her, but was consummately committed to her role as the Straight Woman to the brothers, knowing how important her role was to their humor.

Groucho also has the distinctive pleasure of starring in a series of successful mystery novels by author Ron Goulart in which he and his writer Frank Denby investigate various murders and crimes that popped up in Hollywood during the 1930s (in the novels, Groucho did the investigations in between his working in movies and his hosting a weekly radio program). A disguise that is so "thin" that the audience can immediately recognize who the person behind the "mask" actually is. Note that this doesn't require an actual mask; the character may have merely styled their hair differently, added glasses, or changed into a different outfit. Regardless of exactly what was used for the disguise, the identity of the character is completely clear, usually before they remove it, and sometimes other characters can see through it as well. Any character who is fooled is likely a Horrible Judge of Character; the egregiousness of their misjudgment depends on the disguise.Barney Rubble in the Pebbles commercials, though Barney has had his share of ultra-realistic disguises involving rubber masks. This 1972 commercial was one of the first to show Barney pulling this stunt. In this case the ONLY change was putting a fake beard on. And he still managed to fool Fred . Beaker once donned a lampshade to hide from testing Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's invention. This worked well, until Beauregard plugged him in. Room Service (1938) — Their only film for RKO, and their only film not written especially for them (it was adapted from a popular Broadway play in which they did not star). The film features an obscure B-movie actress named Lucille Ball, who would go on to appear in the 1950s sitcom I Love Lucy.

The Big Store (1941) — The last of their five films for MGM, and the last to feature Margaret Dumont. The brothers announced their 10-Minute Retirement from film after this (with Groucho moving into radio and, later, television). In 1921, the Groucho look took full form. According to Gary Giddins, who wrote about Groucho’s mask for The New York Times in 2000, the Marx brother was running late to the theater after his son’s birth. “Having no time to glue on whiskers, he painted a mustache with greasepaint,” Giddins recounted.

Department of Redundancy Department: A routine in A Night at the Opera which focuses on a contract whose clauses are all along the lines of "The party of the first part shall be known in this contract as the party of the first part." Scary News out of Tokyo-3: Anyone with any knowledge of Neon Genesis Evangelion should be able to guess immediately who's hiding behind the transparent handle of "ZeroGirl00" — she's one of several characters with inside knowledge of NERV, and she has a tendency to talk about the Pilots in I Have This Friend fashion. Unfortunately, none of the other characters are in a position to figure out the truth until she finally comes out and admits it.