In her book Hello, I Must Be Going: Groucho & His Friends, Charlotte Chandler defended Zeppo as "the Marx Brothers' interpreter in the worlds they invaded. He was neither totally a straight man nor totally a comedian, but combined elements of both, as did Margaret Dumont. Zeppo's importance to the Marx Brothers' initial success was as a Marx Brother who could 'pass' as a normal person. None of Zeppo's replacements (Allan Jones, Tony Martin and others) could assume this character as convincingly as Zeppo, because they were actors, and Zeppo was the real thing, cast to type." Chandler's appraisal of Zeppo's role in the films—as an "interpreter" for his older brothers to the audience—was essentially confirmed by Groucho, who once noted that Zeppo's role was "handsome, obtuse, slightly wooden" and that he "brought logic to a basically illogical story," acting as "an intrusion" to their otherwise complete anarchy.Wilson, Victoria. A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940, p 427. Simon & Schluster, 2013.
In her book Hello I Must Be Going: Groucho & His Friends, Charlotte Chandler defended Zeppo as "the Marx Brothers' interpreter in the worlds they invaded. He was neither totally a straight man nor totally a comedian, but combined elements of both, as did Margaret Dumont. Zeppo's importance to the Marx Brothers' initial success was as a Marx Brother who could 'pass' as a normal person. None of Zeppo's replacements (Allan Jones, Tony Martin and others) could assume this character as convincingly as Zeppo, because they were actors, and Zeppo was the real thing, cast to type." Chandler's appraisal of Zeppo's role in the films—as an "interpreter" for his older brothers to the audience—was essentially confirmed by Groucho, who once noted that Zeppo's role was "handsome, obtuse, slightly wooden" and that he "brought logic to a basically illogical story," acting as "an intrusion" to their otherwise complete anarchy.Wilson, Victoria. A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940 p 427 Simon & Schluster, 2013.