Before film made them international comedy legends, the MarxBrothers developed their comic skills on stage for twenty-fiveyears. In Four of the Three Musketeers: The Marx Brothers onStage, Robert S. Bader offers the first comprehensive history ofthe foursome’s hardscrabble early years honing their act in frontof live audiences.

From Groucho’s debut in 1905 to their final live performancesof scenes from A Night in Casablanca in 1945, the brothers’ stagecareer shows how their characters and routines evolved beforetheir arrival in Hollywood. Four of the Three Musketeers drawson an unmatched array of sources, many not referenced elsewhere.Bader’s detailed portrait of the struggling young actorsboth brings to vivid life a typical night on the road for the MarxBrothers and also illuminates the inner workings of the vaudevillebusiness, especially during its peak in the 1920s.

As Bader traces the origins of the characters that would latercome to be beloved by filmgoers, he also skillfully scrapes awaythe accretion of rumors and mythology perpetuated not only byfans and writers but by the Marx Brothers themselves. Revealing,vital, and entertaining, Four of the Three Musketeers will take itsplace as an essential reference for this iconic American act.