Irving Brecher penned Go West and At The Circus

Born in the Bronx, he began writing as a teenager, submitting one-liners on postcards to the likes of Ed Sullivan, then a newspaper columnist.

He soon started making pin money selling lines to vaudeville comedians. With his friend Al Schwartz, he once ran an ad in Variety offering their services while simultaneously taking a pop at one comedian’s reputation for stealing material.

The ad offered ‘positively Berle-proof gags, so bad not even Milton will steal them’.

Their first customer turned out to be Milton Berle, who paid $50 for a page of one-liners from the 19-year-old and his partner.

Brecher continued to write gags for Berle – as well as other acts – as the comedian’s career took off through radio and movies, co-writing the comic’s New Faces Of 1937.

The following year, he was hired as an uncredited writer to improve the comedy scenes in the Wizard Of Oz, before being commissioned to write the scripts for the Marx Brothers At The Circus in 1939 and The Marx Brothers Go West the following year. He later shared an Oscar nomination for the screenplay for Meet Me In St. Louis in 1944.

Brecher recently recalled his first meeting with Groucho Marx: ‘I said, “Hello, Mr. Marx.” He said, “Hello? That's supposed to be a funny line? Is this the guy who's supposed to write our movie?”

‘Then I said, “Well, I saw you say hello in one of your movies, and I thought it was so funny I'd steal it and use it now.” Grouch smiled, then he bought me lunch.’

Here's a scene from Go West:

Published: 19 Nov 2008