I did not know that he had made another "talkie." Thanks for letting me know about this!
So, indeed, he was an Englishman but for some reason the Jewish thing was always rumored. I, too, could care less, but I simply do not think he was a Jew.
Who can say when the rumors started? Perhaps it was after his movie "the Great Dictator" that people started speculating? As I said, that would be the Nazi response to the movie, and they were quite good at spreading propaganda.
His politics came out of his horrible childhood of poverty and insanity (his mother was institutionalized partly because of malnutrition).
Life was really hard back then. His movies with Jackie Coogan were not really that far outside of their reality.
I believe it was Groucho Marx’s son, Arthur, who wrote all the books about Grouch. They are a lot of fun.
I have only read the one book, and I didn't know it was written by his son. It was certainly entertaining. I still quote bits and pieces of it from time to time. :)
I am aware of the existence of another book called "Harpo Speaks." Have you read it? If you are a fan, you know he could speak just fine, but it was part of his shtick to pretend to be mute. I saw an interview with his son in which he described his father as having a serious Yiddish\Brooklyn accent. He couldn't shake it, and that's why they told him it would be best if he didn't talk. :)
Harpo's real name was Adolph, and given the time period you can understand why he didn't use it. :)
If you can find a copy of Harpo Speaks, you should get it. It’s one of the best books about the brothers but also a remarkable document of its time. He was a member of the Algonquin Group in NYC, part of Hollywood royalty, and was one of the first Americans to go to Russia in the 1930s. That chapter alone is worth the price of the book. For many years, I lived near their old tenement in the 90s on the East Side.
I believe there is some video available of Harpo talking. I never watched it, though.