Giraffes on Horseback Salad

In 1937, Salvador Dali wrote a script proposal for the Marx Brothers. The European surrealists seemed to all be fascinated with the Marx Brothers, who seemed to be create with film and comedy what the Europeans were trying to do with art. The adulation of the Marx Brothers by the surrealists reached its zenith with Salvador Dali in the late 1930s. Dali was especially fascinated with Harpo. As Groucho said, "Dali was in love with my brother--in a nice way." Dali visited Harpo in Hollwood in 1937, and Dali later wrote that when he arrrived in Harpo's garden,

(Harpo) was naked, crowned with roses, and in the centre of a veritable forest of harps (he was surrounded by at least 500 harps). He was caressing, like a new Leda, a dazzling white swan, and feeding it a statue of the Venus de Milo made of cheese, which he grated against the strings of the nearest harp.

Did it really happen? Who knows?
The script written by Dali was titled "Giraffes On Horseback Salad" and the illustration above was on of sketches Dali made for the scenario. Dali did make a surreal harp for Harpo, strings of barbed wire complete with hundreds of "tuning forks". Were the forks a
 reference to the scene in Animal Crackers where 400 stolen pieces of silver ware fall out of Harpos sleeve when he shakes a policemans hand? Here's a photo of Dali with Harpo whose fingers are covered with bandages playing the barbed wire harp:

Dali's sketch of Harpo

groucho as shiva of the business world

Surrealist Gondola above burning bicycles
in this, the movies finale, note chico at the piano
in a diving suit, bicyclists balancing stones 
on their heads, and of course,
Harpo playing the harp.

In the photo, Dali is sketching Harpo and there is a surviving sketch, now in the Philadelphia Museum of Art Collection. Of course, the movie was never made but after extensive research, a version of the scenario was discovered, written in english in Dali's archives after he died. Here are a few more surviving sketches by Dali.

If you are interested in reading Dali's scenario for the Marx Brothers film that could never be made, continue reading after the break:

The "Surrealist woman" is lying in the middle of a great bed, sixty feet long, with the rest of the guests seated around each side. Along the bed, as decorations, are a group of dwarfs caught by Harpo. Each is supported on a crystal base, decorated with climbing flowers. The dwarfs stay as still as statues, holding lighted candelabras, and change their positions every few minutes.

While love tears at Jimmy's heart, Groucho tries to crack a nut on the bald head of the dwarf in front of him. The dwarf, far from looking surprised, smiles at Groucho in the most amiable way possible. Suddenly in the middle of dinner, thunder and lightning begin inside the room. A squall of wind blows the things over on the table and brings in a whirl of dry leaves, which stick to everything. As Groucho opens his umbrella, it begins to rain slowly.

Although the guests show surprise, they try for a time to continue their meal, which is, however, brought to an end by showers of rain. In a panic, the guests rush in all directions, while from the hall a torrent of waters washes in, bringing with it all sorts of debris, including a drowned ox. A shepherd makes a desperate effort to collect his flock of sheep, which climb up on the sofas and the bed in an effort to avoid being carried away by the water. A cradle is carried in on the flood containing a baby crying piteously, followed by the mother, hair streaming behind her.

The "Surrealist woman" crosses several rooms - rain falling more and more heavily - but stops in front of a door and hesitates. She goes in, followed by Jimmy, who has never left her side. On the other side of the door, there is no more rain and everything changes. It is the childhood room of the "Surrealist woman," where by her orders nothing has been touched since she was ten. Overcome by emotion, she sits down in front of a mirror at a child's table.

Meanwhile, the Marx Brothers announce that a great fête is going to take place. For this, large preparations have to be made. Four acres of desert are cleared of cacti and of all vegatation and flattened out like a tennis court. The undergrowth that is cleared away is piled around the field to make a barrier, behind which stands are erected for spectators.

There is a competition for the person who can ride a bicycle the slowest with a stone balanced on his head. All the participants have to grow beards. In the middle is a tower in the form of a boat's prow to be used as a judge's box.

Before the spectacle begins, the vegetation around the fields is set alight. This prevents the spectators in the stands from seeing anything at all. From the top of the tower the sight is wonderful, with columns of smoke going up vertically, surrounding hundrds of cyclists - each balancing a rock on his head - threading their way with the sun setting behind.

In the tower, Harpo is playing his harp ecstatically, like a modern Nero. By his side, his back to the spectacle, Groucho is lying, smoking lazily. Nearby, the "Surrealist woman" and Jimmy watch the spectacle, lying side by side. Behind them, Chico, dressed in a diving suit, accompanies Harpo on the piano. Scattered across the gangway leading to the tower, an orchestra plays the theme song with Wagnerian intensity as the sun sinks under the horizon.