WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!?!

I'm sure it's meant to be a non-sequitur typical of Marx Brothers' humor. The script of ONCE IN A LIFETIME  (same authors) is also dotted with them.

I don't think the choice of rye bread has any special meaning.  The Marx Brothers were Jewish and some Jews like rye bread, so perhaps that is why Kaufman and Hart picked rye bead.  However, this is probably stretching things a bit.

A word of caution - Banjo is not insane. There is nothing in the script to support this idea.  None of the Marx Brothers were insane.  The use of non-sequiturs is not a sign of insanity.  If you play Banjo as insane, you will not be a success.

To gain some understanding of the Marx Brothers comic style, watch these three films: The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers and A Night At The Opera.  The first two are based on the musical of the same title.  Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind wrote the books for both.  The screenplay for the third was written by Kaufman and Ryskind.  Do not watch the movie version of The Man Who Came To Dinner.  Jimmy Durante plays Banjo and is all wrong for the part.

If you have any free time, find a copy of Harpo's autobiography, Harpo Speaks.  It's wonderful.

Here's one of my favorite Harpo stories.  Harpo and others were visiting Kaufman and his wife, Bea, at their farm in Bucks County, PA.  There was one guest nobody liked, but they couldn't think of a way to get rid of him.  Harpo went into the kitchen, put on a long white apron and poured a bottle of ketchup on it.  He walked out holding a large knife and said to Bea, "I just killed the cat.  How many did you say there were for lunch?"  The unwanted guest left.

I'd hazard a guess that its a simple  case of  noodle implements?

Although "rye bread" was also code for "Jewish" in Yiddish-based comedy of the time (as opposed to "white bread"/Protestant), the humor in the line quoted primarily comes from the non sequitur of "rye bread" being made lascivious in the audience's mind through its comically illogical context.

 

Updated On: 8/29/16 at 08:29 AM

Congratulations on getting the part. I agree with previous posters that no Marx Brothers character is "insane" or even "disturbing." This is fast, frequently silly word play, and you don't want to hit any line too hard. Groucho was a master of the pause, too - maybe "Meet me in my room in half an hour ... and bring rye bread"?  The audience can then react to the additional information as surprising (non-sequitur) or suggestive (hunger, sexual or otherwise). But keep it light. They had censors in the 1930's, and they were pretty dumb, but anything too obvious would have been a problem. 

In the Marx Brothers/George S. Kaufman world, rye bread is good, white bread is bad.

I'll bring the rye bread!" or "Bring some rye bread!" or "You bring the rye bread!" are just expressions that mean, "We're gonna have a good time" or "Let's have a party!"

A Jewish mother might say her son is such a good boy, "He's like a nice slice fresh rye bread."

It even became a baseball expression for cheering the team on to get a home run: "Bring on the rye bread and mustard, Grandma--it's grand salami time!" (Grand salami = grand slam.)

So I wouldn't worry too much about the "meaning"--it's just means "This is gonna be good!"

Kiss my kishkes.

Updated On: 8/29/16 at 09:55 PM

It's a funny line by a comic who understands that sometimes the funniest things are the most unexpected and only vaguely explicable.  Detachment from meaning and very loose if any attachment to meaning are features of comedy.   

If you, like me, agree that this line is very funny, you probably realize that it's funny because it defies all expectation, it's completely unpredictable and doesn't have an easy explanation, nor is it meant to.

Drewski, I disagree that you made no contribution by offering that Banjo is joking.  That's exactly correct.

Banjo is entertaining Miss Preen, Sheridan, and perhaps most of all himself by being zany and preposterous.  (Of course he could also be really hitting on Preen, a choice the actor can easily make, given that Banjo is a lothario, whether in antic, earnest, or both the actor can decide).   

Whippersnapper, I would suggest you need to take the "why" of this behavior and text as serious as any other behavior and text from any other character.   You need to discover what about Banjo makes him need to be the way he is, how far he will go for a laugh, what he gets out of it, etc..   And what makes him so confident that the line is not only amusing but the ideally funny line for that moment.  And, as your question indicates, you are taking it seirously.   

But if you are looking for any kind of intended literal meaning, e.g. what the rye bread would have to do with any actual tryst between Preen and Banjo, you might well be asking the wrong question.  Because, as Banjo knows better than anyone, the charm of Preen bringing rye bread when she would come to his room has only an amusingly wacky, disconnected relationship to reality.  

Updated On: 8/30/16 at 12:50 PM