Hello, I Must Be Going (song)

"Hello, I Must Be Going"
Song by Groucho Marx from the album Animal Crackers
Released	1930
Writer(s)	Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby

"Hello, I Must Be Going" is a song from the Marx Brothers' 1930 film Animal Crackers, written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. It was sung by Groucho, along with Margaret Dumont, just before the dialogue that preceded the song "Hooray for Captain Spaulding". It did not feature in the earlier stage production of Animal Crackers which opened on Broadway in 1928.

In the film story the song, together with “Hooray For Captain Spaulding”, create a mock grand operatic entry, complete with chorus, for the famed African explorer Captain Spaulding, played by Groucho.^[1] The song expresses Spalding's contempt for this elaborate welcome.^[2]

The song is very closely associated with Groucho. A biography of Groucho was titled, Hello, I Must be Going!.^[3] He also sang the song, with Erin Fleming, as the opening number of his Carnegie Hall concert in 1972.

Other performances

In Oliver Stone's TV mini-series Wild Palms (1993), the title of the fifth and final episode, directed by Phil Joanou, was "Hello, I Must Be Going". The Marx Brothers song itself was sung by the character Senator Anton Kreutzer (played by Robert Loggia).^[2]

References

1. "Hello, I Must Be Going: The Musicianship of the Marx Brothers". Humor in America. 3 Jan 2013. Retrieved March 2015. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
2. "Animal Crackers". Film Site. 2015. Retrieved March 2015. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
3. Chandler, Charlotte (2012). Hello, I Must Be Going: Groucho and His Friends. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781471105852.