Duck Soup (1933)

What a strange, remarkable, hilarious movie this is....

Duck Soup (1933) - Leo McCarey

The Marx Brothers are almost totally unique in the history of film, and when I say unique, I'm not even referring to how innovative they are. True, they definitely developed a particular style of comedy that I would say is probably now the dominant form in all of American comedy. How would I characterize it? It's difficult, but it includes a combination of anarchy, irony, and self-awareness. I paraphrase Roger Ebert when he states that you can clearly see what the Marx Bros. influenced, but its difficult to see what influenced them, other than the rich tradition of music hall.

However, again, when I say that they are totally unique, I'm referring to something else. If one notices carefully at all the groups and individuals that the Marx Brothers influenced (Mel Brooks, Monty Python, Airplane, etc.), they'll notice one common trait: Despite the anarchic worlds created in these movies, it's almost always the entire world that is anarchic. Mel Brooks and Monty Python, in particular, are contained in ridiculous worlds that have there own sense of ridiculous logic. The Marx Brothers, on the other hand, are the only anarchic and ridiculous individuals in a relatively normal and sane world (although in Duck Soup sometimes it seems as if the rest of the world is the crazy one, which is hugely ironic in itself). What does this create? Well, in Monty Python and Mel Brooks (again, irregardless of how chaotic they may seem), there is a strange sense of coherency, almost as if we could follow along their logic. This coherency is almost completely nonexistent in the early Marx Brothers films for Paramount (MGM tried to enforce conformity and coherency into the Marx Brothers unfortunately). Thus, the movies, although ridiculously hilarious, are also some of the most bizarre, daring, and yes, experimental films ever created. In fact, I would even claim that its almost avant-garde. No wonder the famous French surrealist and theorist Antonin Artaud, who is insane by all accounts and purposes, felt such a strong connection to the work of the Marx Brothers. Regarding this particularly interesting trait, I would say that W.C. Fields is closest, but his films are incoherent more from the standpoint of plot, but the sense of logic within the world is more relatable. I mean, W.C. Fields never exploded into completely random tangents that made absolutely no sense outside of themselves.

Oh, and I guess I should talk about the actual movie now. Duck Soup is the best the Marx Brothers have to offer because it portrays them at their absolutely most chaotic and funny. Oh, and there is no random instrument playing, which a lot of people like, but I just feel blocks the overall momentum of the films. So yeah, this movie is an all time classic and is filled with all time classic moments and one-liners, so definitely buy it. March 19, 2008

A Fantastic Movie!

Okay, comedy is subjective. This is my opinion and you may not share my sense of humour. Let's get that out of the way first. This is a FANTASTIC movie - what's not to love? The motorcycle and sidecar gags alone are worth the price of admission. The peanut and lemonade stands. The horse in bed with Harpo. So much to say about Duck Soup... A wonderful film. November 25, 2007

"Why Don't You Object?"

Duck Soup is the only Marx Brothers film that is listed on AFI's list of the 100 greatest movies of all time. However, choosing it from the bevy of great films starring the boys must have been difficult, and probably caused a lot of raised eyebrows from fans. This was the first Marx Brothers movie I ever saw, and although it has grown on me, it is not my favorite. Still, as in all Marx Brothers movies, there are some fantastic comic scenes.

Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) is the newly appointed and incompetant leader of Freedonia, a land plagued with threats from neighboring lands. Spies abound (Chico and Harpo Marx), but not without fun. Nothing is taken seriously here, so the story is of little importance.

There are quite a few dry spots in this movie that degrade it a bit, and the technical aspects are not always up to par. The opening musical number is not satirical enough to be considered funny; it almost seems to be taking itself seriously. The later musical bits fare a bit better, but they are not outstanding. Even great scenes like the famous mirror bit lack; there is absolutely no sound in the mirror scene. However, Harpo is outstanding in all that he does here. His antics with Edgar Kennedy are hilarious and make this movie worth watching multiple times. September 15, 2007

Hit and miss

Duck Soup is one of the classic rammed-to-the-gunnells gag movies. Its influence throughout so much later cinema, such as Woody Allen, Airplane perhaps is paramount, and there are certainly classic episodes such as the mirror scene. But I found that many of the gags fell flat, wordplay that was neither very clever or very funny, and some of the parody aspect such as the music hall comedy pastiche looks rather dated and not in a immortal, timepiece type of way. For me, I prefer the slapstick of Woody Allen's earlier films, but the Marx brothers are well up there as classic comic producers of all time, so who am I to say. I just found lines such as: 'Keep it under your hat, no, tell you what, I'll keep it under my hat' didn't ring many comedic cherries. August 21, 2007

Here are the plans of war. They're as valuable as your life. And that's putting them pretty cheap.

Duck Soup remains an excellent example of the fast paced screwball comedies of its time. The Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont and the rest of the cast turn in convincing performances for this story of two countries that may not always get along very well. The timing is excellent and this helps the comedy along, too.

The movie opens with the state of Freedonia suffering from a huge financial debacle. Only Mrs. Teasdale, played so well by Margaret Dumont, can infuse the government with the money it so desperately needs to keep the country from bankruptcy. Mrs. Teasdale cuts a deal with the government; and soon after Rufus T. Firefly, played by Groucho Marx, becomes the new head of state.

Chaos and mayhem predictably explode from all directions almost immediately after Firefly gets his new job. Firefly proves himself to be inept--in a humorous way--by refusing to deal with the issues of government while having Bob Roland, played by Zeppo Marx, take meaningless letters. Freedonia's troubles only worsen when Firefly becomes rather eager to lead neighboring Sylvania into war. The war scenes offer many opportunities for the Marx Brothers to do the comedy that only they can do best. Other great slapstick scenes involve antics between a peanut vendor and a lemonade vendor as well as the scenes in which more than one Groucho is afoot!

The choreography is excellent; it shines brilliantly for the scene in which Harpo, who plays a spy for Sylvania, tries to fool Firefly into believing that Firefly is looking at his reflection in a glass mirror when something rather different is actually taking place. The slapstick scenes with the peanut and lemonade vendors show amazing forethought and meticulous attention to the details of exactly how each actor must behave in order to make the scenes funny.

The cinematography remains solid throughout the picture. The characters are framed nicely within the screen; and Duck Soup is filmed beautifully in glorious black and white. The scenes in which Firefly presents himself to the wealthy aristocrats of Freedonia demonstrate excellent choreography as well.

Overall, this Marx Brothers picture remains one of their finest efforts. Oh sure, some gags work better than others, but I agree with people who write that this picture offers us an excellent introduction to the four Marx Brothers. This picture is also significant because it was the last time Zeppo joined his other brothers before the camera. The actors give convincing performances and you will laugh out loud all throughout the movie.

There will never be another comedy team as brilliant as The Marx Brothers were; and I highly recommend this film for fans of the Marx Brothers. People who enjoy slapstick screwball comedies from the years of early Hollywood will also love this film. Excellent!
February 25, 2007

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