Duck Soup (1933)

Released in 1932, "Duck Soup" is surely one of the best Marx Brothers films, blessed with countless memorable lines and plenty of free-form comic insanity.The story takes place in the mythical country of Freedonia, where they are in need of a new leader. Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont), who exerts some control over the nation's doings by virtue of being a sizable creditor, recommends Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) to replace the old ruler, who didn't measure up.Ms. Dumont, it should be noted, is the perfect foil for Marxian histrionics. If anyone doubts that being the straight person is a talent unto itself, they should watch the way she embraces the comedic lines with a flawless balance of understanding and disregard.The "T" in Rufus T. Firefly must stand for timing. Groucho and his brothers Chico and Harpo let fly with wonderful streams of wordplay and puns that pass too quickly to notice them all on first viewing.Much of the humor in this film comes from tit for tat exchanges of physical affronts. Laurel and Hardy were also expert at this; see their film titled, appropriately, "Tit For Tat". Such humor later found its way into the pages of Mad Magazine in their "Spy vs. Spy" features.This type of comedy is not everyone's cup of tea, but those who appreciate skewering by wordplay as much as swordplay should enjoy it immensely.

Lunacy from start to finish. The routines never cease and almost all are belly laughs, at least for us Marxists. There's something of a plot, which happily never gets in the way. It's something about Groucho's country of Freedonia and a rivalry with Calhern's Sylvania. Meanwhile zillionaire matron Dumont is the dubious prize. Naturally, the boys comically foil every plot to snatch her away. Trouble is words don't come close to capturing the non-stop lunacy of the 70-minutes. What's generally overlooked, however, is how well produced the feature is. The royal hall is huge, well decorated, and staffed with armies of costumed extras. Thankfully, Paramount cut few corners and it shows. And catch that mass scene of squirming bodies near the end that borders on a surreal even as the routines continue. Comic highlights include the famous mirror scene, getting hats on straight at the hotdog stand, and Groucho's many throwaway lines. I can just imagine what it was like trying to direct this madness from a director's chair. Whatever they paid McCarey, it wasn't enough.Anyway, the boys are in top form including the uncertain Zeppo before he wisely became a Hollywood talent agent. So, for younger folks, don't miss the well-crafted 1933 craziness. As the goofiness shows, surreal comedy didn't begin with the wacko likes of Bill Murray, Jim Carey, or even The Three Stooges!

I'm going to get this out of the way right now. This movie is kind of over hyped, but that in no way shape or form did I dislike it. Now that we've got that out of the way, lets talk about the movie. It's a wickedly funny satire that's full of quotable lines. The main comedic drive comes from 2 people: Groucho Marx's Rufus T. Firefly and Harpo Marx's Pinky. Groucho Marx delivers amazingly written lines that never fail to make one laugh. No other actor could have made it work. Harpo Marx plays an idiotic spy who doesn't talk and he brings the slapstick comedy to the mix and it works beautifully. I miss these quick paced satires with biting dialogue. Off the top of my head, the most recent one I can think of is Airplane, which was all the way back in 1980. Hollywood! Bring these back! They work wonders! People of the world! Watch this movie on Netflix before they get rid of it on January 1st! Hurry, hurry, hurry!

chaotic and hilarious, satire and exploration of absurd comedy possibilities, it is one of great Marx Brothers films. and the fact is result of inspired mixture between crazy situations, political atmosphere of period and basic solution to remember the humor roots. evergreen , it uses the fears and public image tools, the expectations of public and the childhood impressions for present the basis of a fake universe from a fictionally country. like The Dictator, it is a splendid work about the politics errors. and, sure, about war. the secret of its success remains the innocence. and the courage to be the useful jester for every period. because the errors remains the same.