1933 Directed by Leo McCarey
Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.
Groucho Marx Harpo Marx Chico Marx Zeppo Marx Margaret Dumont Raquel Torres Louis Calhern Edmund Breese Leonid Kinskey Charles Middleton Edgar Kennedy Edward Arnold Wade Boteler Sidney Bracey E.H. Calvert Davison Clark Louise Closser Hale Carrie Daumery Maude Turner Gordon Florence Wix Joseph Crehan Mario Dominici Edmund Mortimer Charles West Verna Hillie Edward LeSaint George MacQuarrie Frederick Sullivan Eric Mayne Show All…
"Duck Soup" is a comedy machine gun. Its jokes and gags come quickly and constantly in a barrage of rat-a-tat-tat amusement. It is a fully funny, wholly high-energy romp whose only misfire may be that not every bit of wit flows organically from its narrative; but this is a tiny quibble as "Duck Soup" is clearly constructed to be a showcase of Marx Brothers mirth.
A political satire that skewers foreign relations, war, national treasures, and national treasuries, Leo McCarey's "Duck Soup" begins with Groucho Marx's Rufus T. Firefly being named head of the nation of Freedonia. From there, jokes, musical numbers, and mostly solid plotting fly in torrents. The narrative is a sturdy foundation for sturdy comedy.
The timely-even-today…
Has anyone ever sat down and calculated the jokes per minute in this frickin' thing? The joke density has to be high, somewhere around the level of seasons 4-6 Simpsons. I re-watched DUCK SOUP within the last year, and I was still laughing so much today that I felt light headed when the lights came up. The escalating scale of the jokes to that last reel of absolute convention shattering anarchy ... *faints
Half stand-up routine, half variety show, very humorous.
The original songs are quite funny and the rapid fire puns and deadpan jokes are still sharp which is remarkable SEEING HOW THEY ARE OVER 80 YEARS OLD.
I finished watching this and went immediately to my Favourite film by year list for the 30s. Somehow I put The testament of Dr Mabuse ahead of this. At least I did say in the notes that 1933 was a hell of a year and I could have chosen one of ten films.
It is, of course, pretty much perfect. Harpo and Chico and Louis Calhern, Harpo and Chico and the Lemonade seller. The songs, the mirror. Margaret Dumont. Most things Groucho says.
It does that weird cumulative thing that the best comedies do that have you laughing at the memory of having laughed or the suggestion of laughing so that you couldn't for a minute nail down just what…
“Clear? Huh! Why a four-year-old child could understand this report! Run out and find me a four-year-old child, I can't make head or tail of it.”
Meine manische Marx Brothers-Phase liegt zwar schon knapp 30 Jahre zurück, aber einige von Grouchos besten Onelinern kann ich immer noch auswendig. Und "Duck Soup" (deutsch "Die Marx Brothers im Krieg“) ist ja von all ihren Filmen der mit dem höchsten Tempo und der besten Gagdichte.
"Gentlemen, Chicolini here may talk like an idiot, and look like an idiot, but don't let that fool you: he really is an idiot."
Und erst der legendäre Spiegelsketch! Ein absolutes Meisterwerk, und heute noch ein absoluter Brüller.
Dass der Film nicht wirklich eine Kriegs-, geschweige denn eine…
Groucho es un referente, Harpo aunque no me convence su estilo de retrasado trambólico siempre me saca la sonrisa, Harpo es como Groucho Jr y Zeppo es 🐦.
Siempre apoyaré obras que defiendan que todo en la vida se puede y se debe tomar con humor.
So much vaudeville is lost to eternity: those itinerant players from the turn of the century performing in dance halls and theatres with their jokes, songs, and sight gags: thank goodness for the Marx Brothers who give us a definitive catalogue of the kind of content we could have expected to see in a Marx Bros vaudeville revue. Full of groaners, but so densely packed, with set-ups you could see a mile away, that you can't help but be swept up in the joy of its hilariously low stakes. Harpo's genius is on full display here (no harp in this one though!), and Groucho's costume changes throughout the war scene tickled me pink. I don't think I'd ever seen this all the way through, and although I'm not sure it should be on the AFI list, it was a nice way to spend 68 ridiculous minutes.
A classic tale of Marx Brothers antics. It's hysterical, although I do think it suffers from a lack of plot.
Hail Freedonia!
Whereas the physical humor of Chaplin and Keaton never really got old – arguably because it was never again done so well – the dialogue-heavy humor of Duck Soup has aged rather poorly. Most of the jokes have nothing to do with the story or the characters, making the movie feel less like a movie and more like a comedy show. Some of the more absurdist jokes are great – the mirror scene, for example – but way too many of the attempts at humor fell flat for me.
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