Customer Reviews

Duck Soup

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Duck Soup" is as absurd, nonsensical and hilarious as a film can be and still make sense! A satire of dictatorships, war and politics, Groucho, Harpo and Zeppo are at their artfully outlandish best here. Running 68 minutes, the movie is a short one, but chock-full of laughs and lampoons. Released in 1933, during the crisis period of the Depression, the movie was to provide comic relief for the weary American public. It was a flop. Audiences were taken aback by such political disrespect. This is high praise, indeed in the 21st century.

Rufus T. Firefly, played by Groucho, becomes dictator of the mythical kingdom of Freedonia, a tiny country badly in need of additional finances to alleviate their bankrupt status. In other words, the place is a disaster - or why else would they select the man who would "never belong to a club that would have someone like him as a member?" The citizens agree to make Firefly their leader hoping, in return, to gain the financial patronage of the wealthy Mrs. Teasdale, (Margaret Dumont), whose deceased husband was their former president. Firefly is touted for "possessing the statesmanship of Gladstone, the humility of Lincoln, and the wisdom of Pericles." Ha! His primary idea for improving the country involves bilking Mrs Teasdale of her fortune for his own use, forget about Freedonia! He rejoices in making arbitrary decrees, and his appointments are blatantly nepotistic. The other Marx brothers play the dictator's spies and henchmen.

Firefly declares war on its neighboring country, Sylvania, when its Ambassador Trentino, (Louis Calhern), competes with him for Mrs. Teasdale's affections. Trentino's ultimate goal is to annex Freedonia to Sylvania. Poor Mrs. Teasdale.

The film's denouement involves a battle scene which represents the madness of war and the capriciousness of the men who decide to wage them. Groucho's famous line, "And remember while you're out there risking life and limb through shot and shell, we'll be in here thinking what a sucker you are," drew lots of flack. Benito Mussolini banned "Duck Soup" because he believed it to be a direct attack.Ya gotta love it! That's comic power! This anarchic satire, which was a critical and commercial failure at the time - it almost sank Paramount Studios - was fortunately revived in the 1960s.

The Marx Brothers' usual non-stop freneticism, as well as some of their best gags, slapstick, and one-liners, including the lemonade seller confrontation and the mirror pantomime, make this movie such a classic. There are also some terrific musical numbers, like the Freedonia Hymn, "Just Wait 'Til I Get Through With It " and the staged production number, The Country's Goin' to War."

Finally, what does "Duck Soup: mean? It was a familiar American phrase that means anything simple or easy, or alternately, a gullible sucker or pushover. Under the opening credits, four quacking ducks (the four Marx Brothers) are seen swimming and cooking in a kettle over a fire. Groucho suposedly provided the following recipe to explain the title: "Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you'll duck soup for the rest of your life."
JANA

My favorite Marx Brothers movie is "A Night at the Opera," but this political satire, which was banned in Italy by Mussolini, is a very close second. It is definitely the best (and last) Marx Brothers movie with Zeppo, for what that is worth. As Groucho later pointed out, Zeppo's roles as the group's straight man were thankless. It was not that Zeppo lacked talent, but rather that he had three older brothers.

"In Duck Soup," the mythical nation of Freedonia is in trouble and Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont) insists that the reigns of power be turned over to Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho). Ambassador Trentino (Louis Calhern) of the neighboring country of Sylvania employs a couple of spies, Chicolini (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo), to shadow Firefly. Oh, and Firefly has a secretary, Bob Rolland (Zeppo). Many of the most famous sequences by the Brothers Marx are found in this film: (1) The mirror sequence between Groucho and Harpo (if it had been Groucho and Chico instead Groucho would have asked "Are you my reflection" and Chico would have answered "Sure"); (2) Harpo's encounter with street vendor Edgar Kennedy, master of the slow-burn (" "); (3) The "We're Going to War" take off on 1930s musicals ("They've got guns, we've got guns, all God's chil'en got guns"); (4) Groucho offering Chico the position of Secretary of War ("Sold!"); (5) Harpo offering Grouch a ride in the sidecar of his motorcyle ("This is the third trip I've taken today and I still haven't gone anywhere"); (6) Zeppo introducing the new leader of Freedonia, Rufus T. Fireflay ("Whatever it is, I'm against it."); and much, much more, including the lovely Rachel Torres as the lovely Vera Marcal!

"Duck Soup" was helped by several factors. With director Leo McCarey the Marx Brothers finally had a first rate director who understood how to stage and shoot the action. The Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby screenplay does one of the better jobs of integrating the various comic routines into the overall story. After an absence of two films Margaret Dumont was back where she belonged, trying to stay above the insanity with no success whatsoever. Louis Calhern is arguably the ideal villain for the Marx Brothers because in scene after scene he plays it absolutely straight, without losing his dignity or becoming laughable (similar to the marvelous job by Kitty Carlisle in "A Night at the Opera").

Final tidbit: When the town of Fredonia, New York complained about its name being used in the film (the extra "e" did not matter for some reason," Groucho shot back: "Change the name of your town, it's hurting our picture." And, as always, please remember that the correct pronunciation of Leonard's stage name is "Chick-o" not "Cheek-o." The man liked the ladies and was not a young Hispanic male.

The wacky "Duck Soup" is often viewed as the ultimate Marx Brothers movie and it's certainly their most outrageous in terms of the humor of the film and a great political satire as well. Directed by Leo McCarey "Duck Soup" has substanially more visual flair than any other Marx Brothers feature until "A Day at the Opera". The last film that the Marx Brothers made for Paramount (although this is a Universal release Paramount originally released this along with all the other early Marx Brothers movies but sold the rights to the films to Universal in the 1950's for distribution) "Duck Soup" remains the Marx Brothers crowning jewel of all their films; certainly later MGM films like "A Night at the Opera" and "A Day at the Races" had bigger budgets and were more ambitious but those films diluted the anarchic humor that was at the heart of EVERY Marx Brothers movie.

A horrible flop released to nasty reviews "Duck Soup" was ahead of its time as a comedy and satire. It made (deservedly) AFI's Top 100 Comedies of All Time. This is, like the previous version, the original theatrical version. It hasn't been edited (although rumors have been floating around for years that one of the production numbers was edited it was never true and isn't true of this version either).

Universal used the most readily available best film source at the time when they first released this in 2004. This is the exact same transfer from that 2004 boxed set. There are plenty of specks, scartches and a fair amount of dirt/debris visible in the transfer here which, if Universal had done their due diligence and done a digital restoration of the film, could have been eliminated. It's a pity that they didn't give this film (and the others released individually) the same love that they did their Universal series of horror movies a couple of years back.

There aren't any special features here which is a missed opportunity. It would be nice if Universal would license a title like this to Criterion or collaborate with the UCLA Archives to restore this film and add a commentary track or other special features. A five star movie with a less than five star presentation "Duck Soup" manages to hold up remarkably well 70 plus years on.

The best film the Marx brothers ever did, particularly because it doesn't veer off into operatic musical numbers at any point (the only songs in this movie go along with the comic tone). Groucho plays Rufus T. Firefly, who is chosen by the wealthy Mrs. Teasdale (played by the inimitably straight-faced Margaret DuMont - I can think of no better "straight man" - or woman, in this case - in all of comedy) to lead the bankrupt country of Freedonia away from impending war and financial ruin. The structure of the film closely resembles a Looney-Tunes cartoon, like many of the Marx's films; no reason is given for anything, it's all just inspired lunacy. Of course, it's worth the price of the video alone to hear Groucho and DuMont's exchanges - but the scenes where Chico and Harpo are harassing a street vendor are also hysterical. The entire film, like the previous "Animal Crackers," will withstand repeated viewings, simply because the movie flies at such a brisk pace, you're bound to miss some jokes here and there (you may not even catch them all after several times). Finally, also worth noting is the terrific send-up near the end of the film of the Busby Berkeley musical mega-finales that were popular at the time. A great political satire that deserves a place on your video / DVD rack.

If you like situation humor, disjointed connections, spontaneous one-liners, and sight gags, then the Marx Brothers in general, and "Duck Soup" in particular are are made to order for you!

Groucho, of all people, is called in to save the financially troubled country of Freedonia. Little does he know, its neighbor, Sylvania, wants to stir revolt in Freedonia and then overrun it. But that's mostly in the background, designed to provide situations for the four Marx Brothers to interact with each other at the expense of various and sundry respectable people.

This movie has it all -- romance (sort of), intruige (I suppose), international conflict (after a fashion), and a poor woman who in real life didn't get most of the jokes and gags surrounding her.

If you pay attention to this movie you'll see the magic of Marx Bros' comedy and how bits and pieces of it have made it into films made by the likes of Monty Python.

And, last, but not least, you've got to LOVE Freedonia's national anthem!

5+ stars all the way! Definitely the Marx Brother's best movie ever!

Duck Soup was ranked number 5 in the AFI's top 100 funniest films of all time and the rating was well deserved. The humor ranges from slap stick (the lemonade stand and the mirror scenes to name just two) to razor sharp verbal abuse among the players. (Margaret: I sponsored your appointment because I feel you are the most able statesman in all Freedonia. Groucho: Well, that covers a lot of ground, Say, you cover a lot of ground yourself. Your better beat it, I hear they're gonna tear you down and put up an office building where you're standing. And there is more - Groucho: I can see you now, bending over a hot stove, only I can't see the stove! Groucho: "I'm fighting for your honor, which is more than I can say you've ever done!

Unlike many "modern day" comedies, with the Marx Brothers, you actually have to pay attention to get the gags. They use word play better than anyone before or since (although Woody Allen in Annie Hall comes close). A perfect night of fun for me would be Duck Soup, Night at the Opera (you can fast forward through the musical scenes) and Horse Feathers. Earlier movies like Animal Crackers and The Coconuts were basically filmed plays and, for me, later ones lacked the energy of these three.

This is a DVD that deserves to be in your collection and one you will enjoy for years to come. All Hail Freedonia, land of the brave and free and funny!

To gain financial support from Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont), the tiny bankrupt country of Freedonia agrees to take Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) as their new president (the poor saps). Mayhem springs from Firefly's cynical and sarcastic leadership, culminating in war with the neighboring country of Sylvania. Throughout, Pinky (Harpo Marx) and Chicolini (Chico Marx) are scheming among the great and powerful, taking money from Trentino (Louis Calhern) of Sylvania, and directing Firefly's war effort. [Black & white, created in 1933, with a running time of 70 minutes.]

This movie contains some of Groucho's funniest witticisms, his badinage with Margaret Dumont producing some of the funniest lines in theatrical history. The story takes something of a backseat to the Marx brother's comedy, but this movie is first and foremost a satire of politics in general, and war and patriotism in particular. Back to the comedy, this movie is fantastically funny, containing the famous mirror scene, where Chico is dressed as Groucho, who must figure out if he is seeing his reflection or something else!

This is a great movie. The comedy is funny and clean, and can be watched by viewers of any age. I highly recommend this movie.

"Duck Soup", the Marx Bros. fifth film, released in 1933, may be their finest piece of work. It is fast paced throughout, with a myriad of gags, jokes, and one-liners; the songs are humorous; there is no hint or presence of opera; it marks Zeppo's last film with his brothers (he later became their agent) - and best of all, Margaret Dumont returns after a two film absence. (She was not in "Monkey Business" or "Horse Feathers")

Groucho plays Rufus T. Firefly, the newly appointed dictator of Freedonia. This small nation is on the brink of bankrupty and is threatened to be taken over by neighboring Sylvania when Mrs. Gloria teasdale, played by Margaret Dumont, the wealthiest freedonian, offers financial assistance only if Rufus becomes dictator.

This does not set well with Trentino, Slvania's ambassador, played by Louis Calhern. He plans to marry Mrs. Teasdale (she is a widow), gain her fortune, and take over Freedonia. Now, with Rufus as the new dictator, and showing his own interest in her, Trentino sees war as the only way to overtake Freedonia.

Groucho picks up with Margaret Dumont right where he left off with her in "Animal Crackers"; that being, rudely. Yet that is what she is in these film for - to play the kind of high society snob the Marx Bros. love to hate, and make fun of, brilliantly so. Zeppo is less than visible in this film, and really doesn't have much a role, except for the songs.

Trentino hires Chico and Harpo to spy on Rufus, which is interesting because Chico is also hired by Rufus as Minister of War, which he only accepts after Rufus declines the offer. Harpo, as in previous films, is fixated on horses. In one scene he is sleeping with a horse, while a beautiful woman sleeps alone in another bed.

Trying to break the relationship and trust Mrs. Teasdale has for Rufus, Trentino uses the voluptious Vera Marcal, played by Racquel Torres, to make love, of sorts, to Rufus. However, Rufus is more interested in making jokes at her expense than anything else.

Great scenes pull this film together; including the mirror scene where Harpo is dressed to look like Groucho, and each tries to expose and one up the other; Chico and Harpo's feud between vendor Edgar Kennedy; and Chico's trial, where he has been arrested for being a spy, and sees it as more of a game than anything else.

War is finally declared, and overall it plays out fantastically. The ending is, to a certain extent, poor; not one of the Marx Bros. best film endings. However, it had to end without seeing anyone actually killed, and in this respect, the ending is justified.

Throughout its history, "Duck Soup" has been banned both in Italy, by Mussolini; and here in the U.S., during part of the Vietnam War. Yet it has stood the test of time, and still stands as one of their best, if not their best, films.

Well, here we are with another wild and hilarious Marx Brothers farce, this time with Groucho taking over a small country and winding up in war with a neighboring one.

There really isn't much of a story but with the Marx Brothers that doesn't matter. Many times their movies were vehicles for their vaudeville acts of funny lines, slapstick gags and musical talent.

Two differences in this film than most others from the boys: 1 - Zeppo has a number of lines. Usually, he's the almost-forgotten brother in this foursome, either with little to say or not even in the film. 2 - Harpo doesn't play the harp, but he gets in on his share of the gags, which are always dominated by Groucho and Chico (my personal favorite).

Fantastic dialog makes this version one of the best of them all. There are just tons of funny (and, yes, very dated) lines in this movie and having Duck Soup out on DVD making the sound clearer helps, too. Lots of laughs

This is the best Marx Brothers movie and undoubtedly the funniest comedy ever made -- a satiric romp through international relations that preaches pure anarchy, defiance of all modes of rational thought, and shows what dangerous clowns dictators can be (Mussolini banned the film in Italy because he deemed it to be a personal insult. Guess what Benito? It is!). Unfortunately, this overpriced DVD from Universal has absolutely no frills, and the transfer is merely adequate for the format. Getting it at Amazon at least cuts the price down a bit, so there's no excuse not to buy it. Still, a bit a disappointment (hence only four out of five stars).