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

Edwin Maxwell

Dennis O'Keefe

Leo Sulky

Dale Van Sickel

William Worthington

Leo McCarey

Herman J. Mankiewicz

Bert Kalmar

Harry Ruby

Henry Sharp

LeRoy Stone

Arthur Sheekman

Nat Perrin

John Leipold

Hans Dreier

Wiard B. Ihnen

Harry Lindgren

Cliff Shirpser

Edward Dmytryk

Arthur Johnston

Comedy

Duck Soup

Paramount Pictures

United States of America

English

ambassador

dictator

widow

siege

musical

lemonade

cigar smoking

slapstick comedy

black and white

pre-code

dowager

fictitious country

geofiction

I never get tired of the idea that someone would think of Groucho Marx is the perfect man to lead a nation into war. Or that Harpo and Chico would be good spies. Or that Zeppo would be interested in another film after this one.

The Marx Bros are to Blockbuster as Monty Python are to Netflix and I mean that in the best way possible

Filipe Manuel Neto

**I would love to send a copy of the film to Vladimir Putin. Would he understand the gesture?**

Who would have thought that this film is almost a hundred years old? I just saw it, and it is fresher and lusher than many vegetables in the supermarket! Many people no longer know who the Marx Brothers are, but a hundred years ago, at a time when there were no internet memes (or the internet), they were the kings of comedy, and it's always worth seeing what they did. They passed away a long time ago, but they left us a polite, intelligent, sharp, accessible humor that the whole family can see.

The film was released in 1933, at a time dominated by the imminent threats of war. It reminds us of our own time, doesn't it? One hundred years later, we continue to make the same mistakes and show God that we have learned nothing from them. The film makes fun of this by giving us a portrait of a bankrupt country led by an incompetent man, very vain, arrogant and surrounded by sycophants who treat him as a savior of the nation. It could be Mussolini, or Hitler... and the explicit criticism of European dictators could not be sharper today, if we think about some tyrants of our time.

The film is dominated by the four Marxes: Zeppo, in his last appearance as a member of the group, has a much more solid character than usual and as a result we never feel that he is too much in the film. Chico also does very well. Harpo does what he's used us to, managing to be funny without saying a word and putting all his tricks as a mime and vaudeville clown to good use. Groucho, as usual, intelligently leads the group. The king of ready answers couldn't have a quicker wit or a sharper tongue. In addition, we have Margaret Dumont in a skillful and healthy collaboration with them.

Good sets and very well-imagined costumes help us compose Freedonia, a republic on the verge of collapse, bankruptcy and a foreign invasion. There is an unbelievable dose of anthological scenes in this film, from the motorcycle joke with the sidecar to the joke with the mirror. The black-and-white cinematography is sharp, well-shot, and the film doesn't look as old as it actually is. The soundtrack adds the finishing touch.

Duck Soup ≣ 1933 ≣ Trailer

John Landis on DUCK SOUP

Duck Soup Trailer

Duck Soup( 1933)

War is swell...when the Marx Brothers are in it. They'll be out of the trenches by Christmas...if the food doesn't improve!

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A review by kineticandroid

Written by kineticandroid on Thu Jul 10 2014

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