STUFF YOU GOTTA WATCH

DUCK SOUP

They've already paid a month's rent on the battlefield

(1933)
With Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Edgar Kennedy
Directed by Leo McCarey
Black and White
Reviewed by JL and JB

If DR. STRANGELOVE isn't the greatest war satire of all time, then DUCK SOUP is. At the very least, it's the Marx Brothers' best film. Never before or since were they afforded such literate material or a first-class director (Leo McCarey) who tested their limits as comic performers. Groucho's inauguration, Chico and Harpo's "spy stuff" business with Trentino, Groucho's cabinet meeting, the battle of nerves with Edgar Kennedy, the mirror scene...all among the most beloved scenes of American comedy. It even has musical numbers worth listening to, a rarity in Marx films. The late Cecilia Ager was quoted as saying "The Marx Brothers have never been in a film as wonderful as they are." Which makes me wonder if Ms. Ager ever saw DUCK SOUP. - JL

To sleep, perchance to eat crackers Because of its subject matter, DUCK SOUP is the most important film the Marx Brothers ever made. And it's a hell of a funny picture, packed wall to wall with wacky jokes, horrible puns and imaginative sight gags. If I do not count it as the Marx Brothers best film, that is because I find ANIMAL CRACKERS, MONKEY BUSINESS, HORSE FEATHERS and A NIGHT AT THE OPERA to contain slightly wittier dialogue overall. Quibbling, perhaps, but I am perversely proud to be possibly the only Marx Brothers fanatic who ranks DUCK SOUP as his fourth favorite MB movie (above ANIMAL CRACKERS).

This is not to suggest that there is anything wrong with DUCK SOUP's status as the greatest Marx Brothers movie of all time. There are more funny jokes, gags, puns and visual treats in the first ten minutes of DUCK SOUP than you will find in the entire running time of most comedies today, and as stated above, nearly every scene is a comedy classic. To name just a few: Groucho's cabinet meeting, where he keeps everybody waiting while he plays jacks; Harpo pretending to Groucho's reflection, leading to the greatest of all "mirror" routines; and everything from "Freedonia's Going to War!" straight through the end. ½ - JB

SPY STUFF

"Now, Chicolini, I want a full detailed report of your investigation!"
"All right, I tell you. Monday we watch-a Firefly's house, but he no come out. He wasn't home. Tuesday we go to the ball game, but he fool us - he no show up. Wednesday he go to the ball game, but we fool him - we no show up! Thursday it was a double header - nobody show up. Friday it rained all day. There was-a no ballgame, so we stayed home, we listen to it over the radio."
"Then you didn't shadow Firefly?"
"Sure, we shadow Fire... we shadow him all day."
"But what day was that?"
"Shaddaday!"

HOW GOVERMENT WORKS

"How about taking up the tax?"
"How about taking up the carpet?"
"I still insist we take up the tax."
"He's right. You've got to take up the tacks before you take up the carpet."

THE WHOLE WIG

Working titles for DUCK SOUP included GRASSHOPPERS and CRACKED ICE.

The famous mirror scene, in which Harpo, dressed as Groucho, pretends to be Groucho's reflection, was not in the script. It was improvised on a whim by Leo McCarey, who had an extensive background in silent comedy, including supervising several Laurel and Hardy films.

The McCarey/Laurel and Hardy influence on DUCK SOUP can also be seen in the hat-switching routine featuring Harpo, Chico and L&H stock company member Edgar Kennedy. And, of course, in the fact that it is titled DUCK SOUP, the name of a very early short in which Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy appeared.

DUCK SOUP seems to have more shot-to-shot continuity errors than any other Marx Brothers film. Of course, this does not matter in the least. Probably makes it all funnier.

Throughout most of his life, Groucho Marx considered A NIGHT AT THE OPERA and A DAY AT THE RACES to be the two best Marx Brothers films. However, in the 1970s, when DUCK SOUP reached classic status thanks to its popularity with college students who considered it an anti-war film, Groucho suddenly started claiming DUCK SOUP to be his favorite. Which fits right in with a line often attributed to Groucho: "Those are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others."