Year: 1933
Director: Leo McCarey
Country: US
Language: English
It's not giraffe soup, peacock soup or even chicken soup! Duck Soup is the first Marx Brothers film and possibly the first pre-90's comedy that I had seen. The man with the big mustache (Groucho Marx) introduced me to the man with the little mustache (Charlie Chaplin). This film is among the greatest comedies of all time and is full of material that bends the rules yet still manages to be leave modern audiences in stitches.
Groucho Marx stars as Rufus T. Firefly, a man named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont) .
The Marx Brothers' style of film was anarchic and mad-cap. Outrageous for its time and full of slapstick. Its influence of vaudevillian and Yiddish comedy make it very different from films made today. This Jewish humor was very popular in America during the 30's, mainly because it was surreal, shocking, verbally outrageous and nihilistic. Duck Soup is an absurdists take on politics and warfare; nothing is off limits and everything is for grabs. Declare a war over a woman both leaders don't really like that much? Sure, why not?
Each Marx Brothers flick is a mere slice from the whole of their filmography, however I'd argue that Duck Soup is easily the best slice, mainly because every scene is enjoyable and the entire film can be re-watched over and over again. Marx himself is full of quotable smart-ass dialogue like "I got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it.". His speech is at the mercy of insults and puns, yet he never seems limited by that. Duck Soup came at the right time in film history. Its comedy would not make much sense during the silent era, it would suffer from lack of sound quality during the early sound era (1927-1931) and it would probably have a lot of content removed during the Hays code era (1934-1959)
In conclusion, there is very little to dislike about Duck Soup, even the short musical numbers are energetic and entertaining. It can feel a bit dated, but I doubt that any 81 year old film wouldn't be. Considering this was made during the 30's it is quite bold and ambitious. If you think Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a comic masterpiece then I encourage you to seek out this, as it is on a whole different level of genius. Praise it! 5/5
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