DUCK SOUP (1933)

Neha says
The first image that pops up on screen is of quacking ducks, circling around in a boiling pot of water- the symbolic, literal representation of the title with a narcissistic pulse foreshadows what’s to follow as a stinging political satire. Groucho’s lyrical musings on how his character, Rufus T. Firefly’s leadership will leave Freedonia worse for wear mirrors with a twist of simmering irony how the people of this little fictional nation are like those quacking ducks and it’s the likes of free-wheeling, shrewd-thinking, money-grabbing Firefly who is going to make a fine soup out of them, dragging them even to a state of war. In the Marxian world, literal means literal, from the names of their characters like Freedonia or Firefly down to their comic set-pieces. There’s simply nothing subtle or incidental about what they do and how they do it- combining flair and centre stage antics with carefully churned, rib-ticking devices be it the sight gags, physical humor, musical routines, rapid fire one-liners, sharp delivery, characterizations or set-up. This no-nonsense, outlandish approach works miraculously because of miracle workers The Marx Brothers- a rare species of comic talent, gregarious energy and confidence. Borrowing a line from the dictionary of our cricket commentators- The Marx Brothers are cool as cucumbers and wily customers. Almost every other scene jumps out at you- Chico and Harpo, spies hired to grab some dirt on Groucho at the peanut station, testing the patience of another street food seller or the duo emulating Groucho as they break into Mrs. Teasdale’s (Margaret Dumont) home to steal his war strategy plans or even Groucho’s
showmanship in front of what he thinks could be a mirror only to discover its an equally Groucho looking Chico or maybe Harpo (still figuring that one out!!!) playing his reflection. Let me not leave out Groucho’s cunning machinations to woo Dumont or even his cabinet members. I could go on but I think you get the drift. The gags work as individual units and stitched up together get ready for a consistent stream of non-stop laughs that may be scripted but in the hands of The Marx Brothers (who clearly have their improvisational skills well manicured) it all feels so wonderfully alive, vital and spontaneous. That back-to back focused attempt at providing laughs is what separates this one from Night at the Opera, the other Marxian film on the AFI list, lower down the list. Notice how one tends to refer to the trio more often that the individuals. Maybe that’s because they collectively come together, with an equal amount of screen time and comic zeal and some great chemistry, timing and comfort with kin to give us an experience that feels very close to surreal. You can’t speak of one without talking about the other!!! The impetus is showmanship, the goal is entertainment and the process is discovery- how do we find new, creative, sharp and clever ways to involve and refresh our audience? And decades down I’m still laughing. A job well done I say.

Ira says

The place is the mythical land of Freedonia, a grand country with a far from grand financial predicament to face. So, what happens when this poor, quite literally bankrupt nation, supported only by the funds of a wealthy widow, (reliable Margaret Dumont playing Mrs. Gloria Teasdale), has to solve their problems and stay afloat? They get Rufus T. Firefly aka the indomitable Groucho Marx, local buffoon and cinematic master of anarchic, absurdist comedy, vaudeville, slapstick and satire to become their leader. All hell and lots of laughs breaks loose and while Duck Soup, the final of five films the Marx Brothers would do with Paramount and the last to have Zeppo in the team, was not a commercial success at the time it was released, it contains some of the finest comic sequences the brothers are famous for and some of the sharpest war -satire comedy in Hollywood.

If you don’t have a ‘taste’ for this sort of Marxian humor, you might find that some of the numerous one-liners, double entendres, verbal jokes, and comic antics that ridicule war (as in the final minstrel show battle sequence or in that now notoriously popular catchphrase, “This means war!”), either don’t go down so well or fly over your head quicker than you can say duck, or soup. But that’s fine. Because whether you chuckle inadvertently, guffaw and exclaim, “god, that’s so stupid”, or find you just missed one of the cleverest digs at governance and society by getting distracted by Harpo’s side-splitting silent physical comedy, you cant help but feel your lips stretched into a smile, inadvertently almost all the way through because the more you watch it and the closer you watch it, you realize, Duck Soup is funny, satirical and loaded with meaning. At a short 67 minutes, hell, you could watch it twice, get more out of it the second time and still feel like you just watched one wordy movie where you missed something!

While from the moment a grand party welcomes him in and hails him as the new leader of Freedonia, to the way he trivializes any such political clout, reducing it to a moment of classic slapstick as he announces for his car and gets tricked by Harpo who drives off with half of it leaving him behind, to his classic mirror scene with Chico in the latter half of the film, Groucho leads the ceremonies in more ways than one here. His beady eyes wildly roving, witty, sarcastic, slyly suggestive words and non-sequiters tripping off his tongue, Groucho as Firefly mocks leadership with flair, retains a clever sense of familial pride and skewed brotherhood and returns to pursuing his only earthly desire of living the good life by chasing wealthy women. But for me, Chico and Harpo playing spies for his rival, the ambassador of Sylvania (an excellent Louis Calhern) steal the show and many scenes too in this one even though they are without their famous harp and piano. (see my review on ‘Night at the Opera’) The hilarious lemonade and peanut stand war, their first meeting with the ambassador where Harpo has a fixation for ‘cutting’ everything in sight without a flicker of remorse and merely exhibiting a gleeful sense of triumph, the final war song and battle sequence and the superbly executed break in to Mrs. Teasdale’s home sparkle with superb comic timing, Chico’s drawling Italian accent and Harpo’s mesmerizing face. One of the brothers’ gems, to be watched and added to the collection. Ps: Here’s something fun; and its only a wiki search away for those who want more. The title "Duck soup" was provided by the films direction Leo McCarey for consistency with the brothers’ previous three animal title films, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers. The term is an American English slang phrase meaning something easy to do. But in true Groucho style when he was asked for an explanation, he quipped, "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.”