An Amazing Flurry of Fun

Rating: Null/10 (26 August 2000)

This has remained my favorite movie ever since I can remember. I've loved the Marx Brothers since my childhood (roughly 30 years ago) and this was the first of their 13 films I saw on TV. I can understand why it was initially a bomb at the theaters in the 1930s. The humor is set at lightning fast pace. A crowd can laugh loudly right over the next few jokes.
In the next couple of Marx Brothers films the boys road tested the material so as to time the humor to audience response (plus they added sappy love story subplots). To me, this puts "A Night At The Opera" and "A Day At The Races" behind "Duck Soup".
The manditory musical numbers inserted into almost all depression-era movies (after the advent of sound) are even tolerable in "Duck Soup" because the brothers push them over-the-top. Don't expect an engaging plot. In fact, don't expect much of a plot at all. This is one of those films that you can jump into anytime (but you'll later want to see all that you missed).
This movie is best viewed on a one-on-one basis. The perfect film if you're feeling lonely and depressed (as confirmed by Woody Allen in the 1980s with "Hannah & Her Sisters"). If it were a boxing match, you'd never know what hit you.