I just watched this for the third or fourth time....

Rating: 3/10 (13 June 2010)

and: I know that most people (and critics!) rate it as a classic.
and:I really do like other Marx brothers films (e.g. A Night At The Opera).
and: I know that a lot of people are going to hate what I am going to say.
But: Duck Soup is a mess.
But: Duck Soup is, ultimately, a bore.
But: Duck Soup is just not very funny.
Gregory, the infallible movie cat, reacted with a puzzled look and finally stalked out of the film cave in disgust.
It's not an accident that this film gained renewed cult status in the 1960s. It's an exercise in anarchy. Sure, the songs are funny. Sure, many of the bits are funny. But the film feels a lot longer than 68 minutes, because it just doesn't go anywhere. And a few of the jokes--particularly a throwaway about gas attacks and antacid--just strike one as being in bad taste.
The well known bits are 9s or 10s--but the film is a 3, because it has no shape or structure.
It's a mess.
It's not even a comedy--it's the inverse of a comedy, since comedy is about the shattering--and restoration--of order. Here there is no order to begin with, and none to restore.
I doubt if I will ever watch it again.