A triumph of Marxian anarchy

Rating: 10/10 (10 June 2010)

"Duck Soup" was not received well in its original release. The Marx Brothers were on the outs after this flop, and it took MGM and Irving Thalberg to "rescue" their careers.
I can only assume that "Duck Soup" was years ahead of its time. It is now rightfully recognized as the best of the Marx Brothers comedies.
Basically, the magic ingredient is letting the Marx Brothers run wild. The story makes no sense, there is no clumsy "love interest" subplot. "Freedonia" is a country full of Marx Brothers' anarchy.
Louis Calhern does a fine comic turn as Groucho's foil. Groucho also hurls some of his most classic insults to the always naive Margaret Dumont.
They always say Jerry Seinfeld's show was comedy about nothing. The Marx Brothers accomplished this some sixty years before Seinfeld's TV comedy with "Duck Soup".
Most of the very flawed Marx Brothers comedies contain very funny 'bits'. "A Night at the Opera" is often held up as their "best". Nothing against Alan Jones and Kitty Carlyle, but as far as I'm concerned, their silly love story subplot only stalls more Marx Brothers' comedy. This subplot is presented over and over in so many of their films that it grows quite annoying.
"Animal Crackers", "Monkey Business" and "Horse Feathers" are nice companion pieces to "Duck Soup", and I consider these early films the Marx Brothers' best. These films let the Marx Brothers run amok, to hell with plot, rhyme or reason.
One of the funniest scenes that Harpo has ever performed is his comic bit with slow-burn comic extraordinaire Edgar Kennedy. The shot of Harpo, now barefoot, kicking his feet in Edgar Kennedy's lemonade is classic. The celebrated "stateroom" scene in "A Night at the Opera" is funny, but Harpo is hilarious here.
When I think of the funniest comedies ever made, "Duck Soup" is in my top ten. W.C. Fields' "It's a Gift", Mel Brooks' "The Producers", John Landis' "Animal House" are right up there, too. If you don't find "Duck Soup" funny, you are clinically dead.