Crazy Ducks. Crazy Politicians. Pointless War

Rating: Null/10 (30 June 2008)

I think that all the work of the Marx Brothers, Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton is really worth watching, since their most famous films, their masterpieces to the minor works and their short films. After watch and love all the feature films of Charlie Chaplin (with the little exception of A King in New York) and some of his short films, I really had desires to watch something of the Marx Brothers and Buster Keaton. A week ago I saw my first Buster Keaton film, The General (Clyde Bruckman and Buster Keaton, 1927), and yesterday I saw my first Marx Brothers film, Duck Soup, and I really enjoyed it.
The situation in Duck Soup is simple: Freedonia has a new leader (Groucho Marx). Sylvania wants to have Freedonia "under their flag" and for that they send two spies (Harpo and Chico Marx) to try to find something compromising about Rufus T. Firefly, new leader of Freedonia.
If we have Groucho as that new leader, well we should ask why. The issue is that Freedonia was in crisis so they needed millions from Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont) but she has one condition to give them the money: they need to name Rufus T. Firefly as the new leader. Is a really fine and really hilarious performance of Groucho but definitely Firefly is an annoying person and the ambassador of Sylvania, Trentino (Louis Calhern), is the one that is going to suffer the most Firefly's personality and all can and will end in only one thing: war, a pointless war (pleonasm).
The other bros, Harpo and Chico as Pinky and Chicolini, are as annoying and crazy as Firefly. This two are just hilarious but more with a physical humour (Pinky, Harpo's character, never talks) and they made truly memorable sequences in this film. As Trentino is suffering with Firefly, a lemonade vendor (Edgar Kennedy) will be really suffering with both spies that soon will be together with Firefly. The result of this is my favourite sequence of the entire film; yes the mirror sequence with three Grouchos! Magnificent. But war is there (hilarious to see after the last try for peace of Mrs. Teasdale how Firefly for a simple supposition ends with the last hope for peace) and another memorable sequences and the final part of Duck Soup.
Finally, I just loved my first Marx Brothers picture. Duck Soup is short (65 minutes), hilarious (many great dialogs and stuff to list them all) and a really unique war film that has the absurd reasons of a war as a background. I highly recommend this film to anyone! Show this one to your family!