The Marx Brothers Quack Up War

Rating: 10/10 (3 January 2011)

Wealthy socialite Margaret Dumont (as Mrs. Teasdale) donates twenty million dollars to the financially strapped country of "Freedonia" after they appoint Groucho Marx (as Rufus T. Firefly) as dictator. When "His Excellency" Groucho learns Ms. Dumont is a rich widow, he decides to woo her, but rival Ambassador of "Sylvania" Louis Calhern (as Trentino) wants Dumont and her money for his own country. He employs peanut salesman Chico Marx (as Chicolini) and mute pal Harpo Marx (as Pinky) as spies. Taking advice from handler Zeppo Marx (as Bob Roland), "Firefly" leads the four Marx Brothers to an all-out war.
When "Duck Soup" failed to stir up the box office to the levels expected, Paramount and the Marx Brothers parted company. But, there were other reasons for this relative failure. Today, "Duck Soup" is unmistakably Marxist, but at the time, it then bent the structure from what audiences expected. This was neither the staged antics of "Animal Crackers" nor its cinematic relative "Horse Feathers" (1932). The scaffolding of Marx Brothers, which could be seen coming, was now fairly obvious: Groucho was most important, Harpo and Chico were next, with the underrated and underutilized Zeppo downgraded to insignificant.
Why not a duck? Perhaps, the biggest reason "Duck Soup" lost viewers may have been its satirical stance on war. At the time of release, its particular anti-war satire was a touch subversive, and not well-received. Over the years, however, this film became most critics' favorite. See it, but don't think you've seen all there is to see of The Marx Brothers herein. "Duck Soup" was brilliantly conceived with help from director Leo McCarey with writers Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. It was (arguably) their third film peak, and the end of an era. After some time without a contract, an abbreviated and revised act returned to form at MGM.
********** Duck Soup (11/17/33) Leo McCarey ~ Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx