I Think The Fly Is Doing The Backstroke - "Duck! It's in the Soup!"

Rating: 6/10 (27 September 2005)

Perhaps I've become jaded after too many M*A*S*H repeats - those with Alda doing Groucho - but I just viewed the DVD after a loooong break from Marx Brothers' movies and wasn't impressed.
1933 was an interesting year for political satire but, as another commentator has pointed-out, Duck Soup is more a vehicle for standard Marx Bros routines than it is for incisive political commentary.
I'm disappointed that it only made #85 on the AFI's top 100 movies, but not surprised. The free-wheeling plot is just a device to link their zany and irrelevant routines, and other movies far surpass this one; most of the other 'Marxist' comedies for instance. I think the highlight, for me, was Groucho's quick-change outfits in "the bunker". Given Margaret Dumont's wonderfully understated yet ditzy performance, that says a lot.
Harpo is a delight (as always) but Chico seems flat - just going through the motions. Hmmm... perhaps Zeppo needed more exposure than he is given here.
It's hard to discuss this film without including spoilers: after all, the routines are what it's all about. Still, yer pays yer money...
A Night at The Opera might just be better as an intro to the Bros. All in all, however, it IS just a matter of taste. I wonder what a mess-of-pottage any attempt to REMAKE this comedy (and goodness knows THAT'S on the cards) would be! Still... Johnny Depp as Groucho? Brrrrr.