80 plus years removed and it's still funny today.

Rating: 8/10 (31 March 2015)

I just finished watching Duck Soup for the first time ever. Though I am 82 years removed from that time and culture I still laughed quite a bit at the craziness going on. There is something about this era of comedy movies that I really like and the comedians like Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, The Marx Bros., and my favorite The Three Stooges. These guys were the pioneers of the jokes and slapstick in the early days of film that would eventually become cliché; however in their time it was cutting edge and original.
Someone else said that if somebody turned out movies like this in the '90's it wouldn't be funny or sell. Of course it wouldn't be funny because it would have been comedians of the 90's doing cliché acts. Sometimes there are moments in history where all the factors are only applicable to that exact time period and they would not work in another era if debuted for the first time e.g. silent films being made today exactly as they were in the 19-teens or 20's will not be your biggest seller at the theater. But the generations of the future can look at the past and respect the work that was done because it paved the way for the efforts put forth in modern times. Comedy of the 90's (or any decade) that will stand the test of time will be that which is original and clever. Ghostbusters or Goonies of the 80's is an example of original material of that decade still popular today. So in the same vein Duck Soup is a classic of the 30's, but not only that, it is a classic comedy in the annals of film history.
The Marx Brothers just mesh really well together and the lines that are delivered were just hilarious, like when Groucho says, "You know you haven't stopped talking since you got here. You must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle." Harpo just did some weird stuff and it seemed absolutely random, like using scissors on everything. There was some quick wit coming from these guys that just worked well. All of the random acts that would happen just kept you guessing and wondering what is going to happen next. This kept the movie unpredictable in some areas. Some jokes were predictable, but that is because they have been used so many times since then.
I wonder what it would be like to see this for the first time in the theater in 1933. It probably would have been far funnier to me. I think this will be one of my new favorite classic comedy films. If you have a little over an hour to spare, I highly recommend just sitting down and watching this funny piece of history.