Duck Soup

Rating: Null/10 (12 June 1999)

Satirical comedy that stars Groucho as a wisecracking ruler of little Freedonia who torments and insults folks like Louis Calhern (over in neighboring Sylvania) to the point where where war will run rampant...and it does. Features wonderful parodies of 30's musicals. (Groucho's entrance music is priceless.) Chico and Harpo add to the menace in memorable scenes with vendor Edgar Kennedy, who is beautifully befuddled. The famous mirror scene that usually gets more laughs in Bugs Bunny cartoons, gets plenty rolling in the aisles here. The great Margaret Dumont co-stars as Groucho's constant punching bag and she never misses anything; a twitch of an eyebrow...a grunt... Majestic! This was the Marx Brothers best play on words film. Features the song "We're Going to War," which helps the film reach its rousing conclusion, but not before we see Harpo do a splendid rendition of Paul Revere. Insanity has never been funnier!