Hail, Freedonia!

Rating: Null/10 (16 September 2010)

"I got a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it!" - Groucho Marx
Directed by Leo McCarey, "Duck Soup" finds the Marx Brothers, a troupe of madcap comedians, running delightfully amok. The film takes place the same year as Hitler's appointment in Germany, an event which coincides with Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) being appointed the ruler of the fictitious land of Freedonia.
Unsurprisingly, Firefly, who wakes up with a cigar in his mouth, descends from his bedroom via a firefighter's pole and executes civilians to the tune of "pop goes the weasel!", is a fascist, the land of Freedonia (the name is a pun – there's no freedom in Freedonia) linked to fascist Italy, Germany and, with the use of Patriotic American tunes, Depression Era America.
Much of the film revolves around an escalating war between Freedonia and a neighbouring country called Sylvania. This allows the film to indulge in, not only the usual Marx Brothers jokes (much anarchy, absurdity, puns, sight gags, one liners etc), but some funny political satire.
And so there are digs at fascism, jingoism, deranged warmongering, an antiwar vein in which war movie heroics are spoofed, a condemnation of the judicial system, patriotism and even religion, as evidenced in Groucho's song "We got guns, they got guns, all God's chillun got guns!"
The film's satire even goes all the way up to the White House, especially with this quote spoken by Groucho: "And remember while you're out there risking life and limb through shot and shell, we'll be in here thinking what a sucker you are."
9/10 – One of cinema's first antiwar satires, "Duck Soup" is essentially a precursor to "Dr Strangelove". Charlie Chaplin tried to follow in "Duck Soup's" footsteps seven years later with "The Great Dictator", but couldn't quite top the Brothers' brand of rapid fire banter. Unsurprisingly, "Duck Soup" was treated with scorn upon initial release. Its reputation took time to grow.