Duck Soup

Arthur Sheekman (additional dialogue)

Nat Perrin (additional dialogue)

***Duck Soup*** is a 1933 comedy film written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (who also wrote the music), with additional dialogue by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin, directed by Leo McCarey. Released theatrically by Paramount Pictures on November 17, 1933, it starred the Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo) and also featured Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Raquel Torres and Edgar Kennedy. It was the last Marx Brothers film to feature Zeppo and the last of five Marx Brothers movies released by Paramount Pictures. Groucho plays the newly installed president of a fictional country, and Zeppo is his secretary, while Harpo and Chico are spies for a rival country's ambassador. Relations between Groucho and the foreign ambassador deteriorate during the film, and they go to war at the conclusion.

## Plot

The wealthy Mrs. Teasdale insists that Rufus T. Firefly be appointed leader of the small, bankrupt country of Freedonia before she will continue to provide much-needed financial aid. Meanwhile, neighboring Sylvania is attempting to annex the country. Sylvanian ambassador Trentino tries to foment a revolution and to woo Mrs. Teasdale, and he tries to dig up dirt on Firefly by sending in spies Chicolini and Pinky.

After failing to collect useful information against Firefly, Chicolini and Pinky are able to infiltrate the government when Chicolini is appointed Secretary of War after Firefly sees him selling peanuts outside his window. Meanwhile, Firefly's secretary, Bob Roland, suspects Trentino's motives, and he advises Firefly to get rid of Trentino by insulting him. Firefly agrees to the plan, but after a series of personal insults exchanged between Firefly and Trentino, the plan backfires when Firefly slaps Trentino instead of being slapped by him. As a result, the two countries come to the brink of war. Adding to the international friction is the fact that Firefly is also courting Mrs. Teasdale, and, like Trentino, hoping to get his hands on her late husband's wealth.

Trentino learns from another spy, Vera Marcal that Freedonia's plans of war are in Mrs. Teasdale's safe and tells her to assist Chicolini and Pinky in stealing them. Chicolini is caught by Firefly and put on trial, during which war is officially declared, and everyone is overcome by war frenzy, breaking into song and dance. Chicolini and Pinky join Firefly and Bob Roland in anarchic battle, resulting in general mayhem.

After a fierce battle, the end of the film finds Trentino caught in a makeshift pillory, with the Brothers pelting him with fruit. Trentino surrenders, but Firefly tells him to wait until they run out of fruit. Mrs. Teasdale begins singing the Freedonia national anthem in her operatic voice and the Brothers begin hurling fruit at her instead.

## Cast

* Groucho Marx as Rufus T. Firefly who, at Mrs. Teasdale's insistence, becomes the leader of Freedonia
* Harpo Marx as Pinky, a spy for Sylvania
* Chico Marx as Chicolini, another spy for Sylvania
* Zeppo Marx as Lt. Bob Roland, Firefly's secretary
* Margaret Dumont as Mrs. Gloria Teasdale, a rich widow who underwrites the budget of Freedonia
* Louis Calhern as Ambassador Trentino of Sylvania who schemes to have his country take over Freedonia
* Raquel Torres as Vera Marcal, a femme fatale who is working for Ambassador Trentino
* Edgar Kennedy as the lemonade vendor
* Edmund Breese as Former President Zander, Firefly's predecessor
* Edwin Maxwell as Former Secretary of War
* William Worthington as First Minister of Finance
* Davison Clark as Second Minister of Finance
* Charles Middleton as prosecutor
* Leonid Kinskey as Sylvanian agitator
* Verna Hillie as Trentino's secretary
* George MacQuarrie as first judge
* Fred Sullivan as second judge
* Eric Mayne as third judge
* Wade Boteler as officer at battle headquarters (uncredited)
* Carrie Daumery as reception guest (uncredited)

## Songs

* "When The Clock On The Wall Strikes 10"
* "Just Wait 'Til I Get Through With It", Groucho's song about the laws of his administration
* "This Country's Going To War"
* "Freedonia National Anthem"
* "Sylvania theme"
* "All God's Chillun Got Guns" (parody of "All God's Chillun Got Wings")
* "Oh Freedonia" (parody of "Oh! Susanna")

## Trivia

* Director McCarey reportedly came up with the title for the film, having previously used it for an earlier directorial effort with Laurel and Hardy. This continued the "animal" titles of the Brothers' previous three films,*Animal Crackers*, *Monkey Business* and *Horse Feathers*. "Duck soup" was American English slang at that time; it meant something easy to do. Conversely, "to duck something" meant to avoid it. When Groucho was asked for an explanation of the title, he quipped, "Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you'll duck soup for the rest of your life."
* Breaking with their usual pattern, neither Harpo's harp nor Chico's piano is used in the film, although Harpo briefly pretends to play harp on the strings of a piano, strumming chords in accompaniment to a duck-shaped music box that is playing.
* While contemporaneous critics of *Duck Soup* felt it did not quite meet the standards of its predecessors, critical opinion has evolved and the film has since achieved the status of a classic. *Duck Soup* is now widely considered among critics to be a masterpiece of comedy and the Marx Brothers' finest film. In 1990, the United States Library of Congress deemed Duck Soup "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
* Compared to the Marx Brothers' previous Paramount films, *Duck Soup* was a box office disappointment, though not a "flop" as sometimes reported. The film opened to mixed reviews, although this by itself did not end the group's business with Paramount. Bitter contract disputes, including a threatened walk-out by the Marxes, crippled relationships between them and Paramount just as *Duck Soup* went into production. After the film fulfilled their five-picture contract with the studio, the Marxes and Paramount agreed to part ways.