Director: Leo McCarey
Writers: Bert Kalmar, Harry
Ruby, Arthur Sheekman, Nat Perrin
Starring: Groucho Marx,
Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Raquel Torres, Louis
Calhern, Edmund Breese, Leonid Kinskey, Charles Middleton
I know I’m committing some
sort of critical sacrilege by awarding the Marx Brothers’ classic “Duck Soup”
anything less than four stars, or even three and a half out of four; but I have
to admit, upon my first ever screening of the comedy, I wasn’t blown away by
its critical indictment of a nation’s motivations for war. Certainly at the
time, it would’ve been an impressive satire; but today I don’t think it stands
up as being nearly as sophisticated as many of its contemporary films.
Yes, Groucho is in great
form here. His ongoing commentary on all the other characters is funny and
biting. The way he keeps changing outfits during the final battle sequence is a
beautiful comedic wonderment. The mirror bit with the three different Grouchos
is also a classic moment in comedy. But, beyond Groucho’s contributions, the
film has little else to offer. The other brothers are great comedians, but they
don’t go beyond what other classic comedians accomplished in other films.
The movie itself does not
set any filmmaking standards beyond its satire of a government’s petty
reasoning behind going to war. The story is put together by patchwork around
the Marx Brothers’ comedy bits. The structure is a shambles. Put it up against
a movie like Buster Keaton’s “The General” and it is just silliness for the
sake of silliness. Technically other films being released in 1933 were greatly
surpassing it in terms of storytelling and overall technical achievement.
Watch the movie in its entirety below.
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