Duck Soup : 69 Minutes of unadulterated fun !
Packed with some of the funniest vaudeville acts (variety entertainment shows), ‘Duck Soup’ is a high quality comedy from the Marx Brothers. Aided by witty dialogues and slapstick humour, this anti-war movie satirizes the insanity of politics and war-mongering dictators. The story is about a mistakenly selected dictator and his never-ending atrocities in a world filled with useless people.
A small country, Freedonia, is on the verge of bankruptcy and a wealthy widow, Mrs. Gloria Teasdale (Margaret Dumont), is willing to fund the country. According to her terms, the Freedonians accept the inept and arrogant dictator, Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) as their President. The neighbouring country is Sylvania, and its power-hungry Ambassador is Trentino (Louis Calhern). Insulted by Firefly on several occasions, Trentino is waiting for a suitable opportunity to settle score with the dictator. Before declaring war, Trentino hires Chicolini (Chico Marx) and Pinky (Harpo Marx) to spy on Firefly. When the pair of clumsy clowns enters the messy Freedonia, the situation goes from bad to worse…
Take the fantastically enacted ‘mirror scene’- this is a long-forgotten vaudeville act and an example of comedy purely based on timing sense.
The same mirror trick was previously used by Charlie Chaplin in ‘The Floorwalker’ (1916) and by Max Linder in ‘Seven Years Bad Luck’(1921).
"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."
Groucho Marx reportedly provided this oft-quoted recipe to explain the title of the movie, ‘Duck Soup.’
Be it the street vendor scene or the smartly coined riddles – several popular scenes were recreated by the Marx brothers from their earlier stage plays.
Insulted by the film, the fascist Italian dictator, Mussolini, banned it in his country.
Though at the time of its release it was not received well by the audience, during the 60s, a group of college students rediscovered this forgotten treasure!
This cleverly crafted film is filled with hilarious moments, gags, fast-moving acts, puns and double meaning dialogues.
On a deeper level, it actually highlights the absurdities of heroism, hopeless bureaucracy, foolish diplomats and the illogical legal system.
Written by
Srini