...detractors of the quartet will find very little here to embrace...
Duck Soup (1933)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:35
Fresh:33
Rotten:2
Average Rating:8.9/10
Runtime: 72 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: DUCK SOUP captures some of the Marx Brothers' zaniest routines and funniest quips, creating a laugh-out-loud spectacle of politics gone haywire. Backed by wealthy widow Mrs. Teasdale (regular Marx... DUCK SOUP captures some of the Marx Brothers' zaniest routines and funniest quips, creating a laugh-out-loud spectacle of politics gone haywire. Backed by wealthy widow Mrs. Teasdale (regular Marx straightwoman Margaret Dumont), Groucho becomes the leader of Freedonia, quickly frustrating his cabinet and offending the aggressive neighboring country to the point of war. Chico and Harpo, sent by the rival country, spy on Groucho and try to steal his battle plans, but when war does come, loyalties become muddled all around. Director Leo McCarey gets the most out of the brothers, letting them be their wackiest best in what many critics consider to be the funniest Marx Brothers movie. Groucho plays Rufus T. Firefly, one of his best characters. The one-liners fly through the air like the bombs exploding in the hysterical battle scene. DUCK SOUP is a must-see comedy spectacular; don't blink or you'll miss yet another stinger.... [More]
Starring: Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Groucho Marx
Starring: Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Zeppo Marx, Chico Marx, Raquel Torres, Edgar Kennedy
Director: Leo McCarey
Director: Leo McCarey
Screenwriter: Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Arthur Sheekman, Nat Perrin
Composer: Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby
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Reviews for Duck Soup
This production is, for the most part, extremely noisy without being nearly as mirthful as [the Marx brothers'] other films.
A masterpiece. Fast-moving, irreverent, almost anarchic in style, Duck Soup is considered by many to be the Marx Brothers's greatest achievement...
Watch for the famous "mirror scene" in which Harpo--dressed as Groucho--matches Groucho's every movement in a non-existent mirror--pure comic genius.
It also includes what is perhaps the Brothers' funniest scene ever: an immaculately timed and performed sequence with a broken mirror in which Groucho, Chico and Harpo look absolutely identical. A masterpiece.
Unpredictable, hilarious, and completely deranged. Duck Soup is without doubt the distillation of everything that the Marx Brothers claimed as their own.
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