250px|thumb|thumbtime=43|upright=1.5|Trailer

Duck Soup is a 1933 American pre-Code musical comedy film written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (with additional dialogue by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin) and directed by Leo McCarey. Released by Paramount Pictures on November 17, 1933, it stars the four Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo in his final film appearance) and also features Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Raquel Torres and Edgar Kennedy.

Duck Soup was the last of the five Marx Brothers films released by Paramount Pictures. In the film, Groucho portrays Rufus T. Firefly, the newly installed president of the fictional country of Freedonia. Zeppo is his secretary, while Chico and Harpo are spies for the neighboring country of Sylvania. Relations between Firefly and the Sylvanian ambassador (Calhern) deteriorate during the film, eventually leading the two countries to war.

Compared to the Marx Brothers' previous films, Duck Soup was a financial disappointment, although this by itself did not end the group's association with Paramount. Bitter contract disputes, including a threat by the Marxes to leave and found their own production company, soured their negotiations with the studio just as Duck Soup went into production. After the film fulfilled their contractual obligations to Paramount, the Marxes and the studio agreed to part ways.

While contemporaneous critics of Duck Soup felt it did not quite rise to the level of its predecessors, critical and popular opinion has evolved and the film has since achieved the status of a classic. As a work first published in 1933, Duck Soup will enter the public domain on January 1, 2029.

Plot

Wealthy widow Gloria Teasdale is asked to give twenty million dollars to the small, financially struggling nation of Freedonia; she agrees on the condition that Rufus T. Firefly is appointed the country's leader. Meanwhile, Ambassador Trentino of neighboring Sylvania is scheming to provoke a revolution in Freedonia in order to annex it. He sends two spies, Chicolini and Pinky, to Freedonia to find out information about Firefly. To his disappointment, Chicolini and Pinky end up spying on the wrong man, but he agrees to give them another chance.

To collect information on Firefly, Chicolini and Pinky pose as peanut vendors and station their food cart outside of Firefly's office. Firefly hires Chicolini as Freedonia's Secretary of War. A short time later, Firefly's secretary, Bob Roland, warns Firefly of this scheme. Roland advises Firefly to insult Trentino, hoping that he will slap Firefly in response; this would give Firefly an excuse to ban Trentino from the country. Firefly agrees to the plan, but after a series of personal insults exchanged with Trentino, the plan goes awry when Firefly slaps Trentino instead. The incident brings the two countries to the brink of war. Meanwhile, Firefly and Trentino both attempt to woo Mrs. Teasdale in the hopes of getting their respective hands on her late husband's wealth.

Trentino learns from Sylvanian spy Vera Marcal that Freedonia's plans of war are in Mrs. Teasdale's possession, and tells Vera to assist Chicolini and Pinky in stealing the plans. Chicolini is eventually caught by Firefly and put on trial, during which Firefly again slaps Trentino. This causes Trentino to declare war on Freedonia; overcome with excitement, everyone at the trial then begins singing and dancing. Chicolini and Pinky join Firefly and Roland in the anarchic battle that follows.

Some time later, Freedonia is losing the war and army morale is breaking down amidst a series of violent mishaps. Firefly, Chicolini, Pinky, Roland, and Teasdale take refuge in Teasdale's hideout, which is soon overrun by Sylvanian troops accompanied by Trentino. When the Freedonians recognize him, they pin him in a makeshift pillory and throw fruit at him. Trentino surrenders, but Firefly tells him that he will stay in the pillory "till the fruit runs out". When Mrs. Teasdale victoriously begins singing the Freedonian national anthem, the four men start throwing fruit at her instead.

Cast

thumb|right|[[Groucho Marx and Margaret Dumont ]]

Cast notes

Comparing the original scripts with the finished film, most of the characters' initial scripted names were later changed. Only the names of Chicolini and Mrs. Teasdale were kept. Groucho's character—originally named "Rufus T. Firestone"—eventually became Rufus T. Firefly, while the name of Harpo's character—named Pinky in the final product—was given in the Paramount pressbook as "Brownie". "Ambassador Frankenstein of Amnesia" was quickly changed to Ambassador Trentino of Sylvania. Zeppo's character remained Firefly's son until very late in production, finally becoming Bob Roland, his secretary; also, Mrs. Teasdale's niece "June Parker" transformed into Vera Marcal, first introduced as Trentino's "niece" before ultimately becoming his companion. Grover Jones was also reported to have contributed to the first draft by Ruby and Kalmar.

"Duck soup" was American English slang referring to 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."

McCarey also thought up "the very Laurel & Hardy-like sequence in which Harpo and Chico stage a break-in at Mrs Teasdale's house." Charlie Chaplin used a similar joke in The Floorwalker (1916),

Other scenes and jokes

The Arden Villa lily pond was a filming location.

Firefly (Groucho) is in Margaret Dumont's room, and unbeknownst to them, Chicolini (Chico) is hiding under the bed. When Groucho leaves the room, she turns her back to prepare for bed and Chico gets up from under the bed, and when she turns around, she is startled to still see him:

<blockquote><poem>

"Your Excellency, I thought you left."

"Oh no, I no leave."

"But I saw you with my own eyes."

"Well, who ya gonna believe, me or your own eyes?"</poem></blockquote>

The climactic production number ridicules war by comparing nationalism to a minstrel show. One segment is a variant on the old Negro spiritual "All God's Chillun Got Wings":

<blockquote><poem>They got guns,

We got guns,

All God's chillun got guns!

I'm gonna walk all over the battlefield,

'Cause all God's chillun got guns!</poem></blockquote>

(The song makes a reprise in the 1937 Marx Brothers film A Day at the Races as "All God's Chillun Got Rhythm" in the Lindy Hop production number.)

Another repeated gag involved Harpo, who drives a motorcycle with a sidecar, as a chauffeur, to transport Groucho. Twice, after Groucho gives the orders to Harpo, Harpo rides his motorcycle away, leaving Groucho stranded in the sidecar. Later, Groucho has Harpo sit in the sidecar, while Groucho gets on the motorcycle, the sidecar, with Harpo in it, rides off away, again, leaving Groucho stranded.

Shortly after, during the final battle scenes, "rightfully [...] called the funniest of all of cinema",

The melodramatic exclamation "This means war!" certainly did not originate with Duck Soup, but it is used several times in the film—at least twice by Trentino and once by Firefly—and was repeated by Groucho in A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races. Variations of this phrase later became a frequently used catch-phrase for Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny in Warner Bros. cartoons.

In another scene, the film pokes fun at the Hays Code. Due to the code, a man and woman could not be shown in bed together. The camera begins the scene in a woman's bedroom, panning across the foot of the bed. A pair of men's shoes are shown on the floor, then a pair of women's shoes and then four horseshoes. The camera cuts to a shot of the entire room: Pinky is sleeping in one bed with the horse, while the woman is in another bed.

The film's writers recycled a joke used in Horse Feathers in this dialogue with Chico:

<blockquote>Prosecutor: Chicolini, isn't it true you sold Freedonia's secret war code and plans?<br />Chicolini: Sure! I sold a code and two pairs o' plans!</blockquote>

The street vendor confrontations are also well-crafted pieces of physical comedy: sings with the group, including soloing the first few lines of the first song, "When the Clock on the Wall Strikes 10". He also sings with the others in "Freedonia's Going to War", filling out the four-cornered symmetry as the Brothers sing and dance in pairs during the number.

Original songs by Kalmar and Ruby

The "Freedonia National Anthem" is used frequently throughout the film, both as vocal and instrumental; the entire song seems to consist of "Hail, Hail, Freedonia, land of the brave and free", contrasting with the final line of The Star-Spangled Banner. The "Sylvania theme", which sounds vaguely like "Rule, Britannia!", is also used several times. "When The Clock On The Wall Strikes 10", the first musical number in the film, is part of the same scene as "Just Wait 'Til I Get Through With It", is the final musical ensemble in the film. Technically it is the only musical number in the Marx Brothers' films to feature all four of the brothers. However, in Monkey Business, Chico briefly bangs on the piano while the other three play saxophones while eluding their pursuers on an ocean liner.

The introductory scene, showing ducks swimming in a kettle and quacking merrily, is scored with an instrumental medley of the aforementioned songs, and it is also the only scene in the film that has to do with ducks and soup.

Non-original music

  • Military Polonaise (Chopin) – played over newspaper headline of Firefly's appointment as president of Freedonia
  • "Sailor's Hornpipe"; "Dixie" – short segments embedded in "These Are the Laws of My Administration"
  • "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" – music box, accompanied by Harpo on (simulated) harp, briefly; a few minutes later, in another scene, Groucho says "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your door in" after he is locked in a closet. Walt Disney filed a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures, for using the song without permission, resulting in Disney winning the financial damages in a settlement.
  • "Stars and Stripes Forever" (Sousa) – on radio, turned on (loudly) by Harpo, who mistakes it for a safe
  • "American Patrol" (Frank W. Meacham) – three of the Brothers playing soldiers' helmets like a xylophone as they march by, while Harpo clips off the decorative tassels (part of a running gag in the film)
  • "All God's Chillun Got Guns" (parody of "All God's Chillun Got Wings"); "Oh Freedonia" (parody of "Oh! Susanna"); "Turkey in the Straw" (instrumental) – embedded in "Freedonia's Going to War"
  • Light Cavalry Overture (Franz von Suppé) – Harpo galloping on horseback a la Paul Revere
  • "Ain't She Sweet" (Milton Ager/Jack Yellen) – Harpo watching girl in window
  • "Goodnight, Sweetheart" (Ray Noble) – Harpo and same girl (Edgar Kennedy's character's wife)
  • Generic cavalry charge – Harpo with horn, in bathtub with Edgar Kennedy
  • "One Hour With You" (Oscar Straus/Richard A. Whiting) – Harpo with another girl and his horse&nbsp;— segué into a bit of "The Old Gray Mare"
  • "El manisero" (Moisés Simons) – half-sung, half-muttered by Groucho to himself at various points

Reception

thumb|Groucho in one of the many costumes he wore in the war sequence of Duck Soup

Although Duck Soup did not perform as well as Horse Feathers, it was the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1933, according to Glenn Mitchell in The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia and Simon Louvish in Monkey Business. However, Duck Soup was a box office disappointment for Paramount.

One possible reason for the film's lukewarm reception is that it was released during the depths of the Great Depression. Audiences were taken aback by its cynicism at a time of economic and political crisis.</blockquote>

Years later, Groucho's son Arthur Marx described Irving Thalberg's assessment of the film's purported failure during a National Public Radio interview:

<blockquote>[Thalberg] said the trouble with Duck Soup is you've got funny gags in it, but there's no story and there's nothing to root for. You can't root for the Marx Brothers because they're a bunch of zany kooks. [Thalberg] says, "You gotta put a love story in your movie so there'll be something to root for, and you have to help the lovers get together."</blockquote>

Most critics at the time disliked Duck Soup because of its "dated" look at politics.

Groucho did not initially think highly of the film. When asked the significance of the film's politics, Groucho only shrugged and said: "What significance? We were just four Jews trying to get a laugh." Residents of Fredonia, New York, also protested the film because they feared that the similar-sounding nation would hurt their city's reputation. The Marx Brothers quipped in response, telling them to change the name of their town to keep from hurting their movie.

Despite the tepid critical and commercial response at the time, Duck Soup is now seen as a classic political farce.

Revived interest in the film during the 1960s and '70s dovetailed with the counterculture of the era.

In 1990, Duck Soup was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is also one of the earliest films to appear on Roger Ebert's list of The Great Movies.

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

  • AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies – #85
  • AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs – #5
  • AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – #60

It also placed 7th in Variety Magazines top 100 comedies of all time.

Influence

The United States Library of Congress has added Duck Soup to the National Film Registry, and the film was included in both the original (1998) broadcast of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies and the 2007 update.

Another testament to Duck Soups legacy is its influence on Woody Allen's films. Near the end of Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), a chance screening of Duck Soup convinces Allen's character that life is still worth living, and he abandons his suicidal impulses.

Duck Soup is also frequently cited as a major influence on the comedic side of The Beatles, and The Beatles themselves admitted that it was an inspiration for their film Help!

The film has influenced animation as well, with homages appearing in various animated television series. It was spoofed in Animaniacs as the full-episode sketch "King Yakko". One specific gag from the original, the constant singing of the Freedonian national anthem, was spoofed in particular with a Perry Como caricature. Groucho's entrance in the film was borrowed in another Animaniacs cartoon, "The Three Muska-Warners".

The film also inspired parts of Sacha Baron Cohen's 2012 film The Dictator. A critic for The A.V. Club noted that "Admiral General Aladeen and Rufus T. Firefly share the same bloodline, representing a more generalized contempt for world leaders of any stripe, whether they don a 'supreme beard' or a greasepaint moustache." The Nashville Scene considered the film to be "an echo here of that funniest of xenophobe-baiting funnies, Duck Soup." Rolling Stone claimed that Baron Cohen's film "dodges soothing convention and ultimately merits comparisons to The Marx Brothers' Duck Soup and Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator."

The company FASA, which publishes role-playing games, derives its name from an imaginary Freedonian version of NASA, the "Freedonian Aeronautics and Space Administration".

Home media

Universal Home Video released Duck Soup on DVD, unrestored but uncut, as part of a two-disc box set The Marx Brothers: Silver Screen Collection, which includes also the Brothers' other Paramount films, The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, and Horse Feathers. Reviewing the set, film critic Mark Bourne writes: