This plot idea is oddly beautiful, speaking to the fact that life goes not to where we expect, but to a culmination guided by the hand of chance and kismet. In an ultimate exemplification of Robert Burn’s poem “To a mouse,” the brothers find themselves stuck with an overly simple plan to carry out in an incredibly convoluted situation, culminating in an unexpected and arbitrary end with no particular significance. Events so random and ridiculous all strung together poke fun at how hectic our lives sometimes feel, because after all, we all have those days where it just feels like nothing is going right. Although my favorite of their movies is “A night at the opera,” Duck Soup is certainly not a disappointment.ĭuck Soup has a similar feel to movies like airplane which operate in the ludicrous.
In fact, I probably laugh the hardest I ever laugh when watching their movies. Their movies, while not direct social commentaries, speak to the arbitrariness and stupidity of real life, to which we can all relate. I prefer to think of them, however, as masters of the lampoon. Kennedy has two swell sessions with Harpo and Chico.Some dismiss the Marx brother’s form of comedy as ‘low brow’ (just some gags with little substance beneath the buffoonery). The biggest slice of songwriting arrives in the heaviest production number, a satirical congressional or parliamentary session in which war is declared.Įverybody in the support cast, excepting Edgar Kennedy, plays straight to the Marxes. Everything’s in keeping with the tempo of the production, the Marxes personally staying on top of the story at all times and on top of the music as well. Music and lyrics, through which much of the action is in rhyme and song, serve to carry the story along rather than to stand out on pop song merit on their own. He’s an expert gag man and is so splendid at imitating any one of the brothers, that should illness stop one from making an appearance, Zeppo can immediately take his place.” Clearing up that mystery. Press sheet says, “Zeppo, despite his straight character, is a most important part of the team. Chico and Harpo omit their musical specialties, which should make it much easier for the piano and harp numbers the next time, if needed. While Groucho soft pedals the verbal clowning for more physical effort this time the other boys also make a quick change. For his customary dowager-foil he has the high, wide and handsome Margaret Dumont, making it perfect for Groucho. Groucho is the prime minister, who takes his job as seriously as a judge in “Irish Justice,” and gives this champ of comedy dialog a veritable Yankee Stadium to work in. Story is a mythical kingdom burlesque that could easily have been written by a six-year-old with dust in his eyes, but it isn’t so much the story as what goes with and on within it. mirror routine, so well done in the hands of Groucho, Harpo and Chico that it gathers a new and hilarious comedy momentum all over again. In place of the constant punning and dame chasing, “Duck Soup” has the Marxes madcapping through such bits as the old Schwartz Bros. The shift to the ‘situation’ in this picture therefore is a relief besides being, for the Marxes, a means of changing the pace that will draw dividends for the boys in the future. Radio has killed all the good gags and is responsible for the present low caste of gagsters and gags. Less gags this trip with more accent on ‘situation.’ That doesn’t hurt, either.