Duck Soup (NR, 1933)

DUCK SOUP is set in a mythical country called Fredonia, a place so poor that its financial existence depends on the charity of rich widow Gloria Teasdale (Margaret Dumont). She's smitten with the disreputable Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx), and on her orders he's put in charge of the government. Never mind that Groucho still insults Gloria (and everybody else) with his rapid-fire verbiage ("You know you haven't stopped talking since I got here; you must have been vaccinated with a phonograph needle!"). The ambassador of the neighboring country of Sylvania wants to take over Fredonia, preferably without bloodshed, by marrying Gloria. His inept spies Chicolini (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo) try to follow Firefly, but nothing much comes of the scheme -- even when Firefly spontaneously hires Chicolini as his new Secretary of War. Instead the temperamental Firefly leads Fredonia into war against Sylvania in a crazy climax with stock-footage of wildlife and all logic going out the window.

Duck Soup is considered a masterwork of comedy, and yet it was not a success in the 1930s. In fact, there was some doubt that the Marx Brothers would do another movie ever again after this Paramount release laid an egg at the box office. It was indeed the last time that Zeppo Marx, usually a straight man, appeared onscreen with the troupe. From here onward, the brothers were a threesome. It wasn't until the more anarchy-happy '60s that Duck Soup was appreciated as a bonafide comedy classic. In practically all their other movies, the brothers had to share screen time with snail-paced musical interludes or love stories that had little to do with their wild comedy. Not here.

Allegedly real-life dictator of Italy Benito Mussolini took Duck Soup as a personal insult and banned the movie. Whether there's a serious point being made in all the foolishness is pretty questionable. Just laugh and enjoy -- and if some of the gung-ho military madness and government misfits on screen remind you and your kids of people in today's newspaper headlines, that's something to discuss.