Duck Soup

Duck Soup

I had recently listened to a podcast that featured Gilbert Gottfried talking about classic comedy films.  He used most of his time speaking about the Marx Brothers.  He spoke about how they were the funniest guys around.  If I had stopped listening to Mr. Gottfried at that time and went to watch Duck Soup, I would have been sorely disappointed.

To compare Duck Soup to any modern comedy would be a mistake.  You have to see the movie in the context of its release date.  Let's take a trip back to 1933...

The cars looked like this:

The televisions looked like this:

 

And it was called a radio.

Finalley, movie theatres looked like this:

 

1933 was also the year that classic films, King Kong and The Invisible Man were released.  The Academy award were in their infancy.  No supporting actor/actress category existed and the Best Picture award was know as the Outstanding Production award.

Now that we can look at Duck Soup through our 1933 goggles, it is a provocative, witty and edgy political comedy.  It is a perfect length at 68 minutes and it does not shy away from some adult humor (which seems extremely tame for 2015) while showing us what great mimes and vaudevillian performers can do.

I particularly enjoy Groucho Marx in the film.  He is the most recognizable of the brothers and his humor makes me feel validated in making "dad jokes".  Every word that comes from Groucho is a set up for a punny punchline that is delivered with such a deadpan inflection that it is easy to miss them.

One of the reasons I wanted to watch a Marx Brothers film was to see the comparison that many people made when The Beatles came to the United States in 1964.  The witty, cheeky, and downright lame answers to questions that The Fab Four gave to reporters is undeniably similar to arguments that the Marx Brothers have on and off camera.  After watching Duck Soup, a viewing of The Beatles' film,  A Hard Day's Night  would be an excellent way to fully appreciate the Marx family for what they did for comedy.

So I'll check it off of the list.  One of the top 100 films of all time, and I have seen it, and enjoyed it!

I categorize this film as:

A Classic.

A piece of history.

4.5/5 Stanley Cups.  A little lagging at times, but brilliant still.

Format: On my iPhone.

Viewing Period: Many different times while I was in the gym at work on the bike or eliptical.

Inspired me to: Watch A Hard Day's Night