Duck Soup is a 1933 Marx Brothers comedy film in which Groucho Marx plays Rufus T. Firefly, the dictator of the small country of Freedonia, who finds himself on the verge of war with the neighboring country of Sylvania. It also stars Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, Zeppo Marx, Margaret Dumont, Raquel Torres and Louis Calhern.
In the "mirror scene", Harpo, dressed as Groucho, pretends to be Groucho's reflection in a missing mirror, matching and mocking his every move. Eventually, Chico, also dressed as Groucho, joins the fun.
The movie was written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, and Arthur Sheekman (additional dialogue) and Nat Perrin. It was directed by Leo McCarey. Neither Harpo's harp nor Chico's piano are used in the film. This was the last Marx Brothers movie to feature Zeppo. It was not a box-office hit upon its initial release, as it left most audiences confused and frustrated. The movie has since been re-evaluated over time and is now seen as a classic satire of war.
The film is consistently on the Internet Movie Database's list of top 250 films, was #85 on American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Movies and #5 on its 100 Years, 100 Laughs, and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Quotations
- Asked to explain the title, Groucho said, "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."
- Groucho to Margaret Dumont: "I could dance with you till the cows come home. On second thought, I'd rather dance with the cows when you came home."
- Full description of the movie, with much of the dialog and descriptions of scenes from Filmsite.org
