Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Movie Review: Duck Soup

I just watched the Marx Bros "Duck Soup" (1933) again. This is probably the best comedy I've ever seen. It is absolutely hilarious, humor that is so invariably Jewish in nature and some not-so thinly veiled political commentary of the growing Nazi threat in the world at the time of the film's release.

A stunningly well-done movie.

It's interesting to read the reviews of this now. The film came out in the height of the great depression (1933) and was not nearly as successful as other Marx Bros ventures. Apparently there was some public distaste due to the highly cynical portrayal of government and nationalism... I think it's downright impressive that they could pull off a film like this at that time. There were some pretty hilarious jabs at the censorship movement too- the part with the horse shoes at the end of the bed was hilarious.

The biggest winner here for me is Groucho's performance and delivery as well as the constant barrage of beautifully written gags, double entendres, and puns. This is SO FUNNY. I could watch it 1000 more times.


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