A few good jokes, that's all. This movie is boring. The poor Marx Bros look like they are trying so hard, it's painful to watch. One of their worst.
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Ah....now, just where would be in this wonderful online world without our beloved trolls and contrarians?
“No man can be a genius in slapshoes and a flat hat.” - Buster Keaton
Agree. Few really good jokes, i appreciate the humor. But as a movie it ain't that good, not even close to something like top 250.
shareI just finished rewatching all five of the Marx Brothers' Paramount films in quick succession (over five days) and would have to say that DUCK SOUP struck me as being a few notches below HORSE FEATHERS in overall quality this time around. Now, I've always enjoyed DUCK SOUP and accepted that it was one of the brothers' best efforts, but in direct comparison to the first four films, the writing is not quite as sharp and Harpo's miming humor is simply not as well-paced or performed as in the other films. Could it be that I prefer Norman McLeod's direction to Leo McCarey's? Maybe; of course, both men are leagues better in dealing with the Marxes than the first two (three?) directors they worked with. I'm thinking that not having S.J. Perelman and/or George Kaufman as a contributing screenwriter might be the main reason the quality suffers somewhat.
What partially makes up for the weaker screenwriting is the novelty of the story along with the brilliant surrealism of the final sequence - no other film has ever attempted something with less continuity than DUCK SOUP'S climax and it's marvelous. I still think the film is a great comedy, but HORSE FEATHERS has such great comic timing (think of how hilarious the cut to Harpo shoveling the books into the fireplace is) along with a tremendous amount of witty wordplay that it now strikes me as the superior Marx effort.
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Finally, someone who thinks that these films are outdated. The only one I can watch is "A Night at the Opera" but even with that film, the gags are mostly lame, silly and outdated, whether they are original or derivative. "Duck Soup" is no exception. The only good thing about this movie is Groucho's wit. He really is the only Marx brother who is worthy of any praise to be frank.
Have to agree, tried to watch it for the first time last night. One of the fumiest parts, and I kind of doubt it was intentional, was a part where Groucho sings and takes a spot behind two guards, the camera changes to a shot further away and he is in front of them, then switches back to a closer shot and he is behind them. I am guessing it was a screw up in placement between shots but whether it was that or intentional it was funny to see how bad it looked.
I was also trying to figure out if Groucho's mustache was painted on. Anyway I say I tried to watch it because after 15 minutes or so I couldn't take any more. I suppose many of the nat'l lampoon movies will be just as bad in 60+ years to the current audience at that time. Some of the more recent ones are just as bad now.
I agree all the way. National Lampoon is very dated really, and their gags don't age well with each new movie that comes out (from the films I've seen at least). Similarly, I watched Woody Allen's "Bananas ", and i know he is a huge fan of the marx bros, and the gags in that film were just as lame as far as time goes. I did not like the film save for a few jokes and I know it was satirizing the communist ideologies of the late 60s but wow, it really didn't do much for me. It was just like the marx bros film we are discussing. Topical humour can be very tricky sometimes, and these movies are no exception.
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To be honest I really don't consider his wit to be the main part of the movie. Its only a small part. The other marx bros. dominate their own screen time, and their gags affect the plot as much as Groucho's does. I'll admit, even some of Groucho's humour is overused throughout the film, and they just come off as out of place set pieces.
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I just felt they were lame. Its more like humour that doesn't age well with time. Maybe back in that decade, it was considered hillarious, but I consider myself a film buff and decent enough to be a critic, and I was not entertained. I was embarrassed. As lovable as Laurel and Hardy were, their schtick is also outdated. The same goes for abbot and costello. the only guys who knew how to balance slapstick with wit, were Chaplin, Keaton and Harold Lloyd, in my opinon. Their gags are incorporated into the plot, and they are also pretty funny. the more I think about it, its not so much that the gags in the marx bros films seem out of place, but they just seem so childish and juvenille for me to enjoy or take seriously (in the comedic sense). I'm sorry if I offended you, obviously everyone has their right to dislike/like a movie, and these are my 2 cents.
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Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. Irving Thalberg wasn't very fond of the film, either, and I don't see anybody giving him a hard time about it, now or then.
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My first Marx brothers movie was "Animal Crackers", which I did not like at all. I guess the problem is, that most of there plots are too thin, you can't just depend entirely on the snappy lines and jokes. But I saw "Duck Soap" just now and I enjoyed it, it didn't drag and delivered a fair amount of good jokes, though the plot is still a bit weak.
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I agree with you, Herald. Plots are not the most important part of a movie anyway; they are merely vehicles for character, action or, in this case, humor (you know, the things you actually watch movies for).
DS is a classic.
http://the-forgotten-reel.blogspot.com/2011/03/duck-soup-1933.html
i reviewed this on my blog last night. I'm going to watch again just to make my opinion definite
My movie blog! http://the-forgotten-reel.blogspot.com/
Your review didn't make me thirsty.
sharewell at least you read it
My movie blog! http://the-forgotten-reel.blogspot.com/
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I saw Duck Soup for the first time last night and although I have to admit it is, overall, an interesting satire about patriotism/war/governments, I didn't laugh once. The subject is weel treated and Groucho as a totally irresponsible and grotesque chief od government is amusing, but the jokes really are outdates and lame. I guess it must have been funnier in the 1930's (the mirror scene, for instance, had not been done to death yet) but that doesn't change a thing. All those puns, those ridiculous scenes with the lemonade peddler are just embarassing to watch.
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I would like to suggest that if Duck Soup had gotten praise from every film critic in the world, broken every box office record in the history of movies, won every award that a film could possibly win, be the first movie to win the Nobel AND the Pulitzer, and was regarded as the greatest masterwork in the history of art...If it singlehandedly brought about world peace simply by a universal viewing.... it would STILL be criminally underrated.
HAIL, HAIL FREEDONIA!!!!!
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I loved your comment Tin Man-5!!!
So long and thanks for all the fish!
freakyfelix never came back to defend his position. He's a troll and a coward. DS is the funniest movie ever made. Next.
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^duckhead
Shut up talking spaceship! I'm trying to watch my favorite sci-fi show.
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There is so much going on in this movie that is apparently lost on the OP and others like him.
Duck Soup is unquestionably the best movie the Marx Brothers ever made. Never was their humor more on target, never were the topics more relevant (then and now), and never was the movie so timeless.
It is a masterpiece - how sad that other "fans" don't get it.
I agree with the person who started this thread. I've sat through this movie twice (once on VHS and once on the big screen) to try and understand why some people love this film. I'm not ashamed to say that I don't get it, and can't see why this was ever considered funny. (I did extensive research on the period in which the film was made to see if I could reconcile the humor to ongoing events in the time it was made).
Personally, I don't like the Marx Brothers at all. While I think Groucho was funny, especially in his later years, I just don't get their humor.
Especially upon leaving the big screen experience, my opinion is that this film appeals to the type of bohemian movie snob that relishes in saying that they understand (as they look down their noses at the rest of us), and the movie enthusiast who likes this film because they are told it is great.
One Laurel and Hardy gag is worth more than the entire Marx Brothers catalog.
That's just me.
We get that you don't get the humor. We get that you don't like the Marx Brothers. It's absolutely your right! But you don't have the right to call their fans and fans of this movie Bohemian Move Snobs or lemmings who think the film is great because we've been told it is. It's just as fair as my calling you an ignorant moron for not liking it. Did you forget to get on line when they were passing out senses of humor? Are you so slow that the jokes and timing of their comedy is just way over your pea brain?
Let's just leave it at they're not your cup of tea and knock off the obnoxious and pompous degradation of those who happen to enjoy this film.
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Sense of humor is a strange, highly subjective thing and that factors so heavily into the appreciation of comedies that discussing them (or making best of lists for them) can be very frustrating. I dug this movie but can understand why it wouldn't appeal to everyone. Groucho is an inherently smarmy personality and not everyone will appreciate Harpo's physical comedy. This film deserves to be listed among the greats though because of its wide influence and number of classic, oft-replicated gags.
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