Initially considered subpar to the previous works of the Marx Brothers, “Duck Soup” is now considered a cinema classic and arguably the Brothers’ finest film. An archaic anti-war film, it is set in fictional countries of Freedonia and Sylvania. A wealthy lady named Mrs. Teasdale wants to appoint Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) as the leader of bankrupt Freedonia, while Trentino, the ambassador of the neighboring Sylvania tries to stage a revolution and prepare the turf for the invasion of Sylvania on Freedonia. Both Trentino and Firefly are also wooing Mrs, Teasdale, looking to get their hands on her vast riches. Trentino sends a pair of spies (Chico and Harpo Marx) to dig up dirt on Firefly. They fail to do so, but they manage to infiltrate the government when Firefly foolishly appoints one of them a secretary of war. Firefly’s trusted adviser Bob Roland (Zeppo Marx) convinces him to try to deport Trentino, but the later incident between the two pushes the two countries to an open war. Ultimately, after lenty of comedic shenanigans all four Marx brothers find themselves on the same side, fighting against the Sylvanian invasion. When the smoke clears we see all four of them throwing fruits at Trentino as he begs for mercy. Coming out during the Great Depression era, the film was panned for its loose and careless treatment of serious issues at a time of grave economic and political crisis, but today it is treated as one of the greatest war comedies, shoulder to shoulder with films such as “The Great Dictator” or “Dr. Strangelove”.
Jason Segel collects puppets
