Movie Talk: Why I Think "Duck Soup" Is The Number One Comedy Of All Time

The real test of a truly great comedy, in my mind, is whether you can continue seeing it time and time again, and still laugh as much each time, even though you know all the jokes and punchlines by now. In that context, there are a number of films that would be in serious contention for the top spot for me, and I would yield to none (well, okay, very few) in my admiration for "Young Frankenstein" ("Where are you going? I was going to make espresso!") and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" ("What, the curtains?"). But ultimately I think I have to put the Marx Brothers' "Duck Soup" at number one. A film I've seen at least twenty times and have never even begun to tire of.

For any who haven't seen it (and do you ever have a treat in store!), "Duck Soup" takes place in the fictional European republic of Freedonia. The country is in a financial crisis (that would never happen today, right?) and accepts a loan from Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont), the neation's wealthiest person, but she has a condition... she'll lend the money only if her current romance, Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) is appointed leader. They're desperate enough to go along with her... but they'll regret that as soon as they learn the plans he has for the country, and they'll regret it even more when Harpo & Chico, as spies working for rival country Sylvania, also come to work for Freedonia.

The most important thing in a comedy, obviously, is the laughs, and unlike some of their later films (which featured romantic subplots that slowed down the story because that's what the studio thought audiences wanted), in "Duck Soup" it's strictly laughs from start to finish with no time for anything else. What makes the film great, though, is its incredible MIX of comedic styles that all blend together as a coherent whole. There is, naturally, the purely silly verbal wisecracks that Groucho was known for ("This report is so simple a four-year-old child could understand it!.... run out and find me a four-year-old child, I can't make heads or tails out of it!"), the almost surreal style of Harpo & Chico (watch as they report their espionage deeds to their Sylvanian boss and pretty much drive him insane in the process), and pure physical slapstick (Harpo & Chico's ongoing duel with a lemonade vendor).

But we also have one of the great all-time classic moments of silent comedy every filmed. Wait a second, isn't this supposed to be a sound film? Well, yes, it is. But for the famous "Mirror Sequence" the soundtrack goes utterly silent for several minutes as Groucho and Harpo fight a battle of semi-wits to prove just who is real and who's the reflection. This is a sequence that could probably have made Chaplin or Keaton jealous, and one that has been imitated and parodied in other films and on television to this very day (including even once by Harpo himself on an episode of "I Love Lucy"). Yes, folks, as legendary as he was for his motor mouth, Groucho got some of his biggest laughs ever by being completely silent.

But the thing that made the movie a bit of a box office flop when it was first released... and which has helped it get new fans over multiple generations ever since... is the amazing political satire content. Groucho has said the brothers didn't intend the political satire and he attributes that aspect to director Leo McCary, whom he called "The only great director we ever had." They're lucky they did have him, because "Duck Soup" turns out to have an incredible amount to say about how politics still works in the 21st century! Listen to Groucho sing about his plans for Freedonia ("If you think this country's bad off now, just wait 'til I get through with it!") and you can't help but be reminded of far too many contemporary politicians. Watch the way he "sells" going to war for no good purpose to the populace and the way the country blindly joins in a song & dance (literally) praising the idea of the war, and it's an almost painfully accurate picture of Iraq, Libya, and too many other recent headlines (of course, when the film was showing in the late 60's/early 70's, the parallel was Vietnam). Watch Groucho unknowingly start shooting at his own troops during the way and then pay someone who saw the whole thing to keep quiet about it, and you're thinking of William Calley in Vietnam or Pat Tillman in Afghanistan. Even in these scenes, the brothers never abandon their mission of being funny, but is IS quite astonishing the amount of commentary on the folly of politicians comes into play.

It's pretty difficult to think of many (or any, really) films today, or in the years between "Duck Soup" and now, that both make audiences crack up in hysterics and at the same time make them really think the way this movie does. It's actually difficult to think of many mainstream Hollywood filmmakers or stars who would even THINK about making a movie like this today. The audiences at the time of the film were looking to see a purely escapist, silly farce, and in the midst of the great depression weren't in the mood for a comedy that was so cynical about government and human nature. Their loss. "Duck Soup" works perfectly well for audiences who just want to laugh, but it becomes a true classic when you realize the additional depth it has. And that's why I can't think of a worthier title for "Number One Comedy Of All Time."