DUCK SOUP

13/12/2007.

Last year: A Night at the Opera. This year the Marx Bros are back with “a breathtakingly funny and imaginative spoof of war movie heroics… A masterpiece” (Geoff Andrew, Time Out). “Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you’ll duck soup the rest of your life” (Groucho Marx). (70 mins)
Dir: Leo McCarey, USA 1933

Comments

“So funny. It was high time we had some laughter!”

“Some very welcome light relief.”

“Preposterous – a real treat.”

“A brilliant film. Maybe a commentary on European politics in 1933 – maybe not. Who cares?”

“A cheerful end to the first half of the season.”

“Well done! almost a musical in places. Good fun, though. Happy Christmas.”

“Good fun. Much more pure slapstick than I remembered – a bit uneven.”

“The mirror scene was very clever. How I hate mass choral singing but the rest of the puns and gags were great.”

“A poor beginning but a good end.”

“Well, the jokes (a lot of them, anyway) may have passed into history but the finale was spectacular!”

“Seemed very dated at first but warmed up towards the end. Probably works better watched at home on a winter’s afternoon [but on TV !!]”

“B – but not quite up to Night at the Opera.”

“I think Harpo said it all!”

“No more (of these); three in a row would be overkill! Let’s have a change – maybe Tati next year.”

“Promise we won’t get Day at the Races next year!”

“This was like the London buses – I’ve been waiting for a laugh since October and then they all come along at once!”

Scores

A:13, B:16, C:6, D:1, E:0 to give 78%