Duck Soup 1933

type: Movie

language: English

duration: 68 min

genre: comedy

theme: musical comedy

director: Leo McCarey

Score: 7 / 10

Duck Soup is a 1933 American pre-Code musical comedy film written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (with additional dialogue by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin) and directed by Leo McCarey. Released by Paramount Pictures on November 17, 1933, it stars the four Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo in his final film appearance) and also features Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Raquel Torres and Edgar Kennedy. Duck Soup was the last of the five Marx Brothers films released by Paramount Pictures. In the film, Groucho portrays Rufus T. Firefly, the newly installed president of the fictional country of Freedonia. Zeppo is his secretary, while Chico and Harpo are spies for the neighboring country of Sylvania. Relations between Firefly and the Sylvanian ambassador (Calhern) deteriorate during the film, eventually leading the two countries to war.

Plot

Wealthy widow Gloria Teasdale is asked to give twenty million dollars to the small, financially struggling nation of Freedonia; she agrees on the condition that Rufus T. Firefly is appointed the country's leader. Meanwhile, Ambassador Trentino of neighboring Sylvania is scheming to provoke a revolution in Freedonia in order to annex it. He sends two spies, Chicolini and Pinky, to Freedonia to find out information about Firefly. To his disappointment, Chicolini and Pinky end up spying on the wrong man, but he agrees to give them another chance.

Cast

More details

author	Bert Kalmar Harry Ruby
contentLocation	Europe
director	Leo McCarey
editor	LeRoy Stone
genre	comedy political satire
keywords	break food cart freedonia lose national anthem pillory scheme sing steal struggle wealthy widow
musicBy	John Leipold
producer	Herman J. Mankiewicz
publisher	Paramount Pictures
theme	black comedy dance musical comedy spy