Soon after its release, Paramount canceled the Brothers contract, and they moved on to MGM, where they made A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races under the tutelage of Irving Thalberg before sliding into B-movie limbo. The original stated that Groucho Marx’s character name was Hiram J Firefly. Duck Soup has long held a high place in the pantheon of American comedy, but in 1933, when it was released, it was a commercial disappointment to Paramount.
But the sheer silliness is inspired: Rufus’s political song about all the enjoyable things he’s going to crack down on includes chewing gum – anticipating modern policy in Singapore.
#Duck soup marx brothers art deco movie#
A movie audience in 2015 has to acclimatise itself to the movie’s style: steeped in live theatre, the Marx brothers had a habit of leaving silences where the laughs were going to go. After one taste, youll duck soup the rest of your life.' 107 of 108 found this interesting. Groucho Marx offered the following explanation for the movies title: 'Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. Wisecracking Rufus soon causes chaos among the flummoxed flunkies in Freedonia’s colossal government state rooms, which are designed with proto-fascist grandiosity. Find your favorite art prints from classic masters and discover up-and-coming artists. Share this: Facebook Twitter Hide options.
The Ruritanian state of Freedonia, forever teetering on the edge of war with its bellicose neighbour Sylvania, is bankrupt, and forced to accept a multi-million dollar loan from a wealthy American widow (played superbly deadpan by the brothers’ regular foil, Margaret Dumont)on condition that they install as president her friend, Rufus T Firefly, a free-thinking genius and visionary played by Groucho Marx. T he movie vaudeville of the Marx brothers was perhaps never so inspired, and surely never as brazen, as in their surreal satire of tinpot nationalism and political pomposity in 1930s Europe – imagine if America had to come in and sort that mess out!.