Duck Soup
Those madcap Marx Brothers are at it all over again with 1933’s Duck Soup, a balls-to-the-wall comedy that deliciously revels in its anarchy. Written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, this would be the last Marx Brothers film to feature Zeppo Marx and would be the last of the five Marx Brothers movies released by Paramount Pictures. Interestingly, Duck Soup wasn’t a great performer at the box office and opened to mixed reviews.
Duck Soup is terrific because it pulsates with this great sense of cynicism towards patriotism. As the follow-up to Horse Feathers, this movie is couched in an awful lot of behind-the-scenes turmoil. Paramount was being reorganized and there were fears that the Marx Brothers would not be paid for their work. This led to the quartet suggesting that they form their own production company. They began to plan some independent productions when their uncle, Frenchie, passed away. The contract dispute was solved in the meantime and production for Duck Soup got underway at Paramount.
