LogFAQs > #972041526

23. Duck Soup (1933)
Directed by Leo McCarey
Score: 186

Mythiot: 2
Johnbobb: 7
GavsEvans: 9
Plasma: 13
Tangy: 18
Karo: 23
Inviso: 28
Poke: 28
Suprak: 28
Fortybelow: 30

2. Mythiot
An unapologetically silly live-action Looney Tune that never gets made anymore, the Marx Brothers' magnum opus Duck Soup is an absolute delight. To the modern eye, the plot involving a newly appointed dictator in over his head who bumbles his way into a war with a hostile neighbor may seem like an excuse to showcase rapid-fire gags and chaotic musical numbers, but it ruffled enough feathers back in the day to get banned in fascist Italy. For a 70 minute film, this flim is absolutely loaded with jokes, the majority of which are supplied by Groucho, master of worldplay and insults as the fragile dictator Rufus T. Firefly, and silent clown Harpo as a scissor-happy spy who has enough time between espionage and cutting off people's cigars to mess with a random lemonade stand owner. Almost all of the film's humor holds up just as well 90 years later, the often-copied mirror scene with its perfect timing probably being the highlight.

7. John
"This Country's Going To War" may be the single funniest scene on this entire list. At the very least it's in top contention. Duck Soup manages to be the best of the goofy, rapid-fire wordplay that made Abbott and Costello popular with physical slapstick that feels like it's straight out of the Three Stooges. The "pretending to be a mirror image when looking at someone else" gag has been done time and time again since this, and somehow this one still manages to be the most surprising and humorous. Also I haven't seen a hat budget this extensive since Lincoln (2012)

9. Gavs
The first big joke that set the tone for me was when the first five minutes are spent hyping up Firefly as a highly skilled politician, only for him to be a sleazy fast-talker, nothing at all like what he had been built up as. His arrogance and ego results in him working himself up and causing an entirely avoidable war with the neighbouring Sylvania. The two spies arent helping either. I wonder if they were deliberately sabotaging relations between the countries, or if they were just that incompetent.

There are a few different kinds of humour here. Theres plenty of witty lines of dialogue, physical slapstick primarily from the spies, though not always (the running joke with Fireflys sidecar got me every time), and some more bizarre bits like the living tattoo and the massive army of reinforcements during the war scene. There are even a couple of catchy musical numbers in there! A lot gets packed into this films short length, although there are a few scenes that feel like they go on a bit too long.

This was the first film I watched for this ranking and it was a good one to start off with. I enjoyed this quite a bit. I did wonder if this would hold up because its such an old film, but I had nothing to worry about.

I dont get why its called Duck Soup though. Maybe there was meant to be a sequel from Sylvanias perspective called Rabbit Soup?

13. Plasma
Here we have Groucho Marx performing a series of hilarious stand-up routines, andoh, theres a story, too.

The storyline and commentary didnt wow me, but I gotta give Duck Soup credit for making me laugh out loud more than a dozen times. The Groucho parts are terrific. His comedic timing is snappy, and he delivers jokes with gusto. I could listen to this guy for hours.

The spy parts were too silly for my tastes, but they did have some great moments, and the mirror routine was mesmerizing to watch. It was interesting seeing how this film embraced the spirit of the silent era and merged it seamlessly into a talkie comedy. Just wish they had scrapped the musical segments. C-

18. Tangy
Of all the golden age comedians, I think Groucho might be my favorite. He perfectly balances wit with stupidity and I love it. The rest of the Marx bros are incredibly fun too and play off each other super well. I think the only thing that holds this one back for me oddly enough is the pacing. You would think that this wouldnt be a problem since the movies only like an hour long, but theres just not enough consistency to hold it all together. Its like for every super funny scene, theres one thats twice as long and it doesnt work nearly as well. Then theres the musical numbers. Normally I enjoy it when they pop up unexpectedly, but it just feels out of place here and they werent particularly catchy songs either. I do still like the movie as a whole though, I just think it needed more unity.

23. Karo
An old film featuring the Marx Brothers, aka Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Karl.
Basically an eccentric buffoon (played by Groucho) is appointed leader of the hyper patriotic and ironically named country of Freedonia, a land of moralfuckery where they rattle off a long long list of things you are actually not free to do. Ha ha.
This angle was oddly relevant and we could have definitely used more exploration of the themes here then we actually got. What we could have used less of is repetitive cartoon gags and Harpo's goddamn scissor fetish like seriously we get it he likes to cut things it is not funny guys.
Anytime Groucho wasnt onscreen I just about fell asleep, and even when he was it was only marginally interesting.
The movie works when it is trying to provide biting social satire. It doesn't work when it is trying to be a wacky comedy. Sadly the latter is mostly what it goes for.

28. Vis
I feel bad for whatever I have to say about this, because Im worried that comedymore than any other genreis going to suffer from its timing when it comes to watching these older movies. Dont get me wrong: Duck Soup was short and fast-paced, with constant slapstick and jokes being delivered every other moment, so I was never bored while watching it. But the jokes and the style of the Marx Brothers comedy just didnt work for me. I guess this was coming in the lead-up to World War II, so the weird geo-political slant maybe made sense in conjunction with the state of the world at the time, but I guess it just wasnt for me.

30. Forty
Why should we have a standing army? Because then we save money on chairs. Unlike its contemporary, Modern Times, I feel like Duck Soup is just too old fashioned to really strike a chord with me. Almost every line is the comedic equivalent of a corny dad joke, so it has some charm but is only ever enough to elicit some mild chuckles (except the motorcycle/sidecar gag which was really funny to me). The rapid-fire physical comedy from the Marx Brothers is entertaining enough, and the timing and choreography is impressive but again, its from an era thats more up my grandparents alley than mine. I thought it was strange, too, how abruptly the movie ended, but overall, I do respect how influential it is, as many of its absurdist elements can be seen in later films. I feel bad putting it dead last but that had to go to something, and there are no bad movies on the list.