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Duck Soup
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Yes,
the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup. This
film, their first, I believe, has a plot
whether they like it or not. It's a
nonsensical plot, of course, but the gist of
is that Groucho is pegged as the new leader
of Freedonia, which has a much lovelier
anthem than most real countries.
Plotting against him are the folks who hire
Chico and Harpo (Chicolini and Pinky,
respectively) to spy on Groucho.
Eventually the two countries (I forget the
name of the second) end up at war, giving
the Brothers an opportunity to lampoon what
we otherwise know as the horrors of combat.
Naturally this is all just
an excuse to showcase some of the more
popular Marx Brothers' Vaudeville sketches,
such as Chico's and Groucho's "Tutti
Frutti Ice Cream," and my personal
favorite, the mirror routine. In this
sketch, the Brothers can be seen as truly
brothers, for both Chico and Harpo dress as
Groucho after accidentally smashing his
bedroom mirror, then mimic, in turn, his
every movement to fool him into thinking
it's still there. The family
resemblance is there; trust me.
Lucille Ball reprised this bit with Harpo on
I Love Lucy, this time with her trying to
fool Harpo (It didn't work).
Like all other Marx
Brotherss movies, there are songs - big
production numbers, of course - and at least
one love song for Zeppo, the
"hottie" of the group.
For added fun, rent as
many Marx Brothers movies as you can, then
watch as many as you can in one
sitting. I saw about 6 of them in two
days, and to this day I can't keep their
stories straight. This one had a horse
race in it, too, right?
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