I really didn’t have any expectations for Duck Soup going into it. I mean really, what the hell is Duck Soup anyway? Honestly I never really got an answer to that, since the movie has nothing to do with ducks or soups (I researched it and didn’t seem to find any clear answers either). But regardless, I winded up getting completely blown away by Duck Soup, which will be obvious if you skipped ahead to see what score I gave the movie. While it’s far from the first, Duck Soup is the earliest example I’ve seen of a really great political comedy/satire (as well as a musical), and certainly one of the earliest examples I’ve seen of it being done so well. Duck Soup had me laughing so much I thought my stomach was going to hurt, and that’s really impressive since comedy can tend to feel dated sometimes. However, this definitely transcends that and is still really hilarious.

The other thing I’ve gotta be honest about here is that I really didn’t get the plot of the movie, but honestly I didn’t care because I was too busy laughing at the jokes. I’ll do my best, but keep in mind that this isn’t really necessary to enjoy the movie anyway. Basically, there is a land called Freedonia that’s going bankrupt. A wealthy woman insists on a man named Rufus T. Firefly to take over the land, and if he does so then she will continue to fund it. Firefly tries to marry the woman for her inheritance, but he finds some competition in Trentino, the ambassador of the neighboring land of Sylvania. Trentino is also trying to win the woman’s affection, while also scheming to take over Freedonia himself. The two men are at odds for the entire movie, leading to an eventual war between the countries.

Duck Soup stars the four Marx brothers (and is the last movie to feature Zeppo), who were known for their comedies at this time. I’ve never seen a Marx brothers movie before this, so I can’t really speak to how well it stacks up to their other works. All I know is, I loved Duck Soup. While Zeppo wasn’t quite the comedian his brothers were, the other three are absolutely hilarious in this. Their comedic timing and delivery seems to come so natural, and so they’re just an absolute delight to watch perform. Groucho in particular just fires off line after line of hilarious dialogue, and so his character of Firefly had me laughing the whole time. I’ll be honest, a lot of the comedy in this movie centers around puns or snappy comebacks, so if you’re not a fan of what’s now considered “dad jokes” or “groan-worthy comedy,” then this might not be for you. However, I really like this dumb sort of humor, and so I found it hilarious.

Honestly I was just impressed by how good Duck Soup is. It blends a lot of different elements almost seamlessly, and each one is done very well. Aside from the snappy dialogue, you also have a lot of satire, political comedy, war-time comedy, and even a few musical numbers. Admittedly the songs don’t sound as good as they do nowadays, but I can forgive that as a product of the time. I just really enjoyed all of the different pieces here, but above all I was just happy with how much Duck Soup made me laugh. Don’t be afraid to watch Duck Soup just because it’s a black-and-white film, because it’s honestly just as funny as any comedy nowadays. Aside from a movie like Sherlock Jr. in the silent era, this is the first true comedy classic I’ve seen from this era in film.

5/5