War is swell...when the Marx Brothers are in it. They'll be out of the trenches by Christmas...if the food doesn't improve!
Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.
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Character
Comic, cool, warm and ironic.
- gravecomic
- cooloverwhelming
- warmbleak
- earnestironic
- contemplativerelentless
Who loves it, who doesn't
23 profiled raters. Loved most by The Archivists; disliked most by The Sinceres.
Where do you stand?
Answer first; then see how everyone, and your circle, split.
“Is Groucho Marx the best thing in Duck Soup?”
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“Does the irony keep it from meaning anything?”
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“Is this Leo McCarey's best work?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- CinemaSerfon TMDB · Mar 20266/10
Ok, so I’m probably in a tiny minority here but I simply didn’t find the Marx brothers’ style of comedy particularly funny, and this didn’t really do much to change that view. This is all set in the tiny nation of “Freedonia” that urgently needs $20 millions to avoid bankruptcy. They can get it from a wealthy benefactress, “Mrs. Teasdale” (Margaret Dumont) but only if they agree to appoint “Firefly” (Groucho) as their new Prime Minister. Of course he hasn’t a clue, but she is sweet on him and so he is left to run/ruin this nation whilst the scheming ambassador “Trentino” (Louis Calhern) from the neighbouring “Sylvania” plots invasion. Of course, “Firefly” doesn’t come alone, but has the mischievous “Pinky” (Harpo) and “Chicolini” (Chico) in tow too, as they cause their own degree of mayhem with the local lemonade seller (Edgar Kennedy). Visually, what plays out now actually reminded me a little of “A Woman Commands” (1932) only augmented - if that is the word - by a sequence of perfectly choreographed and executed slapstick that I’m afraid just didn’t make me laugh as they deliver episodically for an hour or so. Zeppo has a go at the straighter role, but his “Bob” character barely
Read the whole review on TMDB - Filipe Manuel Netoon TMDB · Oct 202310/10
**I would love to send a copy of the film to Vladimir Putin. Would he understand the gesture?** Who would have thought that this film is almost a hundred years old? I just saw it, and it is fresher and lusher than many vegetables in the supermarket! Many people no longer know who the Marx Brothers are, but a hundred years ago, at a time when there were no internet memes (or the internet), they were the kings of comedy, and it's always worth seeing what they did. They passed away a long time ago, but they left us a polite, intelligent, sharp, accessible humor that the whole family can see. The film was released in 1933, at a time dominated by the imminent threats of war. It reminds us of our own time, doesn't it? One hundred years later, we continue to make the same mistakes and show God that we have learned nothing from them. The film makes fun of this by giving us a portrait of a bankrupt country led by an incompetent man, very vain, arrogant and surrounded by sycophants who treat him as a savior of the nation. It could be Mussolini, or Hitler... and the explicit criticism of European dictators could not be sharper today, if we think about some tyrants of our time. The film is dom
Read the whole review on TMDB - tmdb47633491on TMDB · May 20187/10
The Marx Bros are to Blockbuster as Monty Python are to Netflix and I mean that in the best way possible
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Cast
- Groucho MarxRufus T. Firefly
- Harpo MarxPinky
- Chico MarxChicolini
- Zeppo MarxBob Roland
- Margaret DumontGloria Teasdale
- Raquel TorresVera Marcal
- Louis CalhernAmbassador Trentino
- Edmund BreeseZander
- Leonid KinskeySylvanian Agitator
- Charles MiddletonProsecutor
Crew
- Leo McCareyDirector
- Harry RubyWriter
- Nat PerrinWriter
- Bert KalmarWriter
- Henry SharpDirector of Photography
- John LeipoldOriginal Music Composer
- LeRoy StoneEditor
- Herman J. MankiewiczProducer
Where to watch
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
Life of Brian 197981% alikeBoth comic, cool, ironic.
Time Bandits 198172% alikeBoth comic, relentless.
Tropic Thunder 200870% alikeBoth comic, cool, ironic.
Help! 196570% alikeBoth comic, cool, warm.
Blazing Saddles 197469% alikeBoth comic, cool, ironic.
Both comic, cool, warm.
Shock Treatment 198168% alikeBoth comic, cool, ironic.
Repo Man 198468% alikeBoth cool, comic.
Spitting Image 198478% alikeTelevision · Both comic, cool, ironic.
Animaniacs 202070% alikeTelevision · Both comic, cool, warm.
Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Tastebuds
