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Duck Soup

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EntityQ1125566· pop 44· linked from 243 articles

1933 film directed by Leo McCarey

Film · TMDB

7.3

Rufus T. Firefly is named president/dictator of bankrupt Freedonia and declares war on neighboring Sylvania over the love of wealthy Mrs. Teasdale.

Released: 1933-11-1268 minDir: Leo McCareyComedy, War

Cast

  • Groucho Marx as Rufus T. Firefly
  • Harpo Marx as Pinky
  • Chico Marx as Chicolini
  • Zeppo Marx as Bob Roland
  • Margaret Dumont as Gloria Teasdale
  • Raquel Torres as Vera Marcal

Themes

  • ambassador
  • dictator
  • widow
  • spy
  • siege
  • musical
  • lemonade
  • cigar smoking
  • slapstick comedy
  • black and white

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Ratings

IMDb

7.7/10

64,093 votes

Year
1933
Runtime
69 min
Genres
Comedy, Musical

via IMDb

Key facts

Directed by
Leo McCarey
Written by
Bert Kalmar Harry Ruby Arthur Sheekman (additional dialogue) Nat Perrin (additional dialogue)
Produced by
Herman J. Mankiewicz (uncredited)
Starring
Groucho Marx Harpo Marx Chico Marx Zeppo Marx Margaret Dumont Raquel Torres Louis Calhern
Cinematography
Henry Sharp
Edited by
LeRoy Stone (uncredited)
Music by
John Leipold (uncredited)
Distributed by
Paramount Pictures
Release date
November 17, 1933 ( 1933-11-17 )
Running time
68 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English

via Wikipedia infobox

~30 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Trailer Duck Soup is a 1933 American pre-Code musical comedy film written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (with additional dialogue by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin) and directed by Leo McCarey. Released by Paramount Pictures on November 17, 1933, it stars the four Marx Brothers (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo in his final film appearance) and also features Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Raquel Torres and Edgar Kennedy.

Duck Soup was the final of the five Marx Brothers films released by Paramount Pictures. The film also marks Zeppo's last screen outing with his brothers. In the film, Groucho portrays Rufus T. Firefly, the newly installed president of the fictional country of Freedonia. Zeppo is his secretary, while Chico and Harpo are spies for the neighboring country of Sylvania. Relations between Firefly and the Sylvanian ambassador (Calhern) deteriorate during the film, eventually leading the two countries to war.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Duck Soup” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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