8.0/10
49,929
255 user 85 critic

Duck Soup (1933)

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

Director:

Writers:

(story), (story) | 2 more credits »
Reviews
2 wins & 2 nominations. See more awards »
Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Comedy | Music | Musical
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X  

A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.

Directors: Sam Wood, Edmund Goulding
Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
Comedy | Musical | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley University, accidentally hires bumblers Baravelli and Pinky to help his school win the big football game against the rival Darwin University.

Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
Comedy | Musical
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Mayhem and zaniness ensue when a valuable painting goes missing during a party in honor of famed African explorer Captain Spaulding.

Director: Victor Heerman
Stars: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx
Comedy | Musical
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

On a transatlantic crossing, The Marx Brothers get up to their usual antics and manage to annoy just about everyone on board the ship.

Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Stars: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, The Marx Brothers
Les brigades du Tigre (1974–1983)
Action | Crime | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.4/10 X  

In the early twentieth century is created in France the first motorized police group. They are called 'The Tiger Brigades', after Prime Minister George Clemenceau's surname: The Tiger.

Stars: Jean-Claude Bouillon, Jean-Paul Tribout, Pierre Maguelon
Comedy | Musical | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

A veterinarian posing as a doctor, a race-horse owner and his friends struggle to help keep a sanitarium open with the help of a misfit race-horse.

Director: Sam Wood
Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
The Cocoanuts (1929)
Comedy | Musical
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

During the Florida land boom, The Marx Brothers run a hotel, auction off some land, thwart a jewel robbery, and generally act like themselves.

Directors: Robert Florey, Joseph Santley
Stars: Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx, Chico Marx
Adventure | Drama | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

During the Spanish Civil War, an American allied with the Republicans finds romance during a desperate mission to blow up a strategically important bridge.

Director: Sam Wood
Stars: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff
Go West (1940)
Comedy | Musical | Western
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

The Marx Brothers come to the rescue in the Wild West when a young man, trying to settle an old family feud so he can marry the girl he loves, runs afoul of crooks.

Director: Edward Buzzell
Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
Drama | History | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

Newlyweds Gil and Lana Martin try to establish a farm in the Mohawk Valley but are menaced by Indians and Tories as the Revolutinary War begins.

Director: John Ford
Stars: Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda, Edna May Oliver
At the Circus (1939)
Comedy | Musical
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

The Marx Brothers try to help the owner of a circus recover some stolen funds before he finds himself out of a job.

Director: Edward Buzzell
Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

After killing a child when his plane crashes in a Vietnamese village, Pierre suffers from delayed stress and partial amnesia. Returning to France, he lives like a vegetable until he meets a... See full summary »

Director: Serge Bourguignon
Stars: Hardy Krüger, Nicole Courcel, Patricia Gozzi
Edit

Cast

Complete credited cast:
...
(as The Four Marx Brothers)
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Zander
...
Sylvanian Agitator (as Leonid Kinsky)
...
Prosecutor (as Charles B. Middleton)
...
Edit

Storyline

The country of Freedonia is in the middle of a financial crisis and on the brink of revolution. In order to gain a bail-out from the wealthy Mrs Teasdale, the government appoints Rufus T Firefly as its president. However, Mr Firefly shuns the pomp and pretentiousness of government; along with the prudence and rationality of it too. Meanwhile, the neighbouring country of Sylvania is plotting to overthrow Freedonia and sends Pinky and Chicolini to spy on Firefly. War seems inevitable. Written by grantss

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

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

Genres:

Comedy | Musical | War

Certificate:

See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

17 November 1933 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Die Marx Brothers im Krieg  »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show more on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

It was Leo McCarey's idea to film the mirror sequence, based on an old vaudeville routine. It reportedly took only two hours to film. See more »

Goofs

After Firefly pours the milk in court he hands the milk bottle away showing a full glass of milk on the table. When they cut back on the next shot after showing Chicolini, the glass of milk in gone. See more »

Quotes

Rufus T. Firefly: [trying to decide if Chicolini, Firefly, Pinky, or Bob Roland will make a suicidal run into no-mans-land to get help] One of us has got to go get word to General Cooper and his men. One of us has got to go and risk his life for his country!
Bob Roland: Let's draw straws.
Chicolini: No! I gots an idea. We have a runspot to see who we choose to go. Okay, here we go. Rrrrrrringspot! One-sa, two-sa, zig-zag-zav, poptie, gimmega, tin-lie, tav, harem, scarem, moychan, tarem, tare, tore...
[...]
See more »

Connections

Referenced in The Benny Hill Show: Friday Night Fever (1978) See more »

Soundtracks

These Are the Laws of My Administration
(1933) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Ruby
Lyrics by Bert Kalmar
Sung by Groucho Marx and Margaret Dumont with chorus
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
The Best Comedy of All Time
15 August 1998 | by See all my reviews

Many will say that Airplane or anything by Woody Allen rates this summary but I strongly disagree. There are very few pleasures on earth as hearing Groucho insult people, Chico's murder of the English language, or seeing Harpo's physical comedy. In this movie you have it all. From Groucho's entrance in the first scene to the bombing of the shelter while defending Margaret Dumont's "honor", there is not one slow moment. Like the great screwball comedies of the 1930s and 1940s, this movie does not require special effects or offensive dialogue to make it watchable over and over again. The only thing that this movie does require is your attention and a quick finger on the rewind button. (For when you miss something, and on the first viewing you will) All in all, this is the all time best comedy, political or otherwise.


78 of 106 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 255 user reviews »

Contribute to This Page

Favorite Moments From the 2018 Sundance Film Festival

"The IMDb Show" looks back at some of their favorite moments from the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and fill you in on this year’s most talked-about films.

Watch now