Duck Soup

Year:

1933

Duration:

68 min

Genres:

Comedy | Musical

IMDB rate:

8.1

Director:

Leo McCarey

Awards:

2 wins

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 1933-11-17

Filming Locations: Sierra de Loja, Granada, Andalucía, Spain

Cast

Actor

Character

Groucho Marx

Duck Soup

The Marx Brothers

(as The Four Marx Brothers)

Harpo Marx

Pinky

Chico Marx

Chicolini

Zeppo Marx

Bob Roland

Margaret Dumont

Mrs. Teasdale

Raquel Torres

Vera Marcal

Louis Calhern

Trentino

Edmund Breese

Zander

Leonid Kinskey

Agitator

Charles Middleton

Prosecutor

Edgar Kennedy

Street Vendor

Edward Arnold

Politician

Wade Boteler

Officer at Battle Headquarters (uncredited)

Sidney Bracey

Mrs. Teasdale's Butler

E.H. Calvert

Officer in Battle Sequence (uncredited)

Davison Clark

Minister of Finance #2 (uncredited)

Louise Closser Hale

Reception Guest (uncredited)

Carrie Daumery

Reception Guest (uncredited)

Mario Dominici

Minister

Maude Turner Gordon

Reception Guest (uncredited)

Verna Hillie

Trentino's Blonde Secretary (uncredited)

Edward LeSaint

Secretary of Labor (uncredited)

George MacQuarrie

First Judge (uncredited)

Edwin Maxwell

Freedonia's Secretary. of War #1 (uncredited)

Eric Mayne

Third Judge (uncredited)

Edmund Mortimer

Minister

Dennis O'Keefe

Bridegroom at Firefly's Reception (uncredited)

Leo Sulky

Agitator

Frederick Sullivan

Second Judge (uncredited)

Dale Van Sickel

A Palace Guard

Florence Wix

Reception Guest (uncredited)

William Worthington

First Minister of Finance (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

In the original script, Chicolini and Pinky were cousins and Bob was Firefly's son.

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The hat-swapping routine performed by Harpo Marx, Chico Marx, and Edgar Kennedy, was reportedly the inspiration for a similar scene in the French stage play Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett.

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Italian dictator Benito Mussolini banned the film from Italy because he thought it was a direct attack on him. When news of this reached The Marx Brothers, they were reportedly ecstatic.

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Goofs

After Mrs. Teasdale picks up a card, Firefly puts the deck in his left trouser pocket. However, when she introduces him to Trentino, he takes out the deck from the right pocket.

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The removed horseshoes that we see lying on the floor (from the horse that Pinky was riding) are not actual horseshoes but the type that are used in the game of horseshoes. They are much larger than regular horseshoes.

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During the "To War, To War" number, when The Marx Brothers quartet are playing banjos and singing as they walk toward the camera, it is clear that Chicolini is only holding his banjo, not playing it.

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Quotes

Rufus T. Firefly: Don't look now, but there's one man too many in this room, and I think it's you.

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Rufus T. Firefly: Lieutenant, why weren't the original indictment papers placed in my portfolio?

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Rufus T. Firefly: Oh, uh, I suppose you would think me a sentimental old fluff, but, uh, would you mind giving me lock of your hair?

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Faq

Q

How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?

A

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Duck Soup can be found here.

Q

A Note Regarding Spoilers

A

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

Q

List: The mirror gag

A

The Floorwalker (1916). Chaplin mistakes the store inspector for his mirror image.Seven Years Bad Luck (1921). Max Linder thinks his cook is his mirror image.Duck Soup (1933). Harpo (dressed as Groucho) accidentally breaks a large mirror. When Groucho enters, Harpo pretends to be his mirror image.Lonesome Ghosts (1937). A ghost is in the mirror and Goofy thinks its his reflection.Double Chaser (1942). A cat repeatedly tiptoes past a gap in a fence, and is "reflected" alternately by a mouse, a bulldog and an identical-looking cat.Hare Tonic (1945). Bugs Bunny removes the glass from a mirror to trick Elmer Fudd into believing that he (Elmer) looks like a rabbit.I Love Lucy: Lucy and Harpo Marx (#4.28) (1955). Lucy is dressed like Harpo. Harpo enters; she pretends to be his mirror image.Scooby Doo, Where Are You!: Mine Your Own Business (#1.4) (1969). Scooby Doo looks into a mirror and sees the image of the Miner 49er.Scooby Doo, Where Are You!: Never Ape an Ape Man (#1.7) (1969). The Ape Man puts on a Scooby mask and pretends to be Scooby Doo's mirror image; but his hands give him away.Big Business (1988). Bette Midler plays twins separated at birth. They meet in a hotel bathroom and do the same routine until one Midler pulls the nose of her supposed mirror image.Sister, Sister: The Meeting (#1.1) (1994). Two twins meet for the first time when they each try on an identical outfit at a clothing store. They walk up to either side of an empty frame, believing it to be a mirror, and inspect their "reflections."

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