Our favorite marx brothers films are back in one silver screen collection, now on dvd. Get duck soup, horse feathers, monkey business, the cocoanuts and animal crackers the only films to feature all four brothers together plus a special 6th disc with exclusive bonus material, in. In the 1930s, duck soup was a common american slang phrase referring to an easytodo task. The marx brothers silver screen collection the cocoanuts animal crackers monkey business horse feathers duck soup the marx brothers groucho, harpo, chico and zeppo are the reigning kings of comedy and remain one of the most iconic comic teams of all time. The marx brothers vaudevilleoriginated comedy requires a little acclimatisation now, but the silliness. Check out the additional rooms that will be available. This script is a transcript that was painstakingly transcribed using the screenplay andor viewings of duck soup. It seems like the climax of the best phase of their movie career, their early years at paramount, with the zaniest script and songs by kalmar and ruby, the biggest pretensions. Online shopping for highquality marx brothers home decor by independent artists and designers from around the world. Duck soup is indisputably the marx brothers greatest film. Duck soup is a 1933 precode marx brothers comedy film written by bert kalmar and harry ruby, with additional dialogue by arthur sheekman and nat perrin, and directed by leo mccarey.
You had me with your description of duck soup as your personal rosebud. Id argue that there are two things that make duck soup the best of the marx brothers movies. Duck soup was zeppo marxs last film role with his brothers. At some point he quotes a critic as saying the marx brothers have never been in a picture as wonderful as they are. Marx brothers web museum thats been on the web since july 1999. Duck soup is also my favorite marx brothers, one that doesnt get weighted down with too much music or too many other performers just give me the bros.
Deprived even of this status in duck soup, zeppo finally walked. Four of the three musketeers is the first comprehensive book of the marx brothers. When groucho was asked during an interview for an explanation, he quipped, take two turkeys, one goose. The four marx brothers in monkey business and duck soup. Duck soup is a fantasy book that is sure to capture the heart of early elementary children everywhere. Duck soup the marx brothers 1933 watch online christie books. Firefly is named presidentdictator of bankrupt freedonia and declares war on neighboring sylvania over the love of wealthy mrs. The minute somebody turns it on, i go into the library and read a good book. Kudos to universal for springing for these commentaries, which do a great job of contextualizing each film in the marx brothers career, addressing the films specific. Their next two films night at the opera and a day at the races are funny enough and made big money. The films are nearly impossible to gauge in a standard means of criticism because theyre each so good in their own ways.
Duck soup also gets one filmspecific bonus feature, a scholarly feature commentary with film critichistorian leonard maltin and marx bros. Duck soup is a 1933 precode marx brothers comedy film written by bert kalmar and harry. The moment i saw that this book was just on duck soup, i had to check it out. Im a marx brothers fan who all too often finds bios on the boys depressing or dull. The marx brothers, a day at the races,1937 scene with groucho marx and chico marx chico. Duck soup script transcript from the screenplay andor. Etsy is the home to thousands of handmade, vintage, and oneofakind products and gifts related to your search. New marx brothers book captures their early stage madness. The silver screen collection is an essential piece of any comedy collection. Later, tamer features usually would cast them in some goodguy roles, their destructive mayhem having a secret agenda to help out a pretty girl in distress or the like, but not in this movie.
Your description of watching movies in a video store reminded me of quentin tarantino. As wonderful as monkey business, horse feathers, and duck. Tour our photo gallery of all marx brothers films, ranked worst to best, including duck soup and animal crackers. Herbert manfred zeppo marx february 25, 1901 november 30, 1979 was an american actor, comedian, theatrical agent, and engineer. Featuring five of the marx brothers best films, you have hours of entertainment on your hands. Jackie urbanovic has written six books about a lovable duck named max and his household of animals he lives with. Duck soup won its place in the national film registry in 1990. Marx brothers duck soup rufus t fireflys introduction. They were celebrated for their inventive attacks on the socially respectable and upon ordered society in general.
Directed by leo mccarey, duck soup 1933 was the last of the four marx brothers run at paramount. In duck soup, max decides to cook a soup and in the middle of cooking he goes to the store to get a missing ingredient. A night at the opera laserdisc marx bros rare groucho chico harpo. Monkey business 1931, horse feathers 1932, duck soup 1933, a night at the opera. Visual and verbal gems from the marx brothers movies anobile, richard j. Marx brothers, american comedy team that was popular on stage, screen, and radio for 30 years. This film is usually billed as a political satire, but political farce is.
He appeared in the first five marx brothers feature films, from 1929 to 1933, but then left the act to start his second career as an engineer and theatrical agent. After gleaning from elsa two anecdotes about duck soups. Details about 23 marx brothers book lot, groucho, harpo, chico, duck soup, you bet your life. Theyre rude, insulting, pranksterish, and loyal to nobody. Duck soup is number 5 on the american film institutes list of americas 100 funniest movies and number 85 on the american film institutes list of americas 100 greatest movies. Groucho marx, chico marx, harpo marx, zeppo marx, margaret dumont, raquel torres, louis calhern, edgar kennedy. The new york post reported on 17 may that the marxes would make a new comedy for. I know, i know, i still need to get the cast names in there and ill be eternally tweaking it, so if you have any corrections, feel free to drop me a line. Decorate your house with pillows, tapestries, mugs, blankets, clocks and more. The official universal studios entertainment facebook page.
Visual and verbal gems from the marx brothers movies. The brothersleonard chico, adolpharthur harpo, julius groucho, milton gummo, and herbert zeppowere primarily comedians, but had musical and literary talents and successes, as well. Parents need to know that the marx brothers are the epitome of anarchy in duck soup. Film scholar leonard maltin had this to say in his book the great movie comedians. To show the posters, illustrations, and promotional artwork for the marx brothers in vaudeville, broadway, silent film attempts and cameos, and for all five of their paramount films. The marx brothers duck soup 1933 home movies duck soup. No matter what youre looking for or where you are in the world, our global marketplace of sellers can help you find unique and affordable options. The 4 marx brothers in duck soup the library of congress.
Thus they hooked up with irving thalberg at mgm who knew how to gentrify the marx brothers into mainstream box office. Hail, hail, euphoria presenting the marx brothers in duck soup. Duck soup 1933 is the movie most diehard marx brothers fans will name as their favorite marx brothers movie. Five of the marx brothers thirteen feature films were selected by the american film institute afi as among the top 100 comedy films, with two of them, duck soup 1933 and a night at the opera 1935, in the top fifteen. The anarchist film archive presents duck soup the marx brothers 1933, watch online now. Released theatrically by paramount pictures on november 17, 1933, it starred the four marx brothers groucho, harpo, chico, and zeppo and also featured margaret dumont, louis calhern, raquel torres and edgar. This month we discuss the year that the marx brothers didnt do anything besides lose zeppo.
The marx brothers at mgm page 2 classic horror film board. A sendup of politics and warmongering, duck soup is an anarchic collection of sight gags, wordplay, and surrealism in which groucho marx plays rufus t. Groucho marx, august 1950 by the time the marx brothers last movie, love happy, premiered in 1949, the brothers had been working on stage, screen and radio for nearly fifty years. The marx brothers were one of the most successful performing acts of the twentieth century. The 4 marx brothers in duck soup summary motion picture poster for duck soup showing the marx brothers looking up at a chorus line of dancers legs.
I dont think hitler had much in the way of funny bones, and after all these years, it is the marx brothers who are still loved, and the ideas and politics of fascism, are hated. First, while all of their films delight in taking potshots at figures of authority, duck soup is even more irreverent and more substantial in its satire in that it mocks. It is the last of the five films the brothers made for paramount pictures during their most creative and anarchic period. Home news biography movies today in marx history shop vaudeville radio tv quotes media files books on dvd on vhs. The marx brothers were the first comedians of cinema who could not have existed in the silent age. Zeppo was tired of being second banana and groucho simply wanted him to stick to his traditional role as the juvenile lead.
The reason i tell you the marx bros were jewish, is because there is an old jewish saying that says, humour is to be human. The cocoanuts animal crackers monkey business horse feathers duck soup. The lives and legends of the marx brothers by simon louvish. Which special ingredients make the marx brothers breakneck satire duck soup one of the very best comedies hollywood has produced. After finishing duck soup in late 1933, the team was without a studio contract, and in no hurry to make another filmin fact, they werent certain they wanted to remain in hollywood at all. After publication in a book they were performed with marx brothers impersonators for bbc radio. The marx brothers were an american family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Filled with jokes about tinpot dictators, the marx brothers 1933 film duck soup resonates with the politics of the time, but its the wonderful. We examine the internal and external forces which led. Duck soup interestingly was the brothers first financial loss. Apparently the marx brothers were over the moon when they received the news that duck soup had been banned in italy by benito mussolini since he believed the film to be making a. With groucho marx, harpo marx, chico marx, zeppo marx.