Duck Soup - Edits and Trivia.

 

The Edits.

 

-         The film was originally called Cracked Ice, but this was thought to draw too much attention to the growing political tension between Russia and the U.S.A., and the name was dropped after the second draft.

-         This was the first Marx Brothers film to entirely excise the piano and harp solos performed by Chico and Harpo respectively. The studio was still clamouring for a “style” to the picture however, which is why it contains two songs (Pop Goes the Weasel and To War!)

-         There are two more political edits in the film, the first being the exclusion of a scene mentioning Firefly’s job before becoming president as a traveling ammunition salesman. In this scene, Firefly confesses that he wants to start the war to drum up trade for himself.

-         The second is the removal of the end of the song “We got guns”. The song was sung by the ensemble choir of the Freedonian people (the “guests” in Pop goes the Weasel, and the onlookers at the court in To War!). The song begins in To War! and contains the lines “We got guns. They got guns. All God’s chillun got guns”

 

 

Trivia.

 

-         At 68 or 70 minutes (with the unedited To War!), the film is the second shortest of the Marx Brother’s films after Horse Feathers (1932) at 66 minutes.

-         Duck Soup was the fifth largest grossing film in America of 1933.

-          By this point in their careers, all of the Marx brothers were on such bad terms that they refused to travel together and often did not turn up to rehearsals when they were supposed to.  All of the brothers were reknowned for their drinking, their gambling and their womanizing. This also took it’s toll on the time taken to produce the film.

-         An indication of this is the tiny part played by Zeppo (Bob, Firefly’s aide). Zeppo was becoming increasingly unhappy with having to play straight parts, and the studios were also keen to replace him with more famous male leads. This was the last time he appeared in a Marx Brothers film.

-         Harpo had just visited Germany before the film was shot, and was already concerned by Hitler’s treatment of the Jews. Again is another consideration in the anti-war sentiments of the film.

-         The film was banned in Italy by Mussolini.

-           Francois Truffaut claimed this and Shoulder Arms were the only valid anti-war films of the era, because the atmosphere of each steadfastly refused to take war seriously.

-         The scene in which Chicolini, Pinky and the Peanut vendor argue is a close parallel to the major plot; showing how neighbours with apparently no aggressive intentions can be drawn into conflict. As with the Freedonia/Slyvania war, the fight is entirely orchestrated by the Marx Brothers for no real reason.

-         In every shot of the last scene, Groucho wears a different army uniform. None of these are First World War uniforms.

-         Margaret Dumont had not been in the previous film, but was by now an established part of the ensemble cast as the “straight” foil to the brothers. Groucho always maintained that the reason she was so perfect in these roles was that she never really understood the films. She was a classically trained actress/opera singer, and her performances are always melodramatic and extremely static. The brother’s frequent ad-libbing confused her, and this can often be seen in the hesitation before she delivers her lines. She was also extremely uncomfortable with physical contact, hence the jokes in the films where Harpo offers her his leg. This lack of poise can be seen in Animal Crackers, where at one point she seems to completely lose her temper and shoves Harpo away from her. This was a moot point however, and possibly just another of Groucho’s endless lies. When Margaret Dumont and Groucho re-enacted a scene from Animal Crackers on the television programme The Hollywood Palace in 1965, Dumont was unable to keep a straight face throughout the performance. In The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia (1996), Mitchell concludes that “It is quite possible that Margaret Dumont had succeeded in putting one over on Groucho, who genuinely believed her to be without humour” (p.88).

          

Hail Freedonia! (Duck Soup main page), The Plot, The Script, The Pictures, The Sounds,

          The Song, Go, and Never Darken My Towels Again!