DUCK SOUP (1933) Someone explain why this is meant to be good?

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Haven't watched the Marx Brothers in years. But Groucho was a master and even at his old age could get laughs.

[Darrell D.]

Duck Soup, as others have stated, is vaudeville, and The Marx Brothers doing the bits they did on stage for the big screen.
But, for me, the bits are so well done, and mesh so well with the rest of the super thin plot, that it has a flow that is just perfect.
Groucho being in a position of authority, and yet still being able to poke holes in the other authority figure's sense of superiority was well played, and the bit with Chico, Harpo and the lemonade stand guy always makes me laugh.
I don't know, it's hard to describe the appeal; it's the same way that I will laugh my ass off at a Curly or Shemp Three Stooges short, and none of my past girlfriends or wives ever could.

[Slam_Bradley]

Haven't watched the Marx Brothers in years. But Groucho was a master and even at his old age could get laughs.

Groucho was bitingly funny in his dotage. Watch clips of him on the Dick Cavett show and try not to laugh.

[Angilas-Man]

I love the Marx Brothers. Even their lesser films have great bits in them, but the five film run from Monkey Business to A Day at the Races (including Duck Soup) is perfect. I can watch those over and over. Why are they funny? Why is Duck Soup funny? I dunno. All I know is that when I watch it I laugh and am otherwise delighted by everything about the movie.

The Marxes are my favorite, but my second favorite of the classic comedians is Buster Keaton. Buster's silent films are brilliant. My third: Laurel and Hardy, even though I think they were rarely in films as good as they are.

[Phil Clark]

It took you 14 minutes to write that?

What can I say, genius takes time.
Actually, I was at work and got called away from the keyboard to deal with a computer issue, then got back to it.

[Serik]

Groucho Marx was, for my money, the funniest man who ever lived.

Agreed. I've spent more time than I care to admit watching YouTube clips of Groucho on ye olde gameshows and talk shows.

[Kirayoshi]

Duck Soup, as others have stated, is vaudeville, and The Marx Brothers doing the bits they did on stage for the big screen.
But, for me, the bits are so well done, and mesh so well with the rest of the super thin plot, that it has a flow that is just perfect.
Groucho being in a position of authority, and yet still being able to poke holes in the other authority figure's sense of superiority was well played, and the bit with Chico, Harpo and the lemonade stand guy always makes me laugh.
I don't know, it's hard to describe the appeal; it's the same way that I will laugh my ass off at a Curly or Shemp Three Stooges short, and none of my past girlfriends or wives ever could.

Agreed for the most part. I was never a Three Stooges fan, and I will not disparage those who are; you love The Three Stooges, enjoy!

For me, it's the mix of vaudeville hijinx(Chico and Harpo) and rapid-fire blink-and-you-miss-em one-liners(Groucho). Vaudeville all the way, but vaudeville done right. In the case of "Duck Soup", there's also a bit of political satire thrown in, with Groucho as the egotistical, self-serving ruler of Freedonia, gleefully singing, "If you think this country's bad off now just wait 'til I get through with it!" and calling for war on the flimsiest of pretext(I'm half-convinced that if you presented the script as-is to a modern filmmaker who hadn't seen the original movie, they'd think you were trying to pitch a satire of George W. Bush's administration).

Another thing I liked about the Marx Bros(again, your mileage may vary) was that their anarchy was sometimes leavened by the civilizing influence of music; Chico was a skilled pianist, Harpo played harp(duh!), Zeppo sang and Groucho on at least one occasion played guitar. Oddly, this civilizing influence is missing in "Duck Soup"; there's no romance subplot, so no excuse for Zeppo to belt out a love song like "Everyone Says I Love You". The only musical numbers are pure comedy; two introducing Rufus T. Firefly and setting up his administration, and one later when Freedonia and Sylvania declare war. Because of this, I think that "Duck Soup" was the Marx Bros' most all-out comedy.