Number 142 on IMDb's Top 250
To rescue the small country of Freedonia from bankruptcy, Mrs. Teasdale agrees to donate 20 million dollars, but only if Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho Marx) is appointed its new president. Firefly is a cynical, sarcastic dictator who refuses to play politics by the book. For instance, he does reduce workers' hours~by shortening their lunch breaks! Firefly attempts to win the hand of Mrs. Teasdale, as does Ambassador Trentino of the neighboring country, Sylvania. Sylvanian spies (Chico and Harpo) harass Firefly. Hilarity ensues. When the two leaders cannot resolve their dispute over the wealthy dowager, war between the countries is declared, and Mrs. Teasdale's house comes under attack. Who will save the day?
Trivia: Shortly before this film premiered, the city of Fredonia, New York, complained about the use of its name with an additional "e". The Marx Brothers' response was: "Change the name of your town, it's hurting our picture." During the battle scene, Groucho wore five different uniforms: A Union soldiers uniform, a Confederate general's uniform, a boy scout troop leader's uniform, a Revolutionary War-era British general's uniform, and a Davy Crockett outfit. This film marks the last appearance of Zeppo Marx in a Marx Brothers film. Groucho Marx offered the following explanation for the movie's title: "Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you'll duck soup the rest of your life."
I finally got to see this after about a month of NetFlix having it listed as a very long wait. Many consider this the Marx Brothers best film. I have to disagree, I recently saw A Day At The Races and liked it better then this one. Don't get me wrong, this was a funny movie, just not their best. Groucho starts off the movie kind of stiff and his jokes sound forced, but he gets better as the movie progresses. This movie also has the famous mirror scene where Harpo, pretending to by Groucho, shatters a mirror and then takes over the mirror's job and plays Groucho's mirror image. Thanks Ken.
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