Part of Weekend Classics
Freedonia’s newly appointed and woefully incompetent president/dictator Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho) mercilessly mocks benefactors, dignitaries and diplomats alike. Two inept spies (Chico, Harpo) from neighboring Sylvania infiltrate the inner ranks of Freedonia’s government as the ensuing chaos brings both countries to the brink of a frivolous war.
The Marx Brothers’ final feature in their five-picture deal with Paramount stands tall as the anarchic troupe’s crowning achievement — a hilariously farcical takedown of fascism, nationalism, war, and perhaps the very idea of government itself. If you doubt satire’s ability to speak truth to power, just ask Benito Mussolini, who banned the film in Italy — seeing it as a direct affront to his burgeoning regime. Hopefully, we can get away with showing it in 2026!
“The Marx Brothers in their greatest movie.” —Pauline Kael, New Yorker “The Four Marx Brothers — Groucho the Gabber, Harpo the Honker, Chico the Chiseler and Zeppo the Zero — were the wildest, most anarchically funny movie comedians of their era. (Of any era.) And this is the high water mark of their unique cinematic insanity: a ferocious satire on government, war and diplomacy that leaves no propriety or pretension unpricked, no sacred cow unslaughtered.” —Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune “This 70-minute movie is the most startling, breakneck comedy of the Marx Brothers' career... Next to Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR, this is the purest satire of dictatorship on film.” —John Doyle, Globe and Mail (Toronto) “The Marx Brothers created a body of work in which individual films are like slices from the whole, but DUCK SOUP(1933) is probably the best. It represents a turning point in their movie work; it was their last film for Paramount, and the last in which all of the scenes directly involved the brothers.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (Jul 9, 2000)
