
Duck Soup. 1933. USA. Directed by Leo McCarey. Screenplay by Bert Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Arthur Sheekman, Nat Perrin. With The Marx Brothers, Margaret Dumont. 68 min.
Considered to be the purest distillation of the Marx Brothers on film (no piano or harp solos), Duck Soup was a picture McCarey actively tried to avoid doing. Determined to be more than a traffic cop for the mad Marxes, McCarey used a strong hand that can be seen in Harpo and Chico’s tit-for-tats with Edgar Kennedy, and in the classic “mirror routine.”