Great Moments From Cinema - 22

Marxism’s
Movie: Duck Soup (Paramount Pictures; 1933)
Director: Leo McCarey
Screenplay: Burt Kalmar, Harry Ruby, Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin
Major Cast: The Marx Brothers: Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo

Film Synopsis: Groucho plays a cynical dictator of Freedonia who chases a rich heiress and wages war against the neighboring Sylvania. Chico and Harpo are Sylvanian spies send to obtain state secrets. Sounds dramatic? Dictatorship and war have never been this crazy.

My Favorite Moment: The mirror pantomime sequence involving Groucho and Harpo.

Why I Like It: How does one describe the plot of a Marx brother’s movie? What really works the most is the method rather than any coherent structure. Sure there is a storyline, but most of the times it is the improvisations which run the show. Especially if it happens to be a zany sequence involving Harpo or a dialogue exchange between Groucho and Chico. The rest all is just a background that keeps changing.

In this scene Harpo dressed as Groucho, complete with the grease-paint moustache, comes to steal some papers in the middle of the night. In trying to avoid being caught by Groucho, he breaks a mirror and when spotted by Groucho, pretends to be his reflection. What follows is a classic display of comic timing. Groucho suspects something is amiss and tries to do some crazy things in front of the ‘mirror’. Harpo is equal to the task and is able to replicate Groucho’s over-the-top body movements and nuances. The scene reaches a hilarious conclusion when Chico, who is also disguised as Groucho, joins the fun.

Marx brother’s movies, some of them including their much subdued 4th brother Zeppo, are a demonstration of the mayhem that actors can cause on screen and in the process, get away with it. The scene where Chico and Harpo harass a street salesman by constantly changing hats between themselves and his own, is not just slapstick, but also genius in its execution which is spot-on. Groucho dialogue delivery is sharp as ever and his timing is just amazing. His habit of talking directly to the camera and poking fun at himself is legendary and which seldom works when others try to duplicate it

The movie was anarchic for its time and failed at the box-office. But there is no denying its brilliance, which has stood the test of time. India’s own Ganguly brothers are the one of the few teams to successfully recreate the magic of the Marx’s. On close observation, one can see how Kishore’s mannerisms seem inspired by Groucho’s acting. Chaplin for me remains the best actor-comedian and an irreplaceable legend. But has there ever been a more comic actor than Groucho?