This evening I went to a showing at Cornell Cinema of the Marx brothers’ film “Duck Soup” from 1933. While I had heard about the Marx brothers in multiple history and film classes I’ve taken at Cornell, I had actually never seen even a clip from one of their movies, so I saw this event as a good opportunity to expand my cultural literacy.

At first I was somewhat surprised by the structure of the film and its style of humor. I’d read online that the plot involved Groucho becoming the dictator of a fictitious country, so I was expecting a type of political satire along the lines of Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator.” Instead the film’s actual plot was very limited and most of the humor revolved around puns and one line jokes with an occasional silent slapstick routine. Initially I wasn’t sure I was going to find it that entertaining, but by the middle of the film I had definitely changed my mind. One of my favorite scenes involved Harpo accidently turning on a radio while attempting to break into a safe. The scene went on for several minutes without any dialogue, but it was actually one of funniest skits I’ve seen in a while.

All in all, I really enjoyed the film once I got used to the style of humor. It was nice way to unwind after a long day of studying and if Cornell Cinema ever shows another one of the Marx brothers’ films I will definitely plan on going.