15
Jul/13

SONG & DANCE: DUCK SOUP

15
Jul/13

The Marx Brothers classic DUCK SOUP holds a mirror to love and war in hysterical ways

SUMMER ON THE HUDSON — MOVIES UNDER THE STARS: DUCK SOUP (Leo McCarey, 1933)
Riverside Park South, Pier 1 at West 70th St.
Wednesday, July 17, free, 8:30
www.nycgovparks.org
www.marx-brothers.org

One of the wackiest films ever made, Duck Soup stars the Marx Brothers at their absolute best. Groucho is a riot as Rufus T. Firefly, the leader of the strange little country of Freedonia, which is prepared to go to war if necessary with its neighbor Sylvania, represented by blowhard ambassador Trentino (Louis Calhern), who has designs on wealthy Freedonian philanthropist Gloria Teasdale (Margaret Dumont). Meanwhile, spies Chicolini (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo) harass a street vendor (poor Edgar Kennedy), mock Firefly in front of a pseudo-mirror, and just have a jolly old time everywhere they go. But there’s more to the film than outrageous slapstick and wild and woolly quotes; there’s some very deft criticism of politics, government, and, most of all, war. Hail, hail, Freedonia! Duck Soup is screening in Riverside Park on July 17, preceded by viral videos, as part of the free “Summer on the Hudson: Movies under the Stars” series, the theme of which this year is “Song & Dance,” which continues with The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, Fiddler on the Roof, and the 1986 version of Little Shop of Horrors. For a day-by-day listing of free summer movie screenings in New York City, go here.