Their time on film seemed as though it had may have run its course: their gags weren’t holding up anymore, and as performers not particularly adept at directing or writing, Marx trademark mischief was all they had. Chico and Groucho spent time on the radio, while Harpo expatriated himself to the Soviet Union for a time. The Marx brothers temporarily went their own ways following its release. Viewers lauded its political sentiments and timing during The Great Depression and it yielded a lukewarm reception. But Duck Soup wasn’t a huge hit at the time of its release. The pictures were chaotic and anarchic, full of wild vaudevillian mischief and crass humor. Paramount didn’t tell them what to do, or work with them to conform to any specific artistic structure. There are those that feel the Marx Brothers’ films at Paramount are the ones that best represent the comedy family in their honest form. Where Duck Soup saw the end of the brothers’ partnership with Paramount Pictures (they made five films with the studio), it was also the final entry containing Zeppo, the fourth Marx who would retire the act after Duck Soup and continue his career as an incredibly successful theatrical agent and engineer (he basically invented the first FitBit in the late ‘60s). Both find their place on countless cinema scholars “Top 10” lists, especially in the comedy genre. The debate between the two stems from many reasons- Duck Soup is arguably the brothers’ funniest picture, yet A Night at the Opera is their most famous. Critics usually contend the greatest Marx Brothers film to be either Duck Soup (1931) or A Night at the Opera (1935). ![]()
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