MovieChat Forums > Duck Soup (1933) Discussion > Why did they call this movie Duck Soup?

Why did they call this movie Duck Soup?


I know they have ducks in a boiling pot at the beginning of the movie but is there any reason to why they named it duck soup?

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Quoted From filmsite.org:

Why the title Duck Soup? [Earlier in 1927, director Leo McCarey had made a two-reel Laurel and Hardy film with the same title - and he borrowed the title from there.] The film's title uses a familiar American phrase that means anything simple or easy, or alternately, a gullible sucker or pushover. Under the opening credits, four quacking ducks (the four Marx Brothers) are seen swimming and cooking in a kettle over a fire. Groucho reportedly provided the following recipe to explain the title: "Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you'll duck soup for the rest of your life."

Hope that it helps

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Haha! that explanation is characteristically brilliant.


I'm the smartest guy around: http://meonvarioustopics.blogspot.com

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LOL

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[deleted]

They called it Duck Soup so as not to offend chickens in the audience.

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I think the real question is: Why did they name duck soup after this movie?

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Here's the real question (and Chico will support me on this): Why a duck?

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Anyone ever eat duck blood soup? Try the Polish variety, called czernina. Haven't had it for years. Yes, you actually use duck blood stirred into clear poultry broth, add noodles, raisins, nuts, vinegar and sugar.
"We're fighting for this woman's honor, which is more than she ever did."

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Now here is a little peninsula and here is a viaduct leading over to the mainland.

Why a duck?

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I think that's why.

This post is basically pro humanity and anti bad things.

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Because "Gone With The Wind" was already on hold for 1939.

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Their titles could be totally whimsical, for example, Horsefeathers or I'll Say She Is. Their comedy had little to do with topics or stories and was mostly about stock characters getting off lines and gags. So the main goal was of a title was to connote "this is going to be something funny and zany".

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I agree. Comedies very often give a title that sounds good but with no meaning. I think there was a 'duck soup' buzz phrase in the 1920s/1930 meaning much the same as 'no problem' is used today. Meaning something or somebody easy to shake off.

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Yeah, and uh, if the title was meaningful, that was probably a mistake! :) Some of the later titles needed to be meaningful because the movies themselves were not that funny, for example, The Big Store.

Btw., baseball people often use the term "can of corn" to denote an easy play. Seems similar.

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