An anti-war film of a very different stripe, Duck Soup "is the most zanily absurdist and the funniest of the Marx Brothers movies. As an ensemble act drawing upon the full weaponry of vaudeville humor, the Brothers Marx unleash a comic anarchy that for once reduces kingdoms to shambles as they romp down corridors of palace power, through the halls of justice, and onto the final Armageddon of a crazy battlefield. Duck Soup is also the ultimate Groucho vehicle, a con man's fantasia, and he is able to change moods, scenes, and storylines at the drop of a thin dime. Much of the slapstick, including Harpo's inexorable destruction of Edgar Kennedy's vending cart, evokes the chain-reaction savagery of Laurel and Hardy and the shock of a Sennett custard pie in the face. But there are also inexplicable Dadaist insertions, like Harpo's diversion to a bathtub during a Paul Revere ride, and time for moments of grace, such as the Chaplinesque classic mirror sequence with its mimetic split-second timing. At their best, the boys cornered all the big laughs of the golden age of silent comedy and dressed them up for the talking era. And Duck Soup is their best." Andrew Sarris, Tom Allen, Village Voice