But really ... Karl was the funniest of them all: "Duck Soup"

I vaguely remember seeing this long ago, possibly when my dad insisted on inflicting classic comedies on his unsuspecting teen children. Not sure how much I appreciated it then. But given that this is consistently considered a four-star movie, I figured it was worth another shot, especially after I had TiVoed it two or three times previously in the past year or so yet never got around to it, even though it's a mere 70 minutes long.

Our story has the four Marx Brothers playing some very different roles with a unifying theme of not taking themselves too seriously. The country of Freedonia is a mess, and its greatest benefactor insists on Rufus T. Firefly, in the form of Groucho Marx, becoming its leader. Groucho's brother Zeppo is a military officer, while other brothers Chico and Harpo are spies for a rival country, Sylvania. (Great TVs, man.) Firefly acts all goofy, the spies screw up, and a comic war erupts. Ho ho ho!

Actually, it's not hard to see why this is considered a landmark comedy. It came out it 1933, and while I wasn't around during The Great Depression -- I've only gone back there in my time machine on occasion -- I can imagine this screwball stuff was some welcome relief.

And I have to believe it was one-of-a-kind stuff. Bear with me. First, let's get the easy labels for the Marx Bros. out of the way:

Groucho = cornball
Chico = Italian
Zeppo = straight man
Harpo = a$$hole

(Seriously, watch this and tell me Harpo isn't a total d!ck. Forgot the whole wide-eyed mute thing. A d!ck is a d!ck, no matter what you do or don't say.)

In their respective roles, each of these guys -- well, maybe not Zeppo -- goes all out. Hell, I'm thinking they were the Trey Parker and Matt Stone -- you know, the "South Park" guys -- of their day, with nothing off limits. I can see the relentlessness of Harpo and innuendoes of Groucho pushing the envelope, while other stuff -- I'm thinking the infamous mirror scene -- is just funny.

No question that some kids today would watch "Duck Soup" and think it's a bunch of silliness, and not in a good way. But you, know, at 70 minutes it's worth learning a little bit about the foundations of modern comedy, be it rampant sarcasm or clever sight gags. And hell, it's not like Clooney, Pitt or any other actor these days is willing to paint a mustache on himself.