Duck Soup Leo McCarey

"I've always been on the fence about this one. In my write-up, of course, I argue that even if the Marxes didn't intend any deeper significance, one still exists that its longevity has created. And of course, it's impossible to tell when Groucho is being sarcastic and when he isn't. But that he communicated with T. S. Eliot, Antonin Artaud, Dalí, etc., all who praised the Brothers' work, means that he was at least aware of the various readings of the film, and he engaged them on some level. I suspect that his outspoken opinion of Duck Soup simply changed over time. While the Brothers were still active, they were infamously embarrassed by the Paramount films—hard to believe it, but there was a time when the Thalberg collaborations were actually considered better. Perhaps the "four Jews trying to get a laugh" comment was a dismissive one he made towards that era in general. Towards the end of his lifetime, critics reexamined the Paramounts and embraced them, and perhaps this gave Groucho incentive to finally admit that the film indeed was an intentional, biting satire. But who knows? Part of the charm of the Marx Brothers is that it's impossible to know where they're channeling.