Duck Soup (1927 film)

This article is about the Laurel and Hardy film. For the Marx Brothers film, see Duck Soup (1933 film). For other uses, see Duck soup (disambiguation) .

Duck Soup
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Fred Guiol
Produced by	Hal Roach
Written by	H.M. Walker Arthur J. Jefferson (play)
Starring	Stan Laurel Oliver Hardy
Distributed by	Pathé Exchange Inc.
Release date(s)	March 13, 1927 (1927-03-13)
Running time	20 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent film English intertitles

Duck Soup (1927) is a Laurel and Hardy short silent film produced by Hal Roach Studios.

Production background

Duck Soup was considered a lost film for nearly fifty years, until a print was discovered in 1974. It was previously thought by film scholars that the comedians barely shared any scenes, if any, but in fact they appear as a team throughout the entire picture, albeit rather primitively, dressed in tramp costuming, with Hardy sporting an unshaven chin and top hat. In the next few films, Laurel and Hardy were together as separate performers and not working as a double act, before their potential as a team was used again, notably in Do Detectives Think? (1927), another Hal Roach two-reeler.

The film was directed by Fred Guiol. However, the more important contribution was by the films' supervising director, Leo McCarey, who probably more than anyone else at Roach saw the greatest possibilities for Laurel and Hardy as a comedy team. McCarey later used the same title for the classic Marx Brothers film, Duck Soup, which he directed for Paramount Pictures in 1933. The sketch on which the film was based was written by Stan Laurel's father, Arthur J. Jefferson.

Duck Soup was remade as Another Fine Mess (1930).

Plot

Fleeing a group of forest rangers, who are rounding up tramps to serve as firefighters, they take refuge in a mansion. The owner has gone on vacation and the servants are away, so Hardy pretends to be the owner and offers to rent the house to an English couple. Hardy gets Laurel to pose as the maid. Unfortunately, the owner returns and tells the would-be renters that he owns the house. Laurel and Hardy then flee again and are caught by the rangers and forced to fight wildfires.

Cast

• Stan Laurel
• Oliver Hardy
• James A. Marcus
• Stuart Holmes
• William Austin
• Madeline Hurlock
• Bob Kortman
• William Courtright

References

External links

• Duck Soup at the Internet Movie Database
• Duck Soup at AllRovi
• Duck Soup at Rotten Tomatoes