What was the name of the fictional country in the Marx Brothers film 'Duck Soup'?
"Jordan Weisman Jordan Weisman is an American game designer, author, and serial entrepreneur who has founded five game design companies, each in a different game genre and segment of the industry. Weisman graduated from Francis W. Parker High School, in Chicago, Illinois. He went to the Merchant Marine Academy and briefly attended University of Illinois at Chicago, before leaving school to pursue his business interests. In 1980, Weisman founded role playing game publisher FASA Corporation (short for the Freedonia Aeronautics & Space Administration, named after the fictional country in the Marx Brothers film ""Duck Soup"") with partner L. Ross Babcock."
"was the first attempt by Anglo settlers in Texas to secede from Mexico and form an independent state. The republic was short-lived however, lasting only from December 21, 1826 – January 23, 1827 when Mexican soldiers and Anglo militia men from Stephen F. Austin's colony put the rebellion down. In the Marx Brother's film ""Duck Soup"", the tiny fictitious county of Freedonia (""Land of the Brave, and Free"") is suffering from severe financial problems and government leaders request a loan from wealthy widow Mrs. Teasdale to keep things afloat. The widow agrees on the condition that Rufus T. Firefly, played"
"Marx Brothers film ""Duck Soup"" (1933) is set in a bankrupt Freedonia. Antal Szerb's ""Oliver VII"" (1943) features a monarch of a fictional Central European state who plots a coup against himself and then flees to Venice in order to experience the life of an ordinary person. In the satire ""The Mouse That Roared"" (1955), the Duchy of Grand Fenwick attempts to avoid bankruptcy by declaring war on the United States as a ploy for gaining American aid. In Vladimir Nabokov's ""Pale Fire"" (1962), the main narrator has the delusion of being the incognito king of a ""distant northern land"""
"Duck Soup (1933 film) Duck Soup is a 1933 pre-Code Marx Brothers comedy film written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, with additional dialogue by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin, and directed by Leo McCarey. First released theatrically by Paramount Pictures on November 17, 1933, it starred what were then billed as the ""Four Marx Brothers"" (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo) and also featured Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Raquel Torres and Edgar Kennedy. It was the last Marx Brothers film to feature Zeppo, and the last of five Marx Brothers movies released by Paramount Pictures. Compared to the Marx Brothers'"
"also the Brothers' other Paramount films, ""The Cocoanuts"", ""Animal Crackers"", ""Monkey Business"", and ""Horse Feathers"". Reviewing the set, film critic Mark Bourne writes: Duck Soup (1933 film) Duck Soup is a 1933 pre-Code Marx Brothers comedy film written by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, with additional dialogue by Arthur Sheekman and Nat Perrin, and directed by Leo McCarey. First released theatrically by Paramount Pictures on November 17, 1933, it starred what were then billed as the ""Four Marx Brothers"" (Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo) and also featured Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern, Raquel Torres and Edgar Kennedy. It was the last"
"approach, telling them to change the name of their town to keep from hurting their movie. Despite the tepid critical response at the time, ""Duck Soup"" is now seen as a classic political farce. Film critic Danel Griffin believes that ""Duck Soup"" is ""on par with other war comedies like Chaplin's ""The Great Dictator"" and Kubrick's ""Dr. Strangelove"", only slightly more unnerving in that ""Duck Soup"" doesn't seem to realize it is anything more than innocent fluff."" Fellow film critic Roger Ebert believed, ""The Marx Brothers created a body of work in which individual films are like slices from the"
"fixed. In February, Paramount announced that the title had been changed to ""Grasshoppers"" (""because animal stories are so popular""), and that filming was set back to February 20. However, on May 11, 1933, the Marx Brothers' father Sam ""Frenchie"" Marx died in Los Angeles, and shortly afterward the contract dispute with Paramount was settled. The ""New York Post"" reported on May 17 that the Brothers would make a new comedy for Paramount, called ""Duck Soup"". Leo McCarey was set for direction of the film. Three days later ""The New York Sun"" reported that ""Duck Soup"" would start filming in June."
"was called ""Duck Soup."" Why a Duck? ""Why a Duck?"" is a comedy routine featured in the Marx Brothers movie ""The Cocoanuts"" (1929). In a scene in which Groucho and Chico are discussing a map, Groucho mentions the presence of a viaduct between the mainland and a peninsula. Chico, who is playing the role of an immigrant with poor English skills, replies ""Why a duck?"" This leads into a long schtick with Chico responding ""Why a no chicken?"", ""I catch ona why a horse"", and so forth. ""Why a Duck?"" is a touchstone scene for Marx Brothers fans, as evidenced"
"post-Soviet world. C.J., being briefed by Sam on a number of countries she has to mention as possible new candidates for NATO membership, wonders why Freedonia's being left out of the mix. She goes on to reference Groucho Marx by singing ""Hooray for Captain Spaulding"" (which was his character in Animal Crackers) under her breath. When upbraided by Toby for not taking the briefing seriously, she asks why her attempt at humor is less valid than Sam's or his. Toby responds that he's heard her joke before, implying that he's seen ""Duck Soup"". Determined that her Marx Brothers references be"
"so that tests could be carried out to determine whether the material spilt was dangerous. The Lords accepted that a significant number of people were disadvantaged by the closure of the sorting office and the loss of delivery on that day, but held that the appellant did not have the appropriate ""mens rea"" because he did not know or reasonably should have known (because the means of knowledge were available to him) that the salt would escape in the sorting office or in the course of postal delivery. In the Marx Brothers film ""Duck Soup"", Groucho Marx plays the president"
"and is also the only scene in the film that has anything remotely to do with ducks or soup. Popular belief holds that ""Duck Soup"" was a box office failure, but this is not true. Although it did not do as well as ""Horse Feathers"", it was the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1933, according to Glenn Mitchell in ""The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia"" and Simon Louvish in ""Monkey Business"", his biography of the Marx Brothers. However the film was a box office disappointment for Paramount. One possible reason for the film's lukewarm reception is that it was released during the Great Depression."
"""Duck Soup"", with Lucy dressed up as Harpo. Lucy had worked with the Marxes when she appeared in a supporting role in an earlier Marx Brothers film, ""Room Service"". Chico once appeared on ""I've Got a Secret"" dressed up as Harpo; his secret was shown in a caption reading, ""I'm pretending to be Harpo Marx (I'm Chico)"". The Marx Brothers were spoofed in the second act of the Broadway Review ""A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine"". In the 1989 film ""Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"", Professor Henry Jones (Sean Connery) mails his diary to his son Indiana"
"a dairy farmer in Chiunga Center, New York when the radio announces that Soviet and Chinese forces have overrun the Canadian-American line at El Paso, Texas. The last American naval forces were destroyed three months earlier but the news had been kept secret. The Communist armies destroy in Los Alamos, New Mexico the incomplete ""Yankee Doodle"", a satellite capable of dropping hydrogen bombs from orbit that are impossible to shoot down. The President surrenders to the Communists, who over the next several months divide the United States at the Mississippi River, and together form the North American People's Democratic Republic."
"Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) as among the top 100 comedy films, with two of them (""Duck Soup"" and ""A Night at the Opera"") in the top twelve. They are widely considered by critics, scholars, and fans to be among the greatest and most influential comedians of the 20th century. The brothers were included in AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars list of the 25"
"Code"" (2007), the Doctor claims his companion Martha Jones is from Freedonia. He also claims this in the ""Doctor Who"" novel ""Sting of the Zygons"" (2007). Although the usage may be intended simply as a plausible name for a country of which the listener (William Shakespeare in the former case) has not heard, it is specifically linked to ""Duck Soup"" in at least one official reference work. The primary world in a Minecraft game server located at MinecraftOnline (2010). In the film Despicable Me 3 (2017), Gru's brother Dru lives in Freedonia.. ""Freedonia"" is sometimes used in political editorials and"
"described Irving Thalberg's assessment of the film's purported failure during a National Public Radio interview: [Thalberg] said the trouble with ""Duck Soup"" is you've got funny gags in it, but there's no story and there's nothing to root for. You can't root for the Marx Brothers because they're a bunch of zany kooks. [Thalberg] says, ""You gotta put a love story in your movie so there'll be something to root for, and you have to help the lovers get together."" Most critics at the time disliked it because of its ""dated"" look at politics. Some modern critics are also unimpressed."
"An example is the fictional country of Betonia in ""His Royal Highness"", which predates satirical depictions of fictional nations in such celebrated films as The Marx Brothers' ""Duck Soup"" (1933) and Charles Chaplin's ""The Great Dictator"" (1940). Other aspects of Wallace's films that are relatively unusual for the period are the comedic treatment of haunted houses in ""Harmony Row"" and ""Gone to the Dogs"" and scientific experimentation in ""Gone to the Dogs"", which emphasize the resourcefulness of Australian filmmaking in the face of Hollywood's international dominance. George Wallace's transition from stage to screen parallels the career progressions of many internationally"
"Pottsylvania Pottsylvania is a fictional country that appeared in the television series ""Rocky and His Friends"" and ""The Bullwinkle Show"", collectively referred to as ""Rocky and Bullwinkle"". Pottsylvania is a parody of a Cold War-era eastern European country (possibly intended as a satire on East Germany: Pottsylvanian characters often use German words, and the Iron Cross can be seen on military aircraft). It was noted for being a nation dedicated to all matters related to espionage and deceitfulness; children were taught in schools how to commit crimes, for instance, while casual conversations would have double meanings. Populated entirely by government"
"Duck, You Sucker! Duck, You Sucker! (, lit. ""Duck Your Head""), also known as A Fistful of Dynamite and Once Upon a Time… the Revolution, is a 1971 Italian epic Zapata Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Leone and starring Rod Steiger, James Coburn and Romolo Valli. Set during the Mexico Revolution of the 1910s, the film tells the story of Juan Miranda, an amoral Mexican outlaw, and John Mallory, an ex-Irish Republican Army revolutionary. After they accidentally meet under less-than-friendly circumstances, Juan and John involuntarily become heroes of the Revolution despite being forced to make heavy sacrifices. It"
"technology also would have crippled Canada and Mexico, a minor character says that he and his wife fled East Germany for the United States and remarked that ""the promised land [had] become worse than what [they] left"", and Denisov says at one point that ""we control most of the world""). In this new world, Fidel Castro heads what is now called ""Greater Cuba"", embracing most of the Caribbean and Latin America, and Taiwan has been absorbed into China. North Korea has conquered and occupied South Korea and Korea is united under Communist rule. A politician named ""Mbele"" heads the ""Socialist"
"Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic film character actor, known as ""Slow Burn"". A slow burn is an exasperated facial expression, performed very deliberately; Kennedy embellished this by rubbing his hand over his bald head and across his face, in an attempt to hold his temper. Kennedy is best known for a small role as a lemonade vendor in the Marx Brothers film ""Duck Soup"", as well as the many Hal Roach films he appeared in. Kennedy was born on April 26, 1890, in Monterey County, California, to Canadians Neil"
"the United States has turned into a dystopia ruled by the oppressive Great Northern Empire of the Americas. The only resemblance to entertainment that exists is the electronic noise of the Noise Machines (NOMACS). The empire is ruled by Emperor Nafaryus, Empress Arabelle, Crown Prince Daryus, and Princess Faythe. In a distant village called Ravenskill, a man named Gabriel possesses the natural ability to make music and sing (""The Gift of Music""). He has an older brother, Commander Arhys of the Ravenskill Rebel Militia, who has a son, Xander, with his deceased wife, Evangeline (""A Better Life""). Nafaryus hears a"
"on the ""ethnic cleansing"" in Freedonia, without their realizing that Freedonia was a fictional country. Nick Smith urged caution; James Talent supported action; Jay Inslee warned that inaction would be unacceptable. The story drew commentary elsewhere. ""Duck Soup"" is used as in-joke amongst characters portrayed as knowledgeable about the film in a Season 3 2001-2002 episode of ""The West Wing"", while another episode in Season 6 (2004-2005) recalls the general plot details of ""Duck Soup"". In ""Enemies Foreign and Domestic"", C.J. Cregg, Sam Seaborn, and Toby Ziegler are discussing the relevancy of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in a"
"decried by various film historians and critics and was named the 65th scariest film ever made by the Chicago Film Critics Association in 2006. It is also the subject of an entry in ""The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural"" (1986). The film is separated into four segments with intertitles, based on ""Dante's ""Divine Comedy"": In 1944 in the Republic of Salò, the Fascist-occupied portion of Italy, four wealthy men of power, the Duke, the Bishop, the Magistrate and the President, agree to marry each other's daughters as the first step in a debauched ritual. They rule that when"
"whole, but ""Duck Soup"" is probably the best."" British film critic Barry Norman was slightly cautious about the Marx Brothers overall, but considered ""Duck Soup"" their best and included it in his 100 best films of the 20th century. Revived interest in the film (and other 1930s comedies in general) during the 1960s was seen as dovetailing with the rebellious side of American culture in that decade. American literary critic Harold Bloom considers the end of ""Duck Soup"" one of the greatest works of American art produced in the 20th century. In 1990, ""Duck Soup"" was selected for preservation in"
"the Marx Brothers, with Davison Clark playing Mr. Lee, Theatrical Producer, which was intended to promote their forthcoming 1931 film ""Monkey Business"" (Clark later played the role of the frustrated Passport Official in ""Monkey Business"" and would also appear in the war scene in ""Duck Soup""). The segment, containing material which was never included in any other Marx Brothers film, is a re-working of the first scene of their first successful Broadway revue ""I'll Say She Is"" (1924), which Groucho considered to have been the funniest work in the Brothers' career. Except for a few name changes and additional gags,"
"country on a mission of turning everyone into cannibals much like him. However, before any of the Washingtonians can do harm to Mike and his family, Harkinson and a team of FBI agents break in and kill all of the Washingtonians. Harkinson returns the letter to Mike and asks him to expose the truth to the whole world. In the epilogue, which takes place six months later, the Franks have become vegetarians and to their shock Washington's face on the United States one-dollar bill is replaced with that of George W. Bush. The ""Masters of Horror"" episode was played in"
"despairs that his life is meaningless. His existential crisis leads to unsatisfying experiments with religious conversion to Catholicism and an interest in Krishna Consciousness. Ultimately, a suicide attempt leads him to find meaning in his life after unexpectedly viewing the Marx Brothers' ""Duck Soup"" in a movie theater. The revelation that life should be enjoyed, rather than understood, helps to prepare him for a second date with Holly, which this time blossoms into love. Holly's story is the film's third main arc. A former cocaine addict, she is an unsuccessful actress who cannot settle on a career. After borrowing money"
"The Bizarre Country The Bizarre Country () is a 1988 former Yugoslav drama/fantasy film based on the satirical novellas ""Stradija"" and ""Danga"", written by Serbian writer Radoje Domanović. A man dies in a foreign land. On his deathbed he asks his son to bury his bones in his fatherland, a country of brave and honest people, a country of tragic but heroic past. His son wanders the world unsuccessfully looking for his father's home. He eventually finds the country in which people speak in his father's language, but everything else is absurd and unbelievable and does not fit his father's"
"Duck Soup (1927 film) Duck Soup is a silent comedy short film starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy prior to their official billing as the duo Laurel and Hardy. The team appeared in a total of 107 films between 1921 and 1951. Fleeing a group of forest rangers, who are rounding up tramps to serve as firefighters, Laurel and Hardy 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"
"who lives with the local people, comes to understand their needs, and offers genuinely useful assistance with small-scale projects such as the development of a simple bicycle-powered water pump. The novel takes place in a fictional nation called Sarkhan (an imaginary country in Southeast Asia that somewhat resembles Burma or Thailand, but which is meant to allude to Vietnam) and includes several real people, most of whose names have been changed. The book describes the United States' losing struggle against Communism due to the ineptness and bungling of the U.S. diplomatic corps stemming from innate arrogance and their failure to"
"Grandma Duck's Farm and a statue of Cornelius Coot, though it was more of a rural town than a burgeoning metropolis. The connection to Duckburg was removed as the land was renovated in 1996 to become Mickey's Toontown Fair. However, the Cornelius Coot statue remains. Duckburg is the fictional city, located in the fictional U.S. state of Calisota, that serves as the home of Donald Duck; Scrooge McDuck; Huey, Dewey, and Louie; Daisy Duck and most of their supporting cast. Duckburg was first mentioned in ""Walt Disney's Comics and Stories"" #49 in 1944, and was created by Carl Barks. The"
"the entire population of South Carolina. Finally the Confederate Army reaches Washington, D.C.. The army demands the Confederate States of America to be a separate country and blackmail President Clinton by threatening to release a (bluff) video of him with Marisa Tomei. Grandpa, realizing that the drunken men still think that the entire campaign is a reenactment, gets Stan and Kyle dressed up as Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln, just in time to prevent President Clinton from signing the surrender, with the added condition that the South receive a free year's supply of Schnapps. The entire army breaks up happily"