I’m not one to overstate the importance of things, so
believe me when I say that Duck Soup
changed my life. For some, a great life-changing moment occurs when they first
laid eyes on their spouse, or when their children were born, not me.
For me,
it was watching four middle-aged Jews act like fools in a movie that was nearly
as old as my grandmother.
Allow
me to set the scene:
I was a
youngster of about ten or so, visiting my father over Christmas vacation. He
was living in this lovely condo up in North Carolina. That year, Christmas was
all about Ninja Turtles (I got the sewer playset that year and if you don’t
know how friggin’ awesome that was, I pity you).
My
father had been doing a Groucho impression for a while, the stooped walk,
pantomiming a cigar, saying, “That’s the most ridiculous thing I ever hoid.”
(Not “heard” but “hoid,” my father’s attempt at Groucho’s voice.) It always
made me laugh when he did it, even though I had no idea who or what it was
supposed to be.
