Classic comedy sharing the bill

The double bill which plays at the Curzon Cinema next Wednesday, January 27, as a presentation by the Eastbourne Film Society is described as a celebration.
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Jan 2016, 10:43 BST
Duck Soup, the highly acclaimed film by The Marx Brothers SUS-160118-103514001Duck Soup, the highly acclaimed film by The Marx Brothers SUS-160118-103514001
Duck Soup, the highly acclaimed film by The Marx Brothers SUS-160118-103514001

As ever, seats are available for the public and the programme offers a total contrast to the more sombre films included in the present season.

Top of the bill is the classic comedy from 1933 Duck Soup now widely regarded as the finest movie ever made by the Marx Brothers. Showing in a new print, this comedy reissue will most certainly be welcomed by all those who love the Marx Brothers and not least because their finest foil, the marvellous Margaret Dumont as Mrs Teasdale, takes a central role. Viewers unfamiliar with Marxian comedy will find that their anarchy and lack of respect were precursors of the later humour found in radio’s The Goon Show and in the work of Monty Python. Groucho with his wisecracks, the silent Harpo and the punster Chico are all on great form and their crazy energy is as beguiling today as when it was first minted.

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The other film in the programme is the heart-warming Being Elmo, a documentary about the puppeteer Kevin Clash who developed the character of Elmo for the creator of The Muppets, the late Jim Henson. This film is a tribute to Henson and to his achievements but is also inspiring in the way that it enables Kevin Clash to talk about his craft and to illustrate it in ways that convey his sheer love for it.

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