Editing Duck Soup (1933 film) (section)

===Development===
The Marx Brothers' previous film, ''[[Horse Feathers]]'', had been [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]]'s highest-grossing film of 1932.  Encouraged by this success, the studio suggested on August 2, 1932, that they rush out a follow-up. Already at this early stage, the story (provisionally entitled ''Oo La La'')<ref name="filmsite"/> was set in a mythical kingdom. On August 11, 1932, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reported that production would commence in five weeks with the famed [[Ernst Lubitsch]] directing.

This was a turbulent time in the Marx Brothers' career. The [[Great Depression]] was raging and Paramount Pictures was attempting to stave off bankruptcy. A reorganization of the studio brought fears that money due the Marxes would never be paid; as a result, the Brothers threatened to leave Paramount and form their own company, Marx Bros., Inc.<ref name="Marxology"/> Their first planned independent production was a film adaptation of the [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning [[Broadway (theatre)|Broadway]] [[Musical theatre|musical]] ''[[Of Thee I Sing]]'', with [[Norman Z. McLeod|Norman McLeod]] leaving Paramount to direct.<ref name="Louvish"/> During late 1932 and early 1933, Groucho and Chico were also working on ''[[Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel]]'', a [[radio show]] written by [[Nat Perrin]] and [[Arthur Sheekman]]; there was even, at one time, talk of casting the two as their radio characters for the new film,<ref name="Marxology"/> an idea that was eventually used by Perrin in the 1941 Marx Brothers film ''[[The Big Store]]''.<ref name="Louvish"/>

By October 4, 1932, Arthur Sheekman, [[Harry Ruby]], and [[Bert Kalmar]] began writing the screenplay for the next Paramount film, which was now called ''Firecrackers''.<ref name="filmsite"/><ref name="scripts"/> [[Herman Mankiewicz]] was to supervise production, beginning in January 1933.<ref name="Marxology"/> By December 1932, ''Firecrackers'' had become ''Cracked Ice''.<ref name="scripts">[http://www.marx-brothers.org/marxology/duck.htm The different scripts for ''Duck Soup''&nbsp;– Marxology.com]</ref> [[Grover Jones]] was also reported to have contributed to the first draft by Ruby and Kalmar.<ref name="Marxology"/> In ''The Marx Brothers Encyclopedia'', Glenn Mitchell says that "the first script's content is difficult to determine".<ref name="Mitchell"/>

On January 18, 1933, Harry Ruby, Bert Kalmar and Grover Jones submitted to Paramount their "Second Temporary Script" for ''Cracked Ice'',<ref name="scripts"/> and Paramount announced that shooting would commence on February 15. This script shows that the basic plot of ''Duck Soup'' was in place. In February, Paramount announced that the title had been changed to ''Grasshoppers''<ref name="filmsite"/> ("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 Marx|Sam "Frenchie" Marx]] died in Los Angeles,<ref name="Louvish"/> and shortly afterward the contract dispute with Paramount was settled.<ref name="TCM"/> 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 (historical)|The New York Sun]]'' reported that ''Duck Soup'' would start filming in June. ''Duck Soup''{{'}}s script was completed by July 11.<ref name="scripts"/> The script was a continuation of Ruby and Kalmar's ''Firecrackers''/''Cracked Ice'' drafts, but contained more elements.<ref name="Marxology"/> Many of the film's clever gags and routines were lifted from ''Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel'',<ref name="Louvish"/> giving Perrin and Sheekman an "additional dialogue" credit.