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One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by MCA ever since. Its earliest documented telecast took place without fanfare in Asheville NC Friday 3 April 1959 on WLOS (Channel 13); a few months went by, and it was next aired in Grand Rapids 17 September 1959 on WOOD (Channel 8), and Toledo 18 November 1959 on WTOL (Channel 11). Eventually the word got out, and it began to pick up steam.
It was first televised in Wichita 24 March 1960 on KTVH (Channel 12), in Indianapolis 20 May 1960 on WFBM (introduced by former actress Frances Farmer), in Milwaukee 3 July 1960 on WITI (Channel 6), in New York City 5 July 1960 on WCBS (Channel 2), in Pittsburgh 17 September 1960 on KDKA (Channel 2), in Johnstown 8 October 1960 on WJAC (Channel 6), in Cleveland 18 October 1960 on WJW (Channel 8), in San Francisco 24 October 1960 on KPIX (Channel 5), in Baltimore 31 October 1960 on WBAL (Channel 11), and, finally, in Hartford CT 9 December 1961 on WHCT (Channel 18) as part of their Gems of the Silver Screen series.
Italian dictator Benito Mussolini banned the film from Italy because he thought it was a direct attack on him. When news of this reached The Marx Brothers, they were reportedly ecstatic.
Screenwriters Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar were standing on the set one day when an extra standing next to them said, "I don't know who wrote this stuff but they ought to be arrested...they should be in a different business." Kalmer, who was known as a rational and calm man, said to Ruby, "I'm going over to hit him. Who does he think he is? He's just an extra!" But before fisticuffs erupted, Kalmer and Ruby were informed that Chico Marx had paid the extra to rib the screenwriters, just for the hell of it.
Shortly before this film premiered, the city of Fredonia, New York, complained about the use of its name with an additional "e". The Marx Brothers' response was, "Change the name of your town, it's hurting our picture."
Final film of Zeppo Marx. After the film's premiere, he quit The Marx Brothers, citing a dissatisfaction with movie acting overall, and a weariness with being the butt of jokes regarding him as the "unfunny" Marx brother.
Groucho Marx offered the following explanation for the movie's title: "Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you'll duck soup the rest of your life."