Is this quiz easy or another toughie? You decide-- it's a single sound clue, and you can listen to it here.

Hints: the director is about as well known as directors get, but it's sometimes more for comments he makes than for his work. (He also acts in some of his films, like this one.) And as beloved as this movie is, it's the only one of his that's not available on DVD.

That should be more than enough for many successful searches at the Internet Movie Database. If you come up with the title-- or, better yet, actually know this gem-- send me an email by late Sunday night, and next Monday you can see your name in our insatiable winners circle.

It was a nice turnout of past winners for last week's quiz, but it was just what I'd expect when the movie in question is one of the greatest comedic works in the history of humankind, the immortal 1933 Marx Brothers film Duck Soup. Directed by Leo McCarey, it's 70 blessed minutes of slapstick, surreallism, lowbrow schtick and sophisticated political satire, and most Marx fans agree it was their best work. Groucho himself thought A Night at the Opera was the best, but that Duck Soup-- he always emphasized the first word-- was the funniest. According to critic Tim Dirks, the title came from a recipe of Groucho's: 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.

(During the first Gulf War, the much-missed magazine Spy played a prank on several members of Congress, asking if they would support U.S. military intervention, if needed, to help our ally Freedonia-- every one of them said yes.) 

Free of the boring musical numbers that make Opera and A Day at the Races hard to take without a fast-forward button, it was the last all-Marx movie-- from then on, they'd share the screen and bloated running time with Kitty Carlisle and her ilk. It was also the last movie Zeppo would make with his brothers, and while most Marx fans say "Good riddance," I'd still take him over Allan Jones any day. The picture has a wonderful supporting cast, from co-stars Margaret Dumont, Louis Calhern and Edgar Kennedy to brief turns by Leonid Kinsky and Charles "Ming" Middleton.

There is a wealth of material on Duck Soup and the Marxes to be found on-line. To start, check out Roger Ebert's nice reminiscence of the movie and this really nice page of Marx photos. And when your appetite is sufficiently whetted to see the film again (or-- lucky, lucky you-- for the very first time), read this NY Times article about why it and the other Marx movies aren't available on DVD.

So big heigh-de-hoes to the following quiz winners: Wayne A. Palmer (who also supplied The NY Times link), Hank Parmer, Paul Murphy, E. Yarber, C. L. Lavorato, Mike Hardenbrook, Joe Rosenberg, Steven Jay Gellert, and Kika Warner.

A rare photo of the five Marx Brothers-- from left, Zeppo, Groucho, Chico, Gummo and Harpo.