Duck Soup. Freedonia’s going to war
The melodramatic expression “This means war!” certainly did not originate with Duck Soup, but it is used several times in the film – at least twice by Trentino and once by Firefly – and would be repeated by Groucho in A Night at the Opera. Variations of this phrase would later become a frequently-used catch-phrase in Bugs Bunny cartoons.
The climactic production number Freedonia’s Going To War ridicules war by comparing nationalism to a minstrel show. One line is a variant on the old Spiritual All God’s Chillun Got Wings:
We got guns, they got guns, all God’s chillun got guns!
I’m gonna walk all over the battlefield, ’cause all God’s chillun got guns!
Other familiar tunes in the medly are Oh Freedonia (parody of Oh Susanna) & Turkey in the Straw (instrumental).