Gus Visser and His Singing Duck

When I saw this very short film, I couldn't help but smile. Dutch-born Gus Visser had a very unusual vaudeville-style act and it somehow became one of the first experimental sound films. Of all the possible things to record for posterity, this is one of the oddest. Gus' 'singing' duck actually consists of Gus singing most of the time and periodically the duck loudly quacked! I really think that as Gus held it, he would 'goose' the duck's behind to make him quack. The end result is quite funny but also bound to make PETA-types mad at the possibility that duck abuse is occurring.

While this film seems unimportant but silly, it's actually super-important historically speaking as it's practically impossible to find another sound film earlier than this one.

Gus Visser performs part of his vaudeville act, appearing on the stage holding a white duck. Gus sings the song, "Ma (He's Making Eyes At Me)", and soon the duck begins to accompany him by quacking.

Now, how Visser trained a duck to quack to when he says the word "ma" is a mystery. Probably not a hard one. I am sure it is as simple as squeezing the duck or pinching it or something to get a reaction. But this simple gag is effective. You probably couldn't do more than a few minutes of this joke on stage, but that may be why Gus Visser is not remembered as a great comedian...

This also happened to be a sound test of sorts, and it is interesting how nicely the duck's quack shows up on the film... you know, because of all those legends about duck quacks.

Pre-dating sound itself the forgettable Gus Visser with a duck cradled in his arm stands before a microphone and warbles the chart topping "Ma,he's making eyes at me" ably assisted by the duck in this piece of minimalist musical theatre.

While the duck is not all he's quacked up to be (it only sings chorus)he holds his own with the song hogging Visser. After all, no duck no show. Visser's insight lay in his promotional skills, realizing the duck's marketability and giving it equal billing. Alas, they did not turn out to be a Nelson and Jeanette and Visser was never heard of again but one of the duck's ancestors with a slight nuance to his delivery went on to become one of the most famous pitchmen on television with basically the same act.

Gus Visser is probably somewhat unique in the annals of film history in that 100% of his credited film appearances are not lost and on DVD. What puts this fellow in the same company as Cary Grant? A simple Lee DeForest Phonofilm short meant to demonstrate Dr. Lee DeForest's work at being able to synchronize the spoken word with film is Gus Visser's only film appearance. And yet it is on DVD from multiple sources.

Visser sings "Ma He's Making Eyes at Me" while the Duck quacks every time Visser hits the word "Ma". The reason this happens is that he is squeezing the duck's rear every time he hits that word. And yet this film survives and Warner Brothers' box office hit "Gold Diggers of Broadway" from 1929 is lost. Oh the cruelty of fate.

Gus Visser and His Singing Duck (1925)

*** (out of 4)

Gus Visser has pretty much been forgotten over the years but film buffs will know him for this experimental sound film, which eventually got selected for the National Film Registry in 2002. At just under two minutes we see Visser singing a song while holding a duck and very few seconds he will much the duck quack. Yes, that's pretty much all there is and I'm sure some people today would just see it as something silly but it was in fact quite important considering there were many, if any, sound films from this era. It's important to remember that we were still two years away from THE JAZZ SINGER and I'd argue that the sound quality here is actually better than that Al Jolson film. Still, I can't imagine what they were thinking using this as something to show off sound. Yes, it's charming but I'm still curious what Vissor was doing to make the duck quack on queue. It's certainly nothing fabulous but as a part of film history is very important.