Saturday, May 30, 2009

Man on the Flying Trapeze

Man on the Flying Trapeze.
1935 Paramount Pictures; now owned by Universal Pictures.
Starring: W.C. Fields, Mary Brian, Kathleen Howard, Grady Sutton, Vera Lewis, Walter Brennan
Director(s): Clyde Bruckman, W.C. Fields (uncredited)
Available from Amazon as part of the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection, Volume 2.

Note: this film has nothing to do with a trapeze, despite the title.

The Great Man plays Ambrose Wolfinger, a bank president's "memory expert" who keeps files of details about the people the bank president, Malloy (Oscar Apfel), meets so he doesn't find himself embarrassed about not remembering details while meeting with clients. At home, Ambrose lives with his nagging wife Leona (Howard), his daughter from a previous marriage Hope (Brian), and two freeloading in laws, brother-in-law Claude (Sutton) and mother-in-law Cordelia (Lewis). The movie begins with a long sequence about two would-be burglars breaking into the Wolfinger home, and getting drunk on Ambrose's homemade cider, while Leona henpecks her husband into doing something. Ambrose finds himself arrested for making cider without a license.

After getting out, Ambrose tells Malloy that his mother-in-law died from drinking poisoned liquor, and asks for the afternoon off to attend the funeral. This is a lie, as he has tickets to the wrestling matches happening that day. Malloy agrees, and the rest of Ambrose's coworkers are notified of the "tragedy" so they can pay their respects. The Wolfingers are then showered with various items of sympathy sent to the home, and Cordelia's obituary also appears in the newspaper. Ambrose never actually makes it to the arena, as he encounters policemen, cars parked too close to his, runaway tires, and finding out that Claude stole his tickets at the worst possible moment.

Ambrose comes home to find a furious Cordelia and Leona, and his immediate supervisor at work telephones to tell him that he's fired for his deception. Ambrose, who had been meek, mild and henpecked throughout the film, finally loses his temper. He punches out Claude and scares his wife and mother-in-law into hiding. Before too long, Malloy rehires Ambrose, as no one can figure out the filing system. Hope answers the call, and lies about Ambrose having a better offer from another firm, and successfully negotiates a huge raise in pay with four weeks' vacation for her dad. Leona comes back, realizing that she does love her husband. The family takes a ride in Ambrose's new car, with Claude and Cordelia riding in the rumble seat...during a heavy downpour.

Highly recommended.

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