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.
Showing posts with label clyde bruckman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clyde bruckman. Show all posts
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
The Three Stooges Collection, Volume 1: 1934-1936 (Disc 1)
Available at Amazon.
Woman Haters, directed by Archie Gottler, 1934 (Wiki).
Punch Drunks*, directed by Lou Breslow, 1934 (Wiki).
Men in Black, directed by Raymond McCarey (Wiki).
Three Little Pigskins, directed by Raymond McCarey, 1934 (Wiki).
Horses' Collars, directed by Clyde Bruckman, 1935 (Wiki).
Restless Knights, directed by Charles Lamont, 1935 (Wiki).
Pop Goes the Easel, directed by Del Lord, 1935 (Wiki).
Uncivil Warriors, directed by Del Lord, 1935 (Wiki).
Pardon My Scotch, directed by Del Lord, 1935 (Wiki).
Hoi Polloi, directed by Del Lord, 1935 (Wiki).
Three Little Beers, directed by Del Lord, 1935 Wiki).
* Selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.
We'll be taking a look at the first 11 shorts that the Three Stooges made for Columbia Pictures, and released to DVD in an excellent set.
The earliest Stooges shorts can be fairly awkward, as there are moments that the boys will act somewhat out of character, like during Men in Black, where Larry hits Moe with a hammer, but doesn't get one in return. Woman Haters is a musical short from Columbia's "Musical Novelty" series, sung entirely in rhyme.
There's also the usual slapstick violence that you've come to expect from the Three Stooges, with two notable scenes from different films. During the making of Three Little Pigskins, Moe, Larry and Curly refused to perform a stunt in a scene where they stop to pose for photographers, only to be tackled by much bigger football players. Curly and Larry had already gotten hurt filming earlier scenes, so they didn't want to do this scene. Director McCarey was adamant that the boys do the scene, but lost that battle. Stunt doubles were quickly found, and after filming started, two of them were seriously injured, as were the four photographers.
Later, during filming of Pardon My Scotch, Moe was injured during a stunt involving a table that was supposed to split in half on cue. The table collapsed incorrectly, and after Moe fell, he broke three ribs. He stayed awake long enough to stand up and slap Larry and Curly before fainting. This footage was also used in 1943's Dizzy Detectives, one of many Stooges shorts to feature older vignettes inserted in with the new material.
Look for appearances from Walter Brennan and Lucille Ball (as a blonde) in some of the shorts.
The Three Stooges have long been an acquired taste, so these DVDs won't appeal to everyone. Still, highly recommended.
Disc 2 of this set will be reviewed soon!
Woman Haters, directed by Archie Gottler, 1934 (Wiki).
Punch Drunks*, directed by Lou Breslow, 1934 (Wiki).
Men in Black, directed by Raymond McCarey (Wiki).
Three Little Pigskins, directed by Raymond McCarey, 1934 (Wiki).
Horses' Collars, directed by Clyde Bruckman, 1935 (Wiki).
Restless Knights, directed by Charles Lamont, 1935 (Wiki).
Pop Goes the Easel, directed by Del Lord, 1935 (Wiki).
Uncivil Warriors, directed by Del Lord, 1935 (Wiki).
Pardon My Scotch, directed by Del Lord, 1935 (Wiki).
Hoi Polloi, directed by Del Lord, 1935 (Wiki).
Three Little Beers, directed by Del Lord, 1935 Wiki).
* Selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress.
We'll be taking a look at the first 11 shorts that the Three Stooges made for Columbia Pictures, and released to DVD in an excellent set.
The earliest Stooges shorts can be fairly awkward, as there are moments that the boys will act somewhat out of character, like during Men in Black, where Larry hits Moe with a hammer, but doesn't get one in return. Woman Haters is a musical short from Columbia's "Musical Novelty" series, sung entirely in rhyme.
There's also the usual slapstick violence that you've come to expect from the Three Stooges, with two notable scenes from different films. During the making of Three Little Pigskins, Moe, Larry and Curly refused to perform a stunt in a scene where they stop to pose for photographers, only to be tackled by much bigger football players. Curly and Larry had already gotten hurt filming earlier scenes, so they didn't want to do this scene. Director McCarey was adamant that the boys do the scene, but lost that battle. Stunt doubles were quickly found, and after filming started, two of them were seriously injured, as were the four photographers.
Later, during filming of Pardon My Scotch, Moe was injured during a stunt involving a table that was supposed to split in half on cue. The table collapsed incorrectly, and after Moe fell, he broke three ribs. He stayed awake long enough to stand up and slap Larry and Curly before fainting. This footage was also used in 1943's Dizzy Detectives, one of many Stooges shorts to feature older vignettes inserted in with the new material.
Look for appearances from Walter Brennan and Lucille Ball (as a blonde) in some of the shorts.
The Three Stooges have long been an acquired taste, so these DVDs won't appeal to everyone. Still, highly recommended.
Disc 2 of this set will be reviewed soon!
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