My Little Chickadee. 1940 Universal Pictures.
Starring: Mae West, W.C. Fields, Joseph Calleia, Dick Foran, Ruth Donnelly, Margaret Hamilton, Donald Meek
Director: Edward F. Cline
Part of the first W.C. Fields Comedy Collection, or you can find it on Mae West: The Glamour Collection.
This one was written by Mae West, with W.C. Fields contributing an extended scene set in a bar. Universal opted to give them equal screenplay credit, trying to please all involved, but this angered West, who opted not to act again with Fields.
Mae West is Flower Belle Lee, a singer from Chicago traveling west to visit relatives when she gets mixed up in a stagecoach robbery with a masked bandit, who takes an interest in Flower Belle. He takes the singer with her, and after the stagecoach's other occupants report the crime upon arriving in a town called Little Bend, Flower Belle casually strolls into town. After the masked bandit shows up at the home of her Aunt Lou (Donnelly) and Uncle John (Willard Robertson) to visit Flower Belle, Mrs. Gideon (Hamilton), who was also on the stagecoach, reports this to the police. After being run up before the judge, Flower Belle is run out of town.
Flower Belle boards a train headed to Greasewood City, and it makes an unscheduled stop to pick up a conman named Cuthbert J. Twillie (Fields). Shortly thereafter, hostile Indians attack the train, and Flower Belle easily picks them off with two pistols. Flower Belle has no use for Twillie until she sees a stash of money in his possessions, and she decides to play up to him, believing him to be rich. The two of them have an impromptu wedding, officiated over by a gambler who looks like a minister.
At Greasewood City, Twillie is made sheriff by the saloon owner and town boss Jeff Badger (Calleia), who has ulterior motives. Flower Belle attracts attention from just about every male in town, which includes a returning masked bandit. Twillie enters Flower Belle's hotel room one night disguised as the bandit, and after being accused of the bandit, finds himself ready to hang. Flower Belle rescues him, having put two and two together, and realizing that Twillie was the bandit all along.
Recommended movie.
Showing posts with label edward f. cline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label edward f. cline. Show all posts
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man. 1939 Universal Pictures.
Starring: W.C. Fields, Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Constance Moore, John Arledge, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
Directors: George Marshall, Edward F. Cline (uncredited)
Available at Amazon as part of the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection.
I'm not entirely certain about how a dummy got third billing in this movie...
Fields is Larsen E. Whipsnade, a carnival owner on the run from the law to keep a step ahead of foreclosure, and he's also not paying his performers, including Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. While Bergen tries to talk Whipsnade into paying him, McCarthy tries to steal some. Okay, I guess the dummy isn't such a dummy after all.
Larsen's sone Phineas (Arledge) is aware of his dad's financial problems, and has figured out a solution: he wants his sister Victoria (Moore) to marry a wealthy playboy named Roger Bel-Goodie (James Bush). Learning about her father's problems, Victoria decides to marry Roger just to bring in some money to the family, but she can't get over her feelings for Edgar Bergen. I'm assuming these feelings didn't extend to McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd (who is uncredited in the film and at IMDB, but receives full billing in the DVD package, in case you desperately needed to know).
To ensure the marriage goes off without a problem, Whipsnade sets Bergen and McCarthy adrift in a hot-air balloon. But this pair of dummies can't be kept out of the equation for long.
Recommended movie, since you can't go wrong with W.C. Fields, and his old radio rival(s), Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Jack Benny's sidekick and valet Eddie "Rochester" Anderson also has a small role, and does well with it.
Starring: W.C. Fields, Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Constance Moore, John Arledge, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
Directors: George Marshall, Edward F. Cline (uncredited)
Available at Amazon as part of the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection.
I'm not entirely certain about how a dummy got third billing in this movie...
Fields is Larsen E. Whipsnade, a carnival owner on the run from the law to keep a step ahead of foreclosure, and he's also not paying his performers, including Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. While Bergen tries to talk Whipsnade into paying him, McCarthy tries to steal some. Okay, I guess the dummy isn't such a dummy after all.
Larsen's sone Phineas (Arledge) is aware of his dad's financial problems, and has figured out a solution: he wants his sister Victoria (Moore) to marry a wealthy playboy named Roger Bel-Goodie (James Bush). Learning about her father's problems, Victoria decides to marry Roger just to bring in some money to the family, but she can't get over her feelings for Edgar Bergen. I'm assuming these feelings didn't extend to McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd (who is uncredited in the film and at IMDB, but receives full billing in the DVD package, in case you desperately needed to know).
To ensure the marriage goes off without a problem, Whipsnade sets Bergen and McCarthy adrift in a hot-air balloon. But this pair of dummies can't be kept out of the equation for long.
Recommended movie, since you can't go wrong with W.C. Fields, and his old radio rival(s), Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. Jack Benny's sidekick and valet Eddie "Rochester" Anderson also has a small role, and does well with it.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break. 1941 Universal Pictures.
Starring: W.C. Fields, Gloria Jean, Leon Errol, Butch & Buddy, Margaret Dumont, Franklin Pangborn
Director: Edward F. Cline
Available as part of the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection, Volume 2.
This is the final starring role for the Great Man, as alcoholism and illness had taken its toll on him. Fields has long wanted to make a movie his way, with his own script, and his choice of supporting players. Universal Pictures gave him that chance, and this is what he delivered. The finished product was so surreal that the studio edited and reshot a few scenes, before quietly releasing it, as well as releasing Fields from his contract.
Fields plays himself, as he makes his way to the studios of Esoteric Films, intending to read and sell a script to Mr. Pangborn (also playing himself). His niece Gloria Jean is also headed there to rehearse some songs. The script contains several surreal scenes, which we see acted out, as Fields and Gloria fly to Russia, run into strange characters on and off the "plane" (which looks more like a sleeper car on a train), and back out of two impromptu marriages at the last minute. Pangborn tells Fields to leave the studio, which prompts Gloria Jean to quit if her film uncle is fired. They make plans to travel the world, but get sidetracked when an older woman asks for their assistance in getting to a hospital where her daughter's about to give birth.
Cue the slapstick chase scene through Los Angeles, which ends after Fields wrecks his car upon arrival at the hospital. He tells the arriving Gloria Jean that it's a good thing he had an accident, or he would never have arrived there safely.
There's some funny stuff here. Recommended movie.
Starring: W.C. Fields, Gloria Jean, Leon Errol, Butch & Buddy, Margaret Dumont, Franklin Pangborn
Director: Edward F. Cline
Available as part of the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection, Volume 2.
This is the final starring role for the Great Man, as alcoholism and illness had taken its toll on him. Fields has long wanted to make a movie his way, with his own script, and his choice of supporting players. Universal Pictures gave him that chance, and this is what he delivered. The finished product was so surreal that the studio edited and reshot a few scenes, before quietly releasing it, as well as releasing Fields from his contract.
Fields plays himself, as he makes his way to the studios of Esoteric Films, intending to read and sell a script to Mr. Pangborn (also playing himself). His niece Gloria Jean is also headed there to rehearse some songs. The script contains several surreal scenes, which we see acted out, as Fields and Gloria fly to Russia, run into strange characters on and off the "plane" (which looks more like a sleeper car on a train), and back out of two impromptu marriages at the last minute. Pangborn tells Fields to leave the studio, which prompts Gloria Jean to quit if her film uncle is fired. They make plans to travel the world, but get sidetracked when an older woman asks for their assistance in getting to a hospital where her daughter's about to give birth.
Cue the slapstick chase scene through Los Angeles, which ends after Fields wrecks his car upon arrival at the hospital. He tells the arriving Gloria Jean that it's a good thing he had an accident, or he would never have arrived there safely.
There's some funny stuff here. Recommended movie.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The Bank Dick
Take off your hat in the presence of a gentleman.
The Bank Dick (Criterion #78). 1940 Universal Pictures.
Starring: W.C. Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel, Franklin Pangborn, Shemp Howard
Director: Edward F. Cline
Buy The Bank Dick as part of the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection at Amazon.
Criterion Collection: Out of print (watch Amazon or eBay listings).
Fields gives a hilarious performance as the henpecked husband Egbert Sousé, who spends most of his time in his bedroom smoking, or down at a tavern run by a gentleman named Joe Guelpe (Shemp Howard). Forced to go out and find work, Sousé first talks his way into directing a movie after the original director shows up on the set too drunk to work, and manages to turn the production into a disaster. Later on, Sousé foils a bank robbery and is given a job as a security guard. He proves he is completely inept as a guard, but somehow, every situation he gets into turns out for the best for everyone, notably talking his future son-in-law into investing in what appears to be a worthless mine. Just as things look their bleakest, the mine turns out to be a bonanza.
I must admit that it is disconcerting to see Shemp Howard starring in anything that didn't see him getting slapped or poked by his younger brother Moe after saying something stupid. It's important to remember that Shemp had a long, but low key film career in between his stints as a member of the Three Stooges.
W.C. Fields is, as always, the lovable misanthrope, and The Bank Dick is probably one of his best films. Highest recommendation for all.
The Bank Dick (Criterion #78). 1940 Universal Pictures.
Starring: W.C. Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel, Franklin Pangborn, Shemp Howard
Director: Edward F. Cline
Buy The Bank Dick as part of the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection at Amazon.
Criterion Collection: Out of print (watch Amazon or eBay listings).
Fields gives a hilarious performance as the henpecked husband Egbert Sousé, who spends most of his time in his bedroom smoking, or down at a tavern run by a gentleman named Joe Guelpe (Shemp Howard). Forced to go out and find work, Sousé first talks his way into directing a movie after the original director shows up on the set too drunk to work, and manages to turn the production into a disaster. Later on, Sousé foils a bank robbery and is given a job as a security guard. He proves he is completely inept as a guard, but somehow, every situation he gets into turns out for the best for everyone, notably talking his future son-in-law into investing in what appears to be a worthless mine. Just as things look their bleakest, the mine turns out to be a bonanza.
I must admit that it is disconcerting to see Shemp Howard starring in anything that didn't see him getting slapped or poked by his younger brother Moe after saying something stupid. It's important to remember that Shemp had a long, but low key film career in between his stints as a member of the Three Stooges.
W.C. Fields is, as always, the lovable misanthrope, and The Bank Dick is probably one of his best films. Highest recommendation for all.
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