Wednesday, October 6, 2010

A matching pair of Fields

Seeing W. C. Fields at work is a must for any movie buff.  These may be considered his best.

It's A Gift (1934)  Fields is a shop owner named Bissonette (pronounce "bis-oh-nay")with a overbearing wife, a harpie mother-in-law, a daughter about marrying age and a rugrat of about the age of eight. When a rich uncle dies and leaves him some money he does the one thing his wife tells him not to.  He uses the windfall to purchase an orange grove, and packs up the family to take them to California.

The Bank Dick (1940) Fields is the unemployed Edgar Sousè (pronounced "sue-say")with an overbearing wife, a harpie mother-in-law, a daughter about marrying age and a rugrat of about the age of eight.  I'm guessing that you see the formula here. This one takes a couple of turns. W. C.'s character,  so easily goes from unemployed, to film director to bank guard in the blink of an eye talking his daughter's fiance into investing bank funds on a mine stock that is probably not a good call.

Watching these films back-to-back really draws attention to the similarities.  That said, I found them to be hilarious.  If you are a big fan of the Three Stooges shorts these films are sure to trip your trigger..