My Little Chickadee (1940)

Flower Belle Lee (Mae West) is kicked out of town because she was seen cavorting with a masked bandit. On a train she pairs up with a con man (W.C. Fields) who scams his way into being named sheriff of the next town over.

West and Fields were huge stars in the 1930’s and this stands as their only collaboration. They did not get along. Credited as co-writers, she wrote her lines, he wrote his, and they didn’t speak when not filming. West, whose particular charms were greatly hampered by the enforcement of the motion picture production code, was on a decline. She would appear in only one more film before a brief revival in the 1970’s. Fields, on the other hand, was at the top of his game. However, drink was catching up with him and starred in only two more pictures before dying of a stomach hemorrhage. He was 66.

B movie veteran Dick Foran plays one of Flower Belle’s many love interests. Seventeen years her junior, he’s the good guy we expect her to land with. Also in the mix is Margaret Hamilton, the wicked witch herself. Here she plays the town busybody. The meek Donald Meek also has a small roll.

While Fields’ humor survives intact, the Hays code simply couldn’t tolerate West’s brand of innuendo. The end result is, pardon the expression, a rather flat performance. My Little Chickadee is interesting because of the leads, and not an unpleasant watch, but lacking in humor and fairly forgettable. AMRU 2.5.

The Bank Dick (1940)

Egbert Souse' (pronounced Sau-SAY with the accent grave over the E) is a disappointment to his non-loving family. When a film producer complains about his drunken director while in the bar that Egbert frequents, he talks up himself as having worked in Hollywood. So, the producer offers him the job of finishing the film. You know, because that happens.

When two bank thieves scuffle and Egbert is credited with stopped them, he is offered the job as a bank detective (or "DICK" in the vernacular of the time). Why he drops the lucrative Hollywood gig to work in a bank is a mystery.

The next story element I am obliged to tell you about is when Egbert's daughter's boyfriend invests bank funds on a fraudulent mine, they have to keep the bank auditor away until the money can be replaced. Written by Fields, the screenplay is credited to "Mahatma Kane Jeeves", one of his little jokes. My hat, my cane, Jeeves.

The Bank Dick is not completely without laughs, but it isn't chuck full of them. Not painful to watch, but much of the humor doesn't translate. Shemp Howard was wasted as the bartender, given nothing funny to say or do. AMRU 3.

"I'm very fond of children. Girl children, around eighteen and twenty."

It's a Gift (1934)

Harold Bissonette (W.C. Fields) is a hen-pecked grocery store owner who aspires to own an orange grove in California. He gets that opportunity when a rich relative dies.

That's all we need about the story. Mostly, it's a vehicle for Fields' comedy and the story is secondary. Considered to be his best movie, I have to say that fact doesn't motivate me to seek out much more of his work. What was funny, was funny, but the bits that failed, were tedious. In one scene Fields' character is trying to get some sleep on a porch swing and is constantly interrupted by neighbors, milk men, insurance salesmen, and Baby LeRoy. That's a scene that could have been shortened by about a century.

Speaking of LeRoy, how did this three year old get star billing? Who's idea was that? Hard times indeed when you are washed up in Hollywood by age four. I didn't expect Fields to be dominated by an overbearing wife. That wasn't my image of him. Well, I'm not going to spend a lot of time with this one. I liked the parts I liked and it was nice to see a W.C. Fields movie, but overall, AMRU 2.5.

Norman: What's the matter, Pop? Don'tcha love me anymore?

Harold: [he raises his hand to hit Norman] Certainly I love you.

Amelia: Don't you strike that child!

Harold: Well, he's not gonna tell me I don't love him.