“DOUBLE W. C. FIELDS”

By Raymond Benson

Kino Lorber has been releasing the W. C. Fields catalog in high definition, upgraded from previous releases on DVD, and two more have come to the fore—You’re Telling Me! and Man on the Flying Trapeze, two titles that don’t immediately come to mind when one thinks of top tier, classic Fields pictures, but never fear—they’re hilarious and worth a look.

You’re Telling Me! preceded The Old Fashioned Way and the brilliant It’s a Gift (both previously reviewed here at Cinema Retro), all three of which appeared in 1934, while Fields (real name—William Claude Dukenfield) still had a working contract with Paramount Pictures. Man on the Flying Trapeze was released in 1935, a return to a “Fields comedy” after the actor took a sidetrack sojourn, courtesy of Paramount, into more high-brow fare (David Copperfield, an Oscar Best Picture nominee, and Mississippi, a musical starring Bing Crosby).

In Telling Me, Fields is Sam Bisbee, an optometrist and amateur inventor (one of his inventions is a “nose-holder-upper,” which pulls one’s nose up to open the nasal passages when in bed). As usual, he’s married to a shrew of a wife (Louise Carter), who is embarrassed by the family’s social status of living “on the wrong side of the tracks.” Their daughter, Pauline (Joan Marsh), is sweet on Bob Murchison (Larry “Buster” Crabbe), who comes from a wealthy, upper class family. Bob’s snobby mother (Kathleen Howard) will not allow her son to marry Pauline, mainly because of her contempt for “low life” Sam. However, Sam by chance meets Princess Lescaboura (Adrienne Ames) on a train. The princess is a visiting dignitary, and she is impressed by Sam’s woeful story of his troubles. Sam is under the mistaken impression that the princess (“Call me Marie”) was about to commit suicide when he meets her, and she plays along to earn his friendship. Marie can see there’s a good man there, so she takes it upon herself to visit his town and make things right between him and his family and the community. Click here to order from Amazon.

Man on the Flying Trapeze has no flying trapezes, but the title possibly suggests the precarious tightrope act that is the life of Ambrose Wolfinger (Fields). He, too, is married to a shrew (Kathleen Howard again, something of the “Margaret Dumont” of W. C. Fields films). Fields has a daughter, Hope (Mary Brian), from a previous marriage, but the second Mrs. Wolfinger’s uptight mother (Vera Lewis) and lazy brother (Grady Sutton) live with them, too. No one in the household can stand Ambrose—in fact, they make his life hell—except for Hope, who adores him. Ambrose loses his job as a “memory expert” because he takes a day off to attend a wrestling match, and it’s one of many things that goes wrong in Ambrose’s world. Luckily, Hope is on hand to steer luck his way.

There are some classic comedic bits in both films. Telling Me has a wonderful golfing sequence toward the end, in which Fields shares the screen with longtime foil Tammany Young (here as a caddy). Flying Trapeze is packed with funny bits. The opening involves two burglars (one being Tammany Young, again, plus a young Walter Brennan!) who get drunk in Fields’ cellar and start singing. Later, the chase of a runaway tire after getting a flat takes Fields onto the railroad tracks provides some laughs, along with the wrestling sequence (featuring a young Tor Johnson as a heavily bearded “Russian” wrestler).

Throughout it all in both films, W. C. Fields maintains a command of the material. The camera loves him, and he obviously loves the camera. This is a period when Fields’ popularity was at its highest, with excellent examples of his impeccable comic timing, slow burns, drunken confusion, and outrageous dialogue.

Both Kino Lorber disks, sold separately, are 2K masters that are indeed an improvement over previous DVD releases. Oddly, both Blu-ray editions feature the same bonus supplement—an episode of the old “Wayne and Shuster” TV show (Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster, comics of the 40s and beyond, who had some success on television in the 50s and early 60s). The segment focuses on the life of Fields. This same supplement also appeared on the Never Give a Sucker an Even Break Blu-ray disk from the same label. One might have thought that Kino could have found some different supplements to spread around the various Fields titles on release, but that is not the case. Theatrical trailers for both films, and other Kino products, fill out the packages.

You’re Telling Me! and Man on the Flying Trapeze are both worthwhile additions to your W. C. Fields library. They are snapshots of a comic genius in his prime. Click here to order from Amazon.