"The Old-Fashioned Way" (Paramount, 1934), directed by William Beaudine, ranks alongside "It's a Gift" (1934) and "The Bank Dick" (1940), as W.C. Fields in top form of his comedy profession.
Set at the turn of the century, Fields plays The Great McGonigle (no first name given), head of the McGonigle Repertory, who gets his acting troupe into financial difficulties, spending most of his time trying to leave town before the sheriff could catch up with him. Supporting Fields are Judith Allen as Betty, McGonigle's daughter; Joe Morrison as Wally Livingston, a college student whose wealthy father (Oscar Apfel) detests show people. Wally leaves college to not only join the McGonigle troupe, but to be near Betty. Then there's Baby LeRoy as the mischievous little boy named Albert who not only calls McGonigle "Da Da," but also has his pleasure of placing the old man's expensive watch into a jar of molasses, but McGonigle later shows little Albert that "he got a kick out of that." Jan Duggan, in possibly her best known and expanded screen role in a Fields comedy, plays the homely Cleopatra Pepperday, the richest woman in Bellefontaine, who, according to McGonigle, "dresses up like a well-kept grave." She tries endlessly to audition to get into McGonigle's act by singing "The Seashell Song," and he tries to "win her affections" by "promising" to get her a part in the upcoming show so to get her financial support. He gets the money to put the show on, but ....
The second half of "The Old-Fashioned Way" is then devoted to a play within a play, THE DRUNKARD, first with the burlesque skit in which McGonigle plays the conniving Squire Cribbs, who quips the famous line, "It ain't a fit night out ... for man nor beast," then to young Wally singing a traditional song, "A Little Bit of Heaven Known as Mother." After the play, there is an added bonus (especially for Fields fans) spotlighting McGonigle doing his juggling act (a rare Fields act on film in which The Great Man made famous in vaudeville, and presented on screen in its entirety). The classic and lengthy act is climaxed by a tomato thrown from the audience by Albert to McGonigle, who gets his last laugh.
"The Old-Fashioned Way" is virtually a one-man show for Fields, and even shows his sentimental side near the conclusion when he grants his daughter permission to marry the college boy, in spite the fact that he'd be lost without her. There are many priceless comedic moments in this Fields comedy that's not to be missed. And wait till the end and see how he manages to get his luggage out of the boarding house where he and his troupe are staying without paying the bill.
Also in the cast of character actors are Nora Cecil as Mrs. Wendelschaffer, the boarding house proprietress; Clarence Wilson as Sheriff Friddlewilly; Tammany Young as Marmaduke Gump; Richard Carle as the Sheriff of Barnesville; and Jack Mulhall as Dick Bronson. Joe Morrison, possibly Paramount's answer to Warner Brothers' own singing Dick Powell, is an obscure performer who has a pleasing singing voice and likable personality who succeeds in not wearing the movie down too much. Aside from the song mentioned above, Morrison auditions for McGonigle singing a nice little tune titled "Rolling in Love." Like Morrison, Judith Allen would drift to obscurity by the end of the 1930s, and whose names would only be recalled today by avid film buffs.
Out of TV circulation for over a decade or so, "The Old-Fashioned Way" was resurrected on Turner Classic Movies in June 2001 as part of its Star of the Month tribute to W.C. Fields. (***)
Set at the turn of the century, Fields plays The Great McGonigle (no first name given), head of the McGonigle Repertory, who gets his acting troupe into financial difficulties, spending most of his time trying to leave town before the sheriff could catch up with him. Supporting Fields are Judith Allen as Betty, McGonigle's daughter; Joe Morrison as Wally Livingston, a college student whose wealthy father (Oscar Apfel) detests show people. Wally leaves college to not only join the McGonigle troupe, but to be near Betty. Then there's Baby LeRoy as the mischievous little boy named Albert who not only calls McGonigle "Da Da," but also has his pleasure of placing the old man's expensive watch into a jar of molasses, but McGonigle later shows little Albert that "he got a kick out of that." Jan Duggan, in possibly her best known and expanded screen role in a Fields comedy, plays the homely Cleopatra Pepperday, the richest woman in Bellefontaine, who, according to McGonigle, "dresses up like a well-kept grave." She tries endlessly to audition to get into McGonigle's act by singing "The Seashell Song," and he tries to "win her affections" by "promising" to get her a part in the upcoming show so to get her financial support. He gets the money to put the show on, but ....
The second half of "The Old-Fashioned Way" is then devoted to a play within a play, THE DRUNKARD, first with the burlesque skit in which McGonigle plays the conniving Squire Cribbs, who quips the famous line, "It ain't a fit night out ... for man nor beast," then to young Wally singing a traditional song, "A Little Bit of Heaven Known as Mother." After the play, there is an added bonus (especially for Fields fans) spotlighting McGonigle doing his juggling act (a rare Fields act on film in which The Great Man made famous in vaudeville, and presented on screen in its entirety). The classic and lengthy act is climaxed by a tomato thrown from the audience by Albert to McGonigle, who gets his last laugh.
"The Old-Fashioned Way" is virtually a one-man show for Fields, and even shows his sentimental side near the conclusion when he grants his daughter permission to marry the college boy, in spite the fact that he'd be lost without her. There are many priceless comedic moments in this Fields comedy that's not to be missed. And wait till the end and see how he manages to get his luggage out of the boarding house where he and his troupe are staying without paying the bill.
Also in the cast of character actors are Nora Cecil as Mrs. Wendelschaffer, the boarding house proprietress; Clarence Wilson as Sheriff Friddlewilly; Tammany Young as Marmaduke Gump; Richard Carle as the Sheriff of Barnesville; and Jack Mulhall as Dick Bronson. Joe Morrison, possibly Paramount's answer to Warner Brothers' own singing Dick Powell, is an obscure performer who has a pleasing singing voice and likable personality who succeeds in not wearing the movie down too much. Aside from the song mentioned above, Morrison auditions for McGonigle singing a nice little tune titled "Rolling in Love." Like Morrison, Judith Allen would drift to obscurity by the end of the 1930s, and whose names would only be recalled today by avid film buffs.
Out of TV circulation for over a decade or so, "The Old-Fashioned Way" was resurrected on Turner Classic Movies in June 2001 as part of its Star of the Month tribute to W.C. Fields. (***)