THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE (Paramount, 1935), directed by Norman McLeod, with comic supplements by Charles Bogle (alias W.C. Fields) is not a circus story as the title implies, but a domestic comedy featuring Fields as Ambrose Wolfinger, a henpecked husband with a shrewish second wife, Leona (Kathleen Howard); Hope, a sympathetic daughter (Mary Brian) from his first marriage; Cordelia Neselrode, a chicken-faced mother-in-law (Vera Lewis); and Claude, a shiftless brother-in-law (Grady Sutton) who loafs around the house all day. Resembling that of a 20 minute comedy short, which only runs 65 minutes, the movie gets right down to business without plot development.
Fade in focuses on Ambrose and Leona getting ready for bed. Down in his cellar are a couple of burglars (Walter Brennan and Tammany Young) discovering a keg of applejack, getting drunk and start singing "On the Banks of the Wabash." Ambrose is ordered by his wife to go downstairs, but instead of chasing them away with his gun, he joins them in a keg and sings along with them. After a policeman arrives to investigate, he takes the drunken burglars with him and has Ambrose come along with the cider as evidence to press charges. Because Ambrose is owner of the illegal liquor, the night court judge (Arthur Aylesworth) has him arrested instead, placing Ambrose in a cell for the night with a homicidal maniac. After being bailed out by his daughter, Ambrose returns home to bed so he can finally get some sleep, only to moments hear the alarm clock ring. "Quite a snooze," he quibbles. The following morning, Ambrose intends on taking his first day off in 25 years from the office so he can attend the wrestling matches. His ticket, unfortunately, has been swiped by Claude, who makes plans to attend himself. But that doesn't stop Ambrose. He tells his employer (Oscar Apfel) he needs the day off to attend his mother-in-law's "funeral." Driving off to the stadium to see Kulabosh Mishabobb wrestling Tosoff, Ambrose meets with complications and more complications which keeps him from attending, including him getting numerous parking citations, his involvement with an ambulance driver, a flat tire followed by his spare that rolls down a hill and onto railroad tracks as Ambrose chases after it with a train approaching. (The tire has a mind of its own when it jumps from one track onto another, nearly missing the train). As Ambrose gets on line to purchase his ticket, (the last one is sold as he gets to the box office window to face a SOLD OUT sign), a wrestler throws his opponent out of the ring, into the street and on top of Ambrose. Claude sees this and believes Ambrose to be drunk and asleep in the gutter. But that's not all! After he returns home somewhat battered, Ambrose walks in to find angry faces surrounded by reefs and flowers reading REST IN PEACE, and a newspaper story about Mrs. Neselrode's passing. More complications ensue when it is learned that Ambrose has also lost his job, which is followed by Ambrose finally losing his temper with the old nags, and socking Claude after threatening to slap Hope for stepping in on her father's behalf. Before Ambrose leaves the premises with Hope, he places REST IN PEACE reef on the unconscious Claude. I won't reveal how the story ends but I will say not to miss the final fade-out, which shows Ambrose gets his last laugh.
Fields is the center of attention, supplying his usual full quota of laughs. Fields and Kathleen Howard make such a classic pair that it seems a pity that this was to become their final collaboration together. She previously played a similar nasty wife to Fields in IT'S A GIFT (1934), and as a snobbish society woman in YOU'RE TELLING ME (1934), both films readily available on video cassette. Also in the cast are Lucien Littlefield as Mr. Peabody; and Carlotta Monti as Ambrose's loyal secretary. She's the one who authored the book, "W.C. Fields and Me."
THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE may not be a top-notch Fields comedy because of several poignant scenes that are at times hard to sit through, this comedy of frustration does, however, provide many moments of hilarity. Out of circulation on the commercial TV markets since the mid-1980s, TRAPEZE, along with other Fields/Paramount collaborations of the 30s, were brought back again, temporarily, at least, on Turner Classic Movies cable channel (TCM premiere: May 9, 2001). (**1/2)
Fade in focuses on Ambrose and Leona getting ready for bed. Down in his cellar are a couple of burglars (Walter Brennan and Tammany Young) discovering a keg of applejack, getting drunk and start singing "On the Banks of the Wabash." Ambrose is ordered by his wife to go downstairs, but instead of chasing them away with his gun, he joins them in a keg and sings along with them. After a policeman arrives to investigate, he takes the drunken burglars with him and has Ambrose come along with the cider as evidence to press charges. Because Ambrose is owner of the illegal liquor, the night court judge (Arthur Aylesworth) has him arrested instead, placing Ambrose in a cell for the night with a homicidal maniac. After being bailed out by his daughter, Ambrose returns home to bed so he can finally get some sleep, only to moments hear the alarm clock ring. "Quite a snooze," he quibbles. The following morning, Ambrose intends on taking his first day off in 25 years from the office so he can attend the wrestling matches. His ticket, unfortunately, has been swiped by Claude, who makes plans to attend himself. But that doesn't stop Ambrose. He tells his employer (Oscar Apfel) he needs the day off to attend his mother-in-law's "funeral." Driving off to the stadium to see Kulabosh Mishabobb wrestling Tosoff, Ambrose meets with complications and more complications which keeps him from attending, including him getting numerous parking citations, his involvement with an ambulance driver, a flat tire followed by his spare that rolls down a hill and onto railroad tracks as Ambrose chases after it with a train approaching. (The tire has a mind of its own when it jumps from one track onto another, nearly missing the train). As Ambrose gets on line to purchase his ticket, (the last one is sold as he gets to the box office window to face a SOLD OUT sign), a wrestler throws his opponent out of the ring, into the street and on top of Ambrose. Claude sees this and believes Ambrose to be drunk and asleep in the gutter. But that's not all! After he returns home somewhat battered, Ambrose walks in to find angry faces surrounded by reefs and flowers reading REST IN PEACE, and a newspaper story about Mrs. Neselrode's passing. More complications ensue when it is learned that Ambrose has also lost his job, which is followed by Ambrose finally losing his temper with the old nags, and socking Claude after threatening to slap Hope for stepping in on her father's behalf. Before Ambrose leaves the premises with Hope, he places REST IN PEACE reef on the unconscious Claude. I won't reveal how the story ends but I will say not to miss the final fade-out, which shows Ambrose gets his last laugh.
Fields is the center of attention, supplying his usual full quota of laughs. Fields and Kathleen Howard make such a classic pair that it seems a pity that this was to become their final collaboration together. She previously played a similar nasty wife to Fields in IT'S A GIFT (1934), and as a snobbish society woman in YOU'RE TELLING ME (1934), both films readily available on video cassette. Also in the cast are Lucien Littlefield as Mr. Peabody; and Carlotta Monti as Ambrose's loyal secretary. She's the one who authored the book, "W.C. Fields and Me."
THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE may not be a top-notch Fields comedy because of several poignant scenes that are at times hard to sit through, this comedy of frustration does, however, provide many moments of hilarity. Out of circulation on the commercial TV markets since the mid-1980s, TRAPEZE, along with other Fields/Paramount collaborations of the 30s, were brought back again, temporarily, at least, on Turner Classic Movies cable channel (TCM premiere: May 9, 2001). (**1/2)