While I was slightly familiar with W.C. Fields, this is the first of his features that I can remember seeing. His wry, acerbic wit lives up to its reputation here. But, even so, the film was never really all that funny. I still enjoyed it for the historical value, and parts were quite good, but I must have missed something. The framing device for the somewhat surrealistic parts was clever enough. (Trying to sell a script to the movie studio) But the film as a whole did not hang together all that well. To be fair, that may have been the intent. The showcasing of the vocal talent of Gloria Jean was a bit boring, but I understand that this was quite fashionable at the time. A must-see for fans of Fields, but I assume he had made some better stuff.
Review of Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
