The VHS version of "Never Give a Sucker An Even Break" (1941), at least the one from MCA Home Video, is an especially nice print; considerably better than their "It's a Gift" issue. There should be a DVD out by mid-2007 but since the original film is full screen format there is little to gain by waiting on the DVD.
This was W. C. Field's version of Altman's "The Player" (which it inspired), in which Fields applied the lessons of a lifetime to satirizing the movie industry. It's not as light-hearted nor as structured as his earlier features, but makes an especially appropriate swan song for a performer whose health was failing, whose attitude was bad, and whose style of wry humor and subtle sight gags was being replaced by the slapstick of Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, and The Marx Brothers (Fields self-reflectively references Groucho's mustache when the cleaning lady holds a push broom near his face).
Like Altman (but for very different reasons) Fields had not endeared himself to the Hollywood establishment. He could only get his screenplay into production by agreeing to use it as a showcase for newcomer Gloria Jean (being deservedly groomed as the next Judy Garland- Deanna Durbin).
So in his last staring role Fields simply plays himself pitching his original script to a producer at Esoteric Pictures. Gloria Jean also plays herself, the only fictional element being that Fields is supposed to be her Uncle Bill. Field's involved pitch goes back and forth between a discussion of the script with the producer (Frank Pangborn) and his wife (Mona Barrie), and the imagined final cut of the scene they are discussing. Barrie was an incredible talent and is the one to watch in the office sequences. She plays an aloof Kate Beckinsale type actress who Fields must somehow insert into his film even though there is no character even remotely suitable. So you get the classic sequence of Fields proposing that she wear a beard in order to play the male lead, and Barrie's mostly nonverbal reactions sell the whole routine.
Of course all this is a reflection of the Hollywood reality, where many scripts only made it into production because they featured a big part for an executive's wife/girlfriend or for a particular star that the studio was anxious to feature. Another great self-reflective moment occurs when the producer complains about the continuity problems in Field's script; not just an industry issue but the basic premise of "Never Give a Sucker An Even Break".
Ironically, Gloria Jean has a lot of charm and surprisingly good chemistry with Fields; their scenes together allow him to exhibit a refreshingly pleasant side to his standard character. Her songs are all nicely done (if somewhat awkwardly inserted) and the movie within a movie technique provides an almost documentary behind the scenes look at film production techniques 65 years ago. Susan Miller supplements Gloria Jean's numbers with a fun jive arrangement of "Coming Through the Rye".
The climax features the most entertaining car chase sequence in movie history. It had to all be staged because there were no computer-generated effects in those days.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
This was W. C. Field's version of Altman's "The Player" (which it inspired), in which Fields applied the lessons of a lifetime to satirizing the movie industry. It's not as light-hearted nor as structured as his earlier features, but makes an especially appropriate swan song for a performer whose health was failing, whose attitude was bad, and whose style of wry humor and subtle sight gags was being replaced by the slapstick of Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, and The Marx Brothers (Fields self-reflectively references Groucho's mustache when the cleaning lady holds a push broom near his face).
Like Altman (but for very different reasons) Fields had not endeared himself to the Hollywood establishment. He could only get his screenplay into production by agreeing to use it as a showcase for newcomer Gloria Jean (being deservedly groomed as the next Judy Garland- Deanna Durbin).
So in his last staring role Fields simply plays himself pitching his original script to a producer at Esoteric Pictures. Gloria Jean also plays herself, the only fictional element being that Fields is supposed to be her Uncle Bill. Field's involved pitch goes back and forth between a discussion of the script with the producer (Frank Pangborn) and his wife (Mona Barrie), and the imagined final cut of the scene they are discussing. Barrie was an incredible talent and is the one to watch in the office sequences. She plays an aloof Kate Beckinsale type actress who Fields must somehow insert into his film even though there is no character even remotely suitable. So you get the classic sequence of Fields proposing that she wear a beard in order to play the male lead, and Barrie's mostly nonverbal reactions sell the whole routine.
Of course all this is a reflection of the Hollywood reality, where many scripts only made it into production because they featured a big part for an executive's wife/girlfriend or for a particular star that the studio was anxious to feature. Another great self-reflective moment occurs when the producer complains about the continuity problems in Field's script; not just an industry issue but the basic premise of "Never Give a Sucker An Even Break".
Ironically, Gloria Jean has a lot of charm and surprisingly good chemistry with Fields; their scenes together allow him to exhibit a refreshingly pleasant side to his standard character. Her songs are all nicely done (if somewhat awkwardly inserted) and the movie within a movie technique provides an almost documentary behind the scenes look at film production techniques 65 years ago. Susan Miller supplements Gloria Jean's numbers with a fun jive arrangement of "Coming Through the Rye".
The climax features the most entertaining car chase sequence in movie history. It had to all be staged because there were no computer-generated effects in those days.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.