When W.C. Fields set out to make THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY in the spring of 1934, he had quite recently reached super-stardom in the movies, although having been a well-known stage presence for decades, both as a juggler and comedian. As such, it may not come off as surprising that he chose for his next story to look back upon his rough past, which partly consisted of humiliating treatment from managers, lousy payment, and less than average living conditions. At the turn of the last century, unless you had the name of Sarah Bernhardt, the theatre business, and vaudeville in particular, was regarded as the prime of indecency, a profession to which shame was associated.
Playing The Great McGonigle, Fields here pokes fun at the prejudices of which he probably was victimized in his youth; just like all of the characters he portrayed in his comedies, McGonigle has to suffer a constant lack of respect from everybody, except for the few poor fools who take his mask of sincerity and self-assurance seriously. Preparing his rather mediocre play in a small-town, he acquaints Mrs. Pepperday, wealthiest lady in town. Determined to have the woman pay for the set-up, he pretends to be in awe of her singing talents (or may I say attempts at singing). Meanwhile, his less eccentric daughter is gradually falling in love with a rich and charming boy who won't leave her, despite his own father's skepticism.
The story may sound simple, and so it is, but no less does Fields manage to perform quite a few of his funniest routines ever, while always remaining conscious of the old-fashioned setting which is essential to the mood of the film. Most well-known is probably McGonigle's noble attempts at hiding his understandable contempt for Mrs. Pepperday's baby boy Albert, who during dinner dips one of McGonigle's few valuable belongings, a watch, in a glass of molasses. Reminding himself of Pepperday's wealth, McGonigle drenches his fury behind a forced grin; "You should see him when nobody's around!" "Yeah, I'd like to catch, er, meet that li'l fellow when nobody's around..." Finally alone with the lad, Fields does a stunt which has come to symbolize his attitude towards children on film: kicking the baby in the rear end. Paramount was not pleased with this bit, fearing that the public would get upset, and sadly decided to add a glimpse of the baby smiling following the kick, in order to assure us that he's all right. This may diminish the big laugh somewhat, but it also demonstrates how Fields's frank humor was ahead of its time, forcing him to truly fight for his best ideas to be permitted once in a while, unlike today when comics can pretty much get away with anything. I like it better in the Fields manner, as he is able to show us exactly how vulgar he's inside without being overly vulgar from the outside; this is what makes his comedy timeless in my eyes, as it continues to suit our current era despite being faithful to the expectations of Fields's own time.
Anyway, shortly after McGonigle's revenge, Mrs Pepperday persuades him to attend an unforgettable ("unforgettable" being emphasized) singing performance of her's; it gets me in stitches every time how Fields repeatedly fails to subtly put an end to the horrible experience. However, despite all the hilarious sequences, including the parody on typical melo-dramas of the era which seems to be spot-on, the highlight of the film is not really a comedy act; towards the end, Fields gives room for what is the best documentation of his juggling skills we are likely to ever see. As a boy, Fields reportedly wanted to become the world's greatest juggler, and while I possess absolutely no talent whatsoever whereas juggling is concerned, this performance should make him at least a worthy candidate in my book.
There's no way getting around that THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY includes several of the very best moments with Fields, of which I have here only mentioned a few. In entirety, however, the film isn't quite on the same level as IT'S A GIFT and MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE, which I consider to be his very best work. As was the case with the Marx Brothers, and Laurel & Hardy at another studio, apparently Paramount did not feel confident that Fields's routines alone could do a feature-length film; in part they were right, as Fields did not bother to pay attention to story structure and such, preferring to write the comedy sequences only, and in that respect one should be grateful that other writers were hired to fill in the gasps. The sad thing is that these writers always chose to use the same sub-plot over and over again, involving a stereotypical romantic conflict which, in startling contrast to Fields, appears very dated today; one almost begs for the comedian to turn up again when he is not present. On the plus side, however, in THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY the sub-plot at least comes off as being relevant to the main story, at one point even providing Fields with an opportunity to reveal a softer, more complex aspect of his twisted character.
This is a film which deserves more recognition, just like The Great Man himself, by the way.
Playing The Great McGonigle, Fields here pokes fun at the prejudices of which he probably was victimized in his youth; just like all of the characters he portrayed in his comedies, McGonigle has to suffer a constant lack of respect from everybody, except for the few poor fools who take his mask of sincerity and self-assurance seriously. Preparing his rather mediocre play in a small-town, he acquaints Mrs. Pepperday, wealthiest lady in town. Determined to have the woman pay for the set-up, he pretends to be in awe of her singing talents (or may I say attempts at singing). Meanwhile, his less eccentric daughter is gradually falling in love with a rich and charming boy who won't leave her, despite his own father's skepticism.
The story may sound simple, and so it is, but no less does Fields manage to perform quite a few of his funniest routines ever, while always remaining conscious of the old-fashioned setting which is essential to the mood of the film. Most well-known is probably McGonigle's noble attempts at hiding his understandable contempt for Mrs. Pepperday's baby boy Albert, who during dinner dips one of McGonigle's few valuable belongings, a watch, in a glass of molasses. Reminding himself of Pepperday's wealth, McGonigle drenches his fury behind a forced grin; "You should see him when nobody's around!" "Yeah, I'd like to catch, er, meet that li'l fellow when nobody's around..." Finally alone with the lad, Fields does a stunt which has come to symbolize his attitude towards children on film: kicking the baby in the rear end. Paramount was not pleased with this bit, fearing that the public would get upset, and sadly decided to add a glimpse of the baby smiling following the kick, in order to assure us that he's all right. This may diminish the big laugh somewhat, but it also demonstrates how Fields's frank humor was ahead of its time, forcing him to truly fight for his best ideas to be permitted once in a while, unlike today when comics can pretty much get away with anything. I like it better in the Fields manner, as he is able to show us exactly how vulgar he's inside without being overly vulgar from the outside; this is what makes his comedy timeless in my eyes, as it continues to suit our current era despite being faithful to the expectations of Fields's own time.
Anyway, shortly after McGonigle's revenge, Mrs Pepperday persuades him to attend an unforgettable ("unforgettable" being emphasized) singing performance of her's; it gets me in stitches every time how Fields repeatedly fails to subtly put an end to the horrible experience. However, despite all the hilarious sequences, including the parody on typical melo-dramas of the era which seems to be spot-on, the highlight of the film is not really a comedy act; towards the end, Fields gives room for what is the best documentation of his juggling skills we are likely to ever see. As a boy, Fields reportedly wanted to become the world's greatest juggler, and while I possess absolutely no talent whatsoever whereas juggling is concerned, this performance should make him at least a worthy candidate in my book.
There's no way getting around that THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY includes several of the very best moments with Fields, of which I have here only mentioned a few. In entirety, however, the film isn't quite on the same level as IT'S A GIFT and MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE, which I consider to be his very best work. As was the case with the Marx Brothers, and Laurel & Hardy at another studio, apparently Paramount did not feel confident that Fields's routines alone could do a feature-length film; in part they were right, as Fields did not bother to pay attention to story structure and such, preferring to write the comedy sequences only, and in that respect one should be grateful that other writers were hired to fill in the gasps. The sad thing is that these writers always chose to use the same sub-plot over and over again, involving a stereotypical romantic conflict which, in startling contrast to Fields, appears very dated today; one almost begs for the comedian to turn up again when he is not present. On the plus side, however, in THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY the sub-plot at least comes off as being relevant to the main story, at one point even providing Fields with an opportunity to reveal a softer, more complex aspect of his twisted character.
This is a film which deserves more recognition, just like The Great Man himself, by the way.