The very slender plot of this unusual W.C. Fields vehicle centers on the antics of the "Great McGonigle" (Fields), a con artist in charge of a theatrical troupe that tours the country performing that staple of late 19th century melodrama, "The Drunkard." Always one step ahead of the law, McGonigle and Company arrive in a small town where they encounter Cleopatra Pepperday, a wealthy widow with acting ambitions (played by Jan Duggan, one of the funniest and most memorable of Fields's female foils) who bankrolls the struggling thespians in exchange for a part in the play; meanwhile, McGonigle's daughter (Judith Allen) is pursued romantically by a wealthy college student (Joe Morrison) and Fields gets the opportunity to show off his physical schtick with Duggan, Baby LeRoy and others. This offering is divided into three chunks: the plot itself, several scenes from "The Drunkard" enacted in what appears to be an attempt to recreate the manner in which a fifth-rate company would have performed such a piece at that time in history, and an extended epilogue of sorts in which Fields demonstrates the juggling prowess he mastered over his decades in vaudeville. No matter. Fields delivers consistent belly laughs and toward the end a marvelously understated bit of fatherly emotion.
Review of The Old Fashioned Way
