User Reviews

W.C. Fields was a pioneer of the American cinema. As such, he was a true original who not only acted, but also wrote most of the material for his films. Mr. Fields left an important body of work for us to watch, laugh and admire.

His "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" was his last film. The film, although a bit dated, still has some sparks thanks to Mr. Fields, playing the Uncle Bill of the story. The film, directed by Edward C. Cline, still has a lot of laughs.

The film is a satire about the movie industry that Mr. Fields knew so well. Mr. Fields takes us behind the cameras to show us the craziness that is associated with making films. Of course, it is somewhat exaggerated as we don't believe what goes on at some of the Esoteric Studios.

Aside from Mr. Fields, Gloria Jean plays his niece, the sweet voiced girl appearing in one of the films in production. Also, Leon Errol, Margaret Dumont and some old pros are seen doing their best.

Imagine handing a studio executive a script in which your hero falls out of the open window of an airplane while chasing a whiskey bottle and lands atop a mountain where Mrs. Hemoglobin lives with her daughter (who has never seen a man) and her pet gorilla...this is part of a script which Fields hands to Director Franklin Pangborn in the film (and which we see enacted) and the same script Fields himself wrote under the pseudonym of Otis Criblecoblis.

If zany, off-the-wall, slightly surreal humor appeals to you (mixed with some irrelevant musical numbers from Gloria Jean that Universal probably forced Fields to include as part of his financing bargain), this cinematic oddity may be your ideal afternoon of fun--half the best lines are half-thrown away by Fields, so it pays to listen closely and enjoy The Great Man towards the end of his career, unfettered by convention and often very funny. No one has ever approached the distinctive comic style of this off-the-wall social critic, and with political correctness guiding most studio fare, it is doubtful that anyone will.

Never Give A Sucker An Even Break was W.C. Fields's last starring film and last one that he had complete creative control. All of his future film work would be guest appearances and specialties.

This film is as anarchistic as anything the Marx Brothers ever did, in fact it anticipates Monty Python by over 30 years. Most of it is Fields relating an idea for a screenplay to studio head Franklin Pangborn. This is where it gets positively surreal.

To cement the Marxian connection Fields gets to pay court to Groucho's favorite foil Margaret Dumont. But the relationship here is totally different. Margaret is always the butt of Groucho's bon mots half of which she confessed herself went over her head. With Fields as with other women like Kathleen Howard who henpecked him previously, the women dominate and Fields gets his points across, but mostly with pantomime and facial expression.

The film is also to showcase Universal's backup teenage soprano Gloria Jean. Remember at this time before Abbott&Costello score a hit with Buck Privates, Deanna Durbin was their number one star. But the best way to keep a star under control was to have a replacement waiting in the wings. That was Gloria Jean's function. She had done well with Bing Crosby in a film the previous year, If I Had My Way, that allowed a far better expression of her talents. She had a pleasing soprano voice and Fields lowered the cynicism quotient in his scenes with his 'niece'.

Still Never Give A Sucker An Even Break is a Bill Fields film all the way. Too bad this was the last film to give his talents full range.

Fields adds a commentary on the indignities of old age to his repertoire. Often more somber than his reputation -- and all the funnier because of it -- Fields here plays a version of himself trying to sell a script to a movie studio. So we see a drawling, slow-moving older fellow in the humiliating position of pitching an idea to a producer who isn't necessarily honored or interested. Fields's script is, of course, ridiculous, just as his ideas in real life must have seemed crazy to many a studio executive. We "see" the script played out as the producer reads it, giving Fields a chance to go through his paces -- delightful, as usual, even if his obviously failing health makes it melancholy at the same time. Leaving the meeting with his tail between his legs, Fields is lovingly embraced by his niece, Gloria Jean, who contrary to what you might think, is wonderful. Her love for her uncle, and all his eccentricities, is endearing throughout. What can one say about the Keystone Kops-like windup, except that they probably had to tack a conventional finish onto a very unusual movie? This was Fields's final full-length performance, as if he knew the end was near. A sad and funny sign-off by the best comedian in movie history.

NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK (Universal, 1941), directed by Edward Cline, stars the legendary comic, WC Fields, in his final starring role. While Fields' catchphrase title might indicate a circus story or one about a man cheating at cards, it's actually a satire on Hollywood, in fact, Fields poking fun of himself. In spite of some Hollywood in-jokes, two or three separate stories for the price of one, along with site gags lifted with some alterations taken from earlier Fields comedies to assure guaranteed belly laughs, this is probably the strangest comedies ever made, even for Fields, and it's funny. Actually, for a movie without a real story, it's quite funny. It even features teenage soprano Gloria Jean acting as Fields' niece. She's not really funny but adds that certain charm into the story, even when frequently saying to herself or looking directly to the camera, "My Uncle Bill, and I still love him." She takes time out to sing a couple of songs, either straight through or with interruptions by others, and even with that, it's still funny. In short, for a movie that bears no resemblance to a movie, it's very funny.

From an original story by Otis Griblecoblis (guess who that is), the scenario revolves around W.C. Fields playing himself as he goes to Esoteric Studios for a conference with production head (Franklin Pangborn playing himself), to present a screenplay he has written for his next production. After Pangborn reads through the script (in which Fields, Jean and Leon Errol enact their roles through add in sequences for the movie audience), he finds it an insult to a man's intelligence, even his, for that the story, consisting of Fields traveling on an airplane with his niece, consisting of compartment beds, later to jump overboard from an observation deck to retrieve his liquor bottle that has fallen, landing unharmed on the mountaintop where lives the middle-aged Daisy Hemogloben (Margaret Dumont), the richest woman in the world, and her youthful daughter, Ouliotta (Susan Miller), who has never seen a man, which leads Fields to teach her a kissing game. Because Mrs. Hemoglobem is worth millions, Fields finds himself competing with Leon Errol for her hand in marriage. After the script is rejected, Fields drives away from the studio with Gloria, drops her off at a drug store, which is followed by Fields' assisting a middle-aged woman he believes to be in labor, on a mad drive through the streets over to the maternity hospital. If this lengthy car chase involving police cars and fire trucks looks familiar, much of it was reused for the Abbott and Costello comedy, IN SOCIETY (1944).

Many years following the initial release of NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK, WC Fields still has loyal fans who continue to love "Uncle Bill" as Gloria Jean does in the story. Sadly, age has caught up with Fields, looking older than his 62 years, being physically heavier and reciting his lines in a slower manner than usual, but in spite of these handicaps that marked the end of his career in a leading role, Fields proves to still be capable in being funny, even through a story without a plot tied together with a series of sight gags, ranging from Fields' encounter with a snooty waitress (Jody Gilbert) in a diner, to dealing with two mischievous boy actors named Buddy and Butch (Kenneth Brown and Billy Lenhart), to one of the funniest car rides ever put on film.

Soundtrack includes Gloria Jean singing "Estrellita" and Johann Strauss's "Voices of Spring," Russians singing "Ochye Tchornia" and Susan Miller doing a jive number to "Comin' Through the Rye."

Others in the cast include Mona Barrie Pangborn's wife; Charles Lang as Peter Carson, the engineer; and in smaller roles, from Carlotta Monti to character actors Irving Bacon and Bill Wolfe. Anne Nagel, who appears in the opening scene as Gloria Jean's mother, Madame Gorgeous, was originally supposed to have a scene where she is killed in a trapeze fall while working in a circus film, leaving Fields as Gloria Jean's guardian, but this piece ended up on the cutting room floor, leaving no explanation in the final print to the disappearance of Gorgeous and Fields' sudden guardianship of Gloria Jean.

NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK should make a good double feature with THE BANK DICK (1940) mainly due to certain similarities, such as Fields starring in both, each having the same opening and closing musical score, as well as the Fields introduction in the story as he's standing on the street looking at the billboard advertisement that reads W.C. Fields in THE BANK DICK.

Of the handful of movies made throughout the 1940s to feature Gloria Jean, NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK is the only one to have survived on the television markets the longest, solely because it has WC Fields, whose comedies have become legendary. A delightful young actress/singer, Gloria Jean was quite popular in her day but as fate would have it, with each passing decade, much of her film work, mostly second features, are hardly shown anymore. Although Gloria Jean is largely forgotten by today's standards, at least there is a movie of hers to still be in circulation today, and it's this one. Available on either video cassette and/or DVD format, NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK, which formerly played on the American Movie Classics cable channel from 1995 to 1999, followed by its Turner Classic Movies debut in 2001, continues to be a funny movie as well as a confusing one. What was the story about? We'll never know for sure. Our Uncle Bill ... and we still love him. (***)

W.C. Fields movies are always filled with his unique brand of humor, none more so that than "Sucker". If you see only one Fields film this should be it. The chase scene at the end is one of the best from the 1940's and still holds up decently today.

One of the most refreshingly silly films that ever came out of Hollywood. It's just a bit sad to note that it's W.C.'s last, but his acerbic wit and inventiveness is always on display. Note that very funny exchange with him and the over-sized waitress (Jody Gilbert), his foil in timing and delivery. "There's something very big about you." "Why, thank you, my dear". Her retort: "It's your nose!". His sotto voce response, when she turns around and starts cleaning the counter: "There's something very big about YOU, too!" Gloria Jean is sweet as his niece who takes him, foibles and all. Her style is much like Deanna Durbin's (another teen actress/singer of the time), and perhaps she was being groomed to be her rival. Her scenes with the prissy producer (portrayed by prissy actor), Franklin Pangborn, show some normalcy in the midst of the chaos on the set. And anyone who ever thought that the regal Margaret Dumont, the Marx Brothers' favorite comic target, never had a sense of humor, need only see her as Mrs. Hemoglobin, living in a mythical country without men. Made up with a severe hairstyle and Groucho-esquire eyebrows, she allows herself to look and act silly with the best of them, and has fun doing so. If you enjoy Fields (and I always have), as a one-of-a-kind talent - as versatile in drama (ie: "David Copperfield"), as in comedic mayhem, then you're bound to enjoy this film for its sheer silliness as a much-needed stress breaker.

Without doubt, "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" is Fields at his absolute best. The "plotline" is so completely beyond belief that it provides the nearly perfect vehicle for Fields' unique and irreverent style with its constant stream of sight gags and one-liners. His mumbled verbal interactions with Madame Hemoglobin (Margaret Dumont) and the "tiny waitress" in the café (Jody Gilbert) are as memorably irreverent as anything he had done previously and are worth listening to closely to fully appreciate. The constantly changing scenes and situations in this film provide ample opportunity for his verbal and visual "charms" to be fully utilized, and in my opinion this is his finest and most consistently funny effort.

If you haven't seen this film, give it a viewing or two. If you are a true Fields fan, you'll enjoy it as much as or more so than any of his other more well-known offerings.

I watched this one first from the second of Universal's W.C. Fields Box Set because of its almost legendary status for being "completely insane", as Leonard Maltin so aptly puts it; incidentally, the film also turned out to be The Great Man's last starring vehicle (based on his own story, credited to Otis Criblecoblis). It's amazing how Fields' essentially unlikable personality has endured over the years: he's the only actor who has made a career out of constantly dwelling on his vices, i.e. the "golden nectar", and pet hates (especially children). Besides, his comic style is so personal as to be incoherent at times - but that's part of his genius: who else could come up with such a bizarre line as "How'd you like to hide the egg and gurgitate a few saucers of mocha java?" and make it sound so utterly hilarious through his unique delivery?

While self-references such as abound in this film weren't uncommon in the old Hollywood, not to mention its anything-goes attitude revolving around a wisp of plot - think Universal's own HELLZAPOPPIN' (1942), for instance, with Olsen & Johnson - Fields was the only one among the great comedians who was willing to experiment in this way; in fact, some of the cast members (including the star) play themselves and, at one point, Fields is even seen admiring the poster of his latest success THE BANK DICK (1940) while two boys exclaim to one another what a bummer it was!

The end result is perhaps patchy overall but often uproarious nonetheless: there are too many pauses for song - though Gloria Jean herself is pretty and charming, and the jive rendition of "Comin Thru' The Rye" by a girl who has been sheltered from the world all her life is an inspired touch. Among Fields' comic foils in the film are Franklin Pangborn (as a flustered studio head), Marx Bros. regular Margaret Dumont (playing the grande dame even in her mountaintop retreat) and Leon Errol (as Fields' rival for the hand of wealthy man-hating Dumont). Incidentally, the receptionist in Pangborn's office is played by Carlotta Monti - Fields' then-companion.

The film's best scenes and gags include: the diner sequence with Fields exchanging insults with a heavy-set waitress; the disruption of Gloria's rehearsal of a musical number, over which Pangborn presides, by the set construction crew; Pangborn reading Fields' surreal script (in which, among other things, he dives off an aeroplane - whose interior and rear deck resemble those of a train's - after the gin bottle he accidentally drops, and again from a parapet when Dumont suggests that they kiss!); Dumont's fanged mastiff (an equally fake-looking gorilla also turns up here); and, of course, the classic and brilliantly-sustained chase finale (which was later lifted for the Abbott & Costello vehicle IN SOCIETY [1944]). The dialogue is equally great - including one of the star's best-remembered lines: "I was in love with a beautiful blonde once: she drove me to drink - that's the one thing I'm indebted to her for"; he even throws in a dig at the censor, when a scene that was supposed to take place in a bar had to be reset to a soda fountain!

P.S. At the end, Gloria leaves with Fields and he tells her that he had promised her mother he would take care of the girl; the mother, a trapeze artist, appears at the beginning of the film but her death scene (to which this brief exchange refers) was subsequently deleted.

By the way, I'm again baffled by the fact that I've yet to come across any online review for this wonderful set; also, I'm personally not bothered by the Collection's relatively high price-point - considering that we're getting, at least, 4 comedic gems (besides, by having only one film per disc, we don't risk the freezing issues which plagued Universal's Abbott & Costello Franchise releases and which have so far kept me from purchasing them).

WC Fields is still funny. The musical numbers drag it down. Way down. There just aren't enough scenes of comedy. If you watch, be prepared to fast forward.

Finally tracked down a videotape of this little classic, and was extremely impressed. A fitting send-off for Fields, as it takes the insanity of the motion picture business head-on, and lets his more "off-the-wall" humor take center-stage. Like the best of the Marx Brothers' classics, there's not much plot to get in the way of the laughs--just gag after gag after gag. My favorite scene? Uncle Bill going into a soda shoppe, and remarking to the camera, "This was supposed to be set in a saloon, but the censor wouldn't allow it. It oughta play just as well..."

As the years tick by, it seems that modern audiences have less and less time for the comedies of the earlier decades of motion pictures. Certainly here in the UK you'd be hard-pushed nowadays to find any of the output of Chaplin, Keaton, the Marx Brothers or Laurel & Hardy on television. As for Harold Lloyd or Harry Langdon - forget it.

W C Fields has, perhaps, never enjoyed a particularly strong following on this side of the Atlantic but even so, there was a time when his films would populate the TV schedules. That time seems past and Fields is unquestionably becoming something of an obscurity. The image of an ageing, obese comedian fell out of favour when audiences turned their backs on once-popular stars of more recent times such as Benny Hill and Bernard Manning and the liquor-loving lechery of W C Fields in this context is unlikely to find much support.

Fields oughtn't be so casually dismissed. He was a strong identifiable and quite unique character on screen, and a comedian with a sharp repartee who knew his craft. "Never Give A Sucker An Even Break" dates from the latter stages of his career as ill health was beginning to take a grip of him, but his wit is still on top form and he is still able to engage in a surprising amount of physical comedy.

The film betrays the notion that it had a rather turbulent production. The original script apparently contained scenes that are not even alluded to in the finished picture, which would have expanded upon the relationship between Fields and his niece (played by Gloria Jean). Several actors who allegedly shot scenes for this film are wholly absent from the final cut. And at one point even Fields himself breaks the fourth wall to actually tell the watching audience of a scene which was excised at the behest of the censors! What we are left with is a slightly disjointed mess. The plot, such as it is, involves Fields visiting a film studio to try and sell his latest script to a producer. Along the way we are treated to glimpses of the rather chaotic life at the studio where Fields' niece is employed as an up-and-coming star.

As the producer reads through Fields' rather far-fetched story idea, the events in the script are related through live action so we actually get to 'see' the movie as Fields' character envisaged it, albeit with interruptions from the producer.

This story-within-a-story approach is novel for the time, and is an interesting mirror of the true genesis of "Never Give A Sucker An Even Break", but it is also rather limiting. The 'Esoteric Studios' plot is simply too weak to hold up a feature film and is far more the sort of situation you'd expect to find in a Three Stooges short subject.

Much more interesting is the 'inner story', that is the plot of Fields' script that the producer reads, which concerns Fields falling out of an aeroplane and landing in the isolated mountain-top residence of a man-hating woman and her beautiful daughter who has grown to adulthood without even being aware of the existence of men. The arrival of Fields in this situation is ripe for comedy and has great potential, but that potential is barely tapped as too many possibilities are spurned and Fields leaves the scene all too quickly.

Fields is easily the most interesting character in this film. Unfortunately too many of the others are found wanting and the sequences where Fields is absent suffer badly because they rely on weak comedy from others (notably Franklin Pangborn as the film producer, and juvenile double-act Butch and Buddy) and rather superfluous musical scenes in which the very capable Gloria Jean sings numbers which are badly dated now.

The film ends rather abruptly after a lengthy car chase sequence which again has little relevance to the plot, and seems contrived to give the film a more spectacular conclusion, but in reality it's not a conclusion at all - whilst Fields' character was determined to reach a specific destination the rather thin plot, sadly, was not going anywhere and so the film just - well, ends.

I've watched many older films, of many genres, and found them wonderfully enjoyable. Everyone has their personal preferences and opinions - mine is that this particular film doesn't begin make the cut. In a runtime of 70 minutes, the plot (such as it is) waits more than twenty to start to show up. Plot or not, the length is filled with various antics to fashion the entertainment; sadly, the strength of that entertainment is flagging. We get a lot of absurdism, slapstick, physical comedy, sight gags, exaggerated characters, and a measure of cleverness in the dialogue to provide comedy, and it's a small treat to hear Gloria Jean sing, even if that singing serves no specific purpose. None of these possible hooks are any more than passingly amusing. Instances of wild cacophony in the audio is supposed to impart a chaotic ridiculousness in service to the fun, but instead these are simply grating on the ears, and a source of aggravation. The pace is lethargic, and comedic timing often feels absent. Even star W. C. Fields, legend of wit that he is, gives a performance I can only describe as soporific. Maybe that tired delivery was deliberate, but if so, it was a mistake.

It's not that there's nothing enjoyable about 'Never give a sucker an even break'; there are sparks of suitably diverting gaiety herein. It's that not one of these sparks ever grows into any but the smallest and most brief of flames. If the perfect comedy film is a swan dive, then I can only describe this as a belly flop. All the best potential in the movie - the best chances at humor, the most careful scene writing, the most brilliant production design or costume design - is as flat as a piece of paper. From start to finish the feature is unrelentingly dull, and the ticking of the digital timer reminds one of the classic adage, "a watched pot never boils." Not only can I not imagine recommending this to anyone, but I would frankly be embarrassed to sit and watch it with another person.

To read even fleetingly of the production's history, one gathers that the final product may have reflected wry commentary from Fields on the studio system that dominated Hollywood at the time. If so, that underlying intelligence is wholly subsumed within the near-absolute tedium the picture represents. Much more evident is that the story and screenplay went through a number of rejected renditions before the victor emerged - if 'Never give a sucker an even break,' as it presents, were actually the complete vision of a single writer or writing team, then it is an unquestionably sorry screenplay that should be recalled as a mark of shame. For that matter, too, very importantly - I've seen some of the other credits of director Edward F. Cline, and enjoyed them. His contribution here, arranging shots and scenes, guiding the cast, and overseeing the production, feels like a colossal gaffe.

Other viewers will watch this and find it to be a barrel of laughs. I watch it, and I feel like I'm the sucker. I strongly suggest promptly looking the other way if you come across it - but if your curiosity drives you to watch 'Never give a sucker an even break,' I urge caution and fastidiously tempered expectations.

One of Fields' best (is there anything that's not?), Never Give a Sucker an Even Break is basically his swan song. Never again would he star in a motion picture. And it is a glorious swan song, nearly as funny as his greatest film, The Bank Dick. It may even be his second best film, although several fight for that position: The Old-Fashioned Way, It's a Gift, You're Telling Me, The Man on the Flying Trapeze, etc.

In a somewhat mournful way, the plot revolves around Fields, playing himself, trying to sell a script to a producer played by Franklin Pangborn (a bit confusing, seeing he retains his real name; Franklin Pangborn was an actor, though, not a producer). The film Fields wants to make is a lot like many other classic comedies: a bunch of gags strung together in a haphazard fashion. Part of the joke is that the plot doesn't exist as such. Tastes were changing at the time, and Pangborn is flabberghasted at the nonsensical plot. The funniest moments of Never Give a Sucker an Even Break take place as Fields' own screenplay plays out.

Like a lot of classic comedies, this one is also part musical, but unlike those same comedies, the music in this film isn't painful to sit through (I'm lookin' at you, Marx Brothers!). It's actually quite marvelous. The songs are sung by Gloria Jean, a teenager playing Fields' niece. She is beautiful and a wonderful singer. She's also quite funny when the film gives her that chance (her audition for Pangborn is gold). Also joining the cast is the Marx Brothers' favorite foil, Margaret Dumont, playing a woman who hates men so much she brought her daughter up on top of a steep precipice to raise her without the impediment of that gender.

This is possibly the last gasp of vaudevillian humor in movies, and to my mind the best beyond the early Marx brothers movies — which were just filmed acts.

But this is something quite different, firmly a film, a folded film, the kind I like.

The deal is simple. Fields at this time was an unreliable drunk whose humor was considered outdated. He could only get a movie financed if he was able to use it to feature a young actress whose presence is completed unrelated to what he wants to do.

So. Fields writes and makes a movie about what? Himself as an unreliable drunk who cannot get a movie made unless it features a young girl. A third of the movie is a traditional Fields movie, with mistaken punches, punchline gags and his obnoxious humor. A car chase.

A third of the movie is more of the same, except focused on the storyline of Fields going over his script. The producer keeps denigrating the story.

And the final third is the movie he makes, with fantastic effects.

All three of these have Fields being Fields and Gloria Jean shoehorned in, in the most intensionally jarring ways with musical numbers and endearing face shots.

Whether you like Fields' humor is a matter of taste. I do like it because it is so honest. This isn't an act: he really was drunk and belligerent, closing down production frequently. But whether you like the humor or not, you have to admire the way this thing is constructed. It is all about jumping among these three narrative stances, and the movie within the movie within is all based on plot devices that feature jumping among scenarios.

This was, in my opinion an influential movie in furthering the notions of folded narrative in film.

Ted's Evaluation -- 4 of 3: Every cineliterate person should experience this.

The movie centers around W. C. Fields, playing a fictional version of himself, trying to pitch a script at Esoteric Studios. The purpose is presumably to provide a vehicle for Fields' young star-in-the-making niece, but it's actually an absurd story which features Fields himself. As we watch the film within the film, we're occasionally interrupted by producer Franklin Pangborn (an actor also using his real name here) telling us just how ridiculous the movie we're watching is.

With some nice behind-the-scenes shots and a completely irreverent attitude, this movie clearly had the potential to be a wonderful satire of the film industry, but it would've required much better dialog and a younger W. C. Fields to make that happen. Although it's a nice touch to have Pangborn telling us in the film itself just how bad the film is, there is nothing particularly insightful or witty about his remarks, nor is there any indication of satirical intent in the many clichéd and overworked gags seen throughout the film. The fact that there is no real effort to connect the final chase sequence to the plot is no doubt seen by many as part of this movie's charm, but there was no framework created which would let me see that as a positive. As far as Fields himself goes, it's hard to believe that only one year passed between making the "Bank Dick" and this film; he seems to have aged at least a decade. The Fields magic is missing through most of the movie, leaving him looking clumsy and tired.

In spite of these flaws, the movie is nevertheless a fun way to spend an hour and fifteen minutes. Many of the more absurd scenes are quite memorable, my favorite being Fields diving off the open-air observation deck of a luxury airplane in flight so as to retrieve a liquor bottle which fell from the railing. Some of the gags hit their mark, completely unexpected things keep popping up, and occasionally Fields is able to place himself in a situation where he can at least come close to conjuring up the mannerisms and expressions which made him such a brilliant comic actor in the past. The final sequence may have nothing to do with the rest of the film, but it's still an outstanding comic chase scene. To sum it up, this is an entertaining and somewhat memorable film which moves briskly from start to finish, but it's unfortunately not a particularly good one.

It was W.C. Fields' last lead role in a film - and his last knock at the system that gave him immortality. In THE BANK DICK Fields took several aims at making movies - from his drunken film director A Pismo Clam to his screenplay that was better than GONE WITH THE WIND (which he actually does sell at the end of the film). But there were many targets in THE BANK DICK. NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK is a film about making movies. Fields is trying to sell his next picture to Esoteric Pictures, which is run by Franklin Pangborn. The crazy story line begins with him proudly seeing an advertisement billboard for THE BANK DICK, only to find two little brats razzing it. He and his niece, Gloria Jean, are both trying to get into business with Esoteric, and Pangborn is actually willing to sign up Gloria Jean - but she slaps him when he bad mouths her Uncle Bill. We see a rehearsal at Esoteric for Gloria Jean, and see the incongruities of the studio system when Pangborn, carried away by the music, finds himself also carried away by two actors dressed as Nazi soldier goose stepping. So it goes throughout the film, even ending with a mad car chase to get a woman to her destination - except she is taken to a maternity hospital that she did not want to go to. But, as THE BANK DICK showed, all comedies should end with a mad chase.

There are references to other comics in the film, especially Fields' rivals the Marx Brothers. His interview with Pangborn is interrupted by Madame Pastrami, the cleaning lady - whom an angry Fields calls "a Groucho Marx" (actually she's a "Chico"). And the leading lady he tries to romance for her money in his film - Mrs. Hemoglobin - is none other than Margaret Dumont, Groucho's usual girlfriend. Field's past with Ziegfeld is brought in too (although not his film career it led to his film career). His rival for Miss Dumont is Leon Erroll, his old fellow Ziegfeld comic. One also wonders if the Marxes and Ziegfeld are the only references thrown in. The incongruous appearance of an ape on top of Mrs. Hemoglobin's mountain retreat is similar to the ape on the swinging rope bridge in the alps in Laurel & Hardy's SWISS MISS.

The film lacks structure, so it is not as well received as THE BANK DICK, IT'S A GIFT, of THE OLD FASHIONED WAY. But Field's crazy script raises an issue - do we really need structure to enjoy a funny film? Years before Monty Python discovered that a sketch did not need to reach a logical conclusion to be successful, Fields demonstrated it in this full length film. He finds structure a nuisance. Look at how he openly tells the audience that his sequence in an ice cream parlor should have been in a bar. And the audience appreciates the hint.

Nothing has to be straightforward, because we understand that everything means something else. Fields sings of chickens and their legs in Kansas, and we realize that the song is not about poultry, but about the legs of pretty ladies (like the stewardesses who smile while he sings). The film flows on, making a mockery of film making but celebrating it at the same time.

This was my first view of NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK--and although one can quibble with the long, long title for a breezy comedy of this sort--you can't say the film doesn't provide a number of well-deserved laughs.

W.C. FIELDS brings his insanely constructed script to director FRANKLIN PANGBORN who, despite his protestations over the silliness of many of the scenes, keeps reading it. We see the movie-within-the-movie taking shape on the screen and can well understand Pangborn's protests. However, it's insanely funny, especially since the story is peppered with talent like LEON ERROL, MARGARET DUMONT, IRVING BACON and others.

GLORIA JEAN is featured prominently as Fields' niece and given plenty of opportunity to show that she had a talented way with operatic ditties. The rehearsal scene with Pangborn as workers continue construction on a set being readied for the next day, leads to some of the funniest moments in the whole story.

The film ends with a mad car chase to get what Fields supposes is a pregnant woman to a nearby hospital--hilariously staged with split second timing and some truly dangerous stunts. The chase and various other set pieces, along with all the witty one-liners from Fields delivered in his usual dry manner, are enough to keep you highly amused throughout.

This is my favorite W.C. Fields film because of its surrealistic and sometimes outright off-beat directorial style. Fortunately, there is no plot here, just "Uncle Bill" acting at his looniest best. The scene where he jumps out of an airplane should be an all time classic.

Expecting another humorous film, a la "You Can't Cheat An Honest Man," I was disappointed in this W.C. Fields effort. I just didn't find it that funny or, to give him a even break, not up to his standards.

Oh, it had a few funny segments such as Fields jumping out of an airplane and the cool Keystone Cops-like chase scene at the end. It also had a cute 13-year- old Gloria Jean, who showed us a good voice for a young girl. However, that alto voice is a bit too high for me.

There were several songs in this film and none of them were any good. Most of the humor was Three Stooges-like stuff and it wasn't very funny. The Stooges did better at that sort of thing.

Sorry to see Fields go out like this (his last film.) In the end, spending your money buying this film proves the title, us being the "sucker."

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.

Fields' final starring role before chronic alcoholism began to affect his health is a virtually plotless mish-mash of often surreal ideas. Some hit, some miss, but Fields' wit and originality are constant throughout. Fifteen-year-old Gloria Jean provides wholesome support.

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.