Director: Norman Z. McLeod

Writers: Jack Cunningham; W. C. Fields

From a play: The Comic Supplement by J.P. McEvoy

Keywords: Comedy

Name	Occupation	Birth	Death	Known for
Spencer Charters	Actor	25-Mar-1875	25-Jan-1943	Character actor
W. C. Fields	Comic	29-Jan-1880	25-Dec-1946	The Bank Dick
Diana Lewis	Actor	18-Sep-1919	18-Jan-1997	Go West

REVIEWS

Review by vitandus (posted on 30-Sep-2005)

This is the quintessential Fields film and a piece of americana that compares favorably with Huckleberry Finn. Here, the Great Man plays the character that Tom Sawyer would have become if he had married Becky Thatcher. A superb story well told, with laughs abounding.

Fields must have deeply feared success. After this film, he managed to get through David Copperfield and then went off on a six-month bender that almost killed him. He revived for a few final bows as the decade ended and then gave himself up to the booze -- dying miserably.

It is interesting to note that the first decades of the Twentieth Century saw three great humorists (at least) fall prey to the blandishments of dry gin -- Finley Peter Dunne, Robert Benchley, and Fields.

I guess whisky took over about 1940 -- taking out Walt Kelly and a number of other superb humorists. Very sad.

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