IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

Although W.C. Fields is mainly remembered as a verbal comedian, he began his career as a pantomime juggler, and his comedic performances were always heightened by the physical dexterity and expressive gestures that he developed on the stage.  Those skills were especially invaluable for the twelve films that “The Great Man” (Field’s nickname) made during the silent era, most of which have been lost due to disinterest and disintegration.  Luckily, one of the best and most important films of Fields’ silent output, It’s the Old Army Game (1926), survives today for us to analyze and enjoy.

Fields portrays (the somewhat salaciously named) Elmer Prettywillie, a small-town pharmacist beset with large-scale frustrations, including his nagging sister and her brat of a kid, annoying customers, and uncooperative inanimate objects of all kinds.  Prettywillie’s lovely shop assistant (legendary silent beauty Louise Brooks) gets the harried shopkeeper even further in over his head when she encourages him to take part in a land-selling scheme being promoted by a slick salesman (George Parker).  The druggist helps the salesman make a heap of cash, selling his parcels of land, but when a detective hauls the salesman out of town, it’s Elmer who is left holding the bag.

During most of Fields’ silent career, he was frustrated at either being relegated to secondary parts or working with filmmakers that didn’t understand his character.  It’s the Old Army Game was a notable exception.  It was the first feature in which Fields was trusted with star billing and a share of creative control.  The Great Man took advantage of the opportunity and packed the film with material cannibalized from his popular stage sketches.  The resulting film is disjointed (as were most of the comedian’s subsequent movies), but it is undeniably funny.  For the first time, audiences were able to see the seeds of Fields’ comic persona–an excessively harassed everyman, often displaying ill temper in the face of simpletons, nagging relatives, and obnoxious children.  The put-upon family man character that he portrayed in It’s the Old Army Game was the prototype for the character that he would later play in his best features, such as It’s a Gift (1934), The Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935), and The Bank Dick (1940).

It’s the Old Army Game also provides the first look at material that Fields would hone and present in revised form in sound-era short subject The Pharmacist (1933) and his most celebrated feature, It’s a Gift (1934).  Fans of It’s a Gift will instantly recognize an early version of the classic “back porch” scene, in which Fields is constantly interrupted as he tries to get some shuteye on an unsteady porch swing, as well as a version of the destructive picnic that the family takes on a private lawn.  While the “back porch” routine and other familiar bits were funnier in Fields’ later movies, benefiting from the sound of The Great Man’s distinctive nasal mutterings, it is fascinating to see these scenes in versions that are likely much closer to how The Great Man performed them on stage (including the clip-on stage mustache that he disposed with in the sound era).  It’s the Old Army Game also provides dedicated Fields fanatics like myself with a unique opportunity to focus solely on The Great Man’s comic physicality.  However, this silent feature is not a moldy relic that is only of interest due to its historic importance.  It’s a fast, funny feature that is quite amusing in its own right.  It should appeal to Fields fans and newbies alike.

As the creator of a previous website, Booze Movies: The 100 Proof Film Guide, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that in addition to being the greatest comedian in motion picture history, W.C. Fields was also filmdom’s greatest proponent of the drinking lifestyle.  It’s the Old Army Game provides only a few tantalizing hints of the alky side of The Great Man’s character.  In an early scene, a customer asks Prettywillie for “something for the hip,” and before selling bootleg booze to the thirsty patron, the clever druggist uses an electric fan to check under the man’s suit coat for a badge that would indicate a Prohibition agent.  The only other suggestion of imbibing comes during the film’s climactic chase.  As townspeople try to outrun the druggist, Prettywillie tosses objects from his pockets to lighten his load.  The only possession that he doesn’t discard is his flask, which he quickly returns to his back pocket.  Some things are more important than the threat of jail.

USA/B&W-75m./Dir: Edward Sutherland/Wr: Thomas J. Geraghty, J. Clarkson Miller, J.P. McEvoy, W.C. Fields, William LeBaron, Ralph Spence/Cast: W.C. Fields, Louise Brooks, William Gaxton, Mickey Bennett, Blanche Ring, Mary Foy, Elise Cavanna

For Fans of: If you love Fields’ sound features, you’re bound to love It’s the Old Army Game too.

Video: Kino Lorber will release a Blu-ray of It's the Old Army Game (1926) on March 13th.  The disc is mastered in 2K from 35mm film elements preserved by The Library of Congress.  The film and some of the title cards contain a few scratches and specks that are to be expected from a 92 year-old film, but the image is sharp and provides the best possible viewing experience.

Blu-ray Extras Include:

• Audio commentary by film historian James L. Neibaur, author of The W.C. Fields Films
• A very appropriate, new organ score written and performed by Ben Model

Streaming: Low resolution copies of the film can be found streaming on YouTube and elsewhere, but they are nowhere near as sharp and clear as the Kino Lorber Blu-ray.

More to Explore: If you want to experience more of the silent-era Fields, Kino Lorber will also release  Running Wild (1927) on Blu-ray on March 13th.  And the best of The Great Man’s talkies are collected within Universal’s DVD set, W.C. Fields: Comedy Essentials Collection.

Trivia: The film was directed by Edward Sutherland, who would re-team with Fields in the sound era to helm International House (1933), Mississippi (1935), and Poppy (1936), all of which are gems.

For More Info: Consult The W.C. Fields Films by James L. Neibaur and W. C. Fields: A Life on Film by Fields’ grandson, Ronald J. Fields.