IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

Kino Lorber Studio Classics has given classic comedy lovers an early Christmas gift with the November 9th Blu-ray debuts of three hilarious movies by W.C. Fields — The Old Fashioned Way (1934), It’s a Gift (also 1934), and The Bank Dick (1940). If you’ve never seen a W.C. Fields film, or even if you are generally allergic to black & white movies, I highly recommend that you step out of your safety zone and give these comedies a try. William Claude Dukenfield, better known as W.C. Fields, popularized both cringe comedy and misanthropic humor, so his comedy feels particularly modern. His influence can be felt on the most intelligent and subversive film and television comedy that followed. Such properties as Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, Seinfeld, Groundhog Day, Ghost World, Sideways, Bad Santa, The Office, Curb your Enthusiasm, and Veep would be unthinkable had Fields not previously fought the censors and pushed the boundaries of politically incorrect comedy. The three titles being released on Blu-ray in November provide a perfect introduction to “the Great Man,” as Fields liked to be called. I hope you’ll pick up all three, but let’s begin with the earliest release, The Old Fashioned Way (1934).

While W.C. Fields had been an audience favorite in Paramount’s all-star comedies, such as Million Dollar Legs (1932), If I Had a Million (1932), International House (1933), and Six of a Kind (1934), the studio heads were unconvinced that the comedian could carry a feature on his own. However, when Fields’ first solo talkie feature, You’re Telling Me (1934), scored at the box office, Paramount allowed the Great Man even more creative control on his next film. Not only would Fields be allowed solo “star billing” in the movie. He would also be allowed to submit the story. As a result, Fields fashioned the first feature comedy of the talkie era that he could truly call his own, The Old Fashioned Way.

The film, set in 1897, stars Fields as Mark Antony McGonigle, the dishonest head of a traveling theatrical company. The Great McGonigle, as he is more often called, leaves a trail of bad notices and unpaid bills in his wake, as he moves his troupe from town to town performing the creaky, Victorian melodrama, The Drunkard. While the sheriffs of several municipalities are set on shutting down the show, a rich, spotlight-seeking widow, Cleopatra Pepperday (Jan Duggan), convinces them to allow the show to go on, because McGonigle has promised her a role in the play — a promise that McGonigle has no intention of keeping. There’s also a side story involving McGonigle’s daughter (Judith Allen) and a rich suitor, but that is a mere distraction from the joy of watching Fields expertly dupe rubes of all stripes.

The Great Man often portrayed charlatans and hucksters in his films, based on the crooked men that cheated him during his early days on the stage. The Old Fashioned Way is my personal favorite of those movies. Not only does it contain McGonigle, Fields’ most loveable rogue. The picture also features W.C.’s classic battle with child-actor, Baby LeRoy. McGonigle absorbs numerous indignities at the hands of the toddler, including having his pocket watch soaked in molasses, while other adults are observing. However, as soon as he has the brat alone, he gives the kid a solid kick in the pants. No other comic of the time (and few since) could get away with booting a small child and make the audience love him all the more for it, but Fields pulled it off with ease.

Like an olive that provides the finishing touch to a martini, The Old Fashioned Way contains a topper that is one of the most magical moments in Fields’ filmography. At the conclusion of the troupe’s performance of The Drunkard, McGonigle juggles hats, balls, canes, and cigar boxes for the audience. It is the only filmed record of the Great Man performing a portion of the legendary juggling act that first brought him fame on the Vaudeville stage. On celluloid, W.C. rarely displayed more than a hint of the dexterity of his nimble fingers — a flip of a cane here, the twirl of a hat there — because he feared that he had lost much of his skill over time through his love of strong drink. Luckily, he made an exception in this case. The film is worth watching for this jaw-dropping sequence alone.

In reality, much of the original story that Fields submitted for The Old Fashioned Way (under the pseudonym of Charles Bogle) was cribbed from prior projects. The basic outline of the story is very similar to an unsuccessful silent, Two Flaming Youths, which W.C. had starred in with Chester Conklin back in 1926; and the main character of McGonigle bares more than a passing resemblance to the role of Professor Eustace McGargle, the huckster he had portrayed to great acclaim in the Broadway play Poppy. However, while the story outline may have been largely stolen, Fields was able to improve upon the source material with copious ad-libbing and a willingness to push the boundaries of disreputable behavior (while still maintaining audience sympathies). As a consequence, The Old Fashioned Way is much greater than the sum of its purloined parts.

USA/B&W-71m./Dir: William Beaudine/Wr: Garnett Weston & Jack Cunningham, from an original story by Charles Bogle (W.C. Fields)/Cast: W. C. Fields, Baby LeRoy, Joe Morrison, Judith Allen, Jan Duggan, Nora Cecil, Tammany Young

For Fans of: If you like the work of other classic film comedians, such as the Marx Brothers or Abbott & Costello, you owe it to yourself to give “The Great Man” a try. I’d suggest viewing It’s a Gift and The Bank Dick first, as they are better introductions to Fields’ comedy, but The Old Fashioned Way is an excellent film in its own right.

Video: As mentioned above, Kino Lorber Studio Classics will release The Old Fashioned Way, It’s a Gift, and The Bank Dick individually on Blu-ray on November 9th. Of the three films, The Old Fashioned Way benefits the least from the upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray. While the Kino Lorber website states that The Old Fashioned Way was transferred from a 4K scan performed by Universal in 2017, you probably won’t notice much difference in clarity and sharpness versus the DVD unless you are sitting very close to the screen. That’s not to say that there is anything wrong with the visual presentation. Film grain is in evidence, but the picture is a bit soft (as it always has been). Either the best surviving film elements of The Old Fashioned Way are further generations down than the existing copies of It’s a Gift and The Bank Dick, or the film may have simply been shot a bit softer in the first place (since it is intended as a period piece).

The disc’s sound is clear, without noticable age-related hiss. Finally, the disc is rounded out by the following extras:

• A new audio commentary by film historian James L. Neibaur, Author of The W.C. Fields Films.
• The original theatrical trailer
• Bonus trailers for You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man (1939), My Little Chickadee (1940), and The Bank Dick (1940)
• Optional English Subtitles

Streaming: At the time of this review, The Old Fashioned Way was not streaming on any of the major subscription services.  It was also unavailable for purchase or rental through digital retailers.

More to Explore: Fields also lampooned temperance melodramas in the funniest short subject ever made, The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933), which is available on Blu-ray as part of The Mack Sennett Collection, Vol. One. The Drunkard also served as the basis for a less successful comedy, The Villain Still Pursued Her (1940), featuring Buster Keaton and a bunch of lesser-knowns. I also attached links to more movies starring the Great Man.

Trivia: W.C. Fields briefly dated Judith Allen, the actress that plays his daughter in the picture.

For More Info: The best (and most accurate) biography of the Great Man is W.C. Fields: A Biography by James Curtis. I’d also recommend Fields’ intended autobiography, W.C. Fields by Himself. Finally, if you prefer video documentaries, W.C. Fields: Straight Up (1986) is an excellent introduction to the Great Man.