IMDb > It's a Gift (1934)
It's a Gift
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It's a Gift (1934) More at IMDbPro »


IMDb Holiday Movie Guide

Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   1,795 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Down 21% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Norman Z. McLeod

Writers:

Jack Cunningham (writer)
J.P. McEvoy (play)
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Contact:

View company contact information for It's a Gift on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

17 November 1934 (USA) more

Genre:

Comedy more

Tagline:

LOOK THIS GIFT IN THE FACE IF YOU WANT A BIG HORSE-LAUGH (original herald - all caps) more

Plot:

A henpecked New Jersey grocer makes plans to move to California to grow oranges, despite the resistance of his overbearing wife. full summary | add synopsis

User Comments:

W.C. Fields Best Comedy more (44 total)


Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

W.C. Fields ... Harold Bissonette
Kathleen Howard ... Mrs. Amelia Bissonette
Jean Rouverol ... Mildred Bissonette (also as Jean Rouveral)
Julian Madison ... John Durston (Mildred's fiance)
Tommy Bupp ... Norman Bissonette (as Tom Bupp)
Baby LeRoy ... Baby Elwood Dunk
Tammany Young ... Everett Ricks, Mr. Bissonette's assistant
Morgan Wallace ... Fitchmueller (where are my kumquats?)
Charles Sellon ... Mr. Muckle (blind man)
Josephine Whittell ... Mrs. Dunk
T. Roy Barnes ... Insurance Salesman
Diana Lewis ... Miss Dunk
Spencer Charters ... Gate Guard
Guy Usher ... Harry Payne Bosterly
Dell Henderson ... Mr. Abernathy (as Del Henderson)
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Additional Details

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate number not listed)


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. more

Goofs:

Continuity: During the "back porch" episode, a neighbor is hanging washing on a rope between the houses. The squeaking pulley causes him to walk to the front of the porch to investigate the noise. He then notices a pair of large bloomers come into view against the porch column. In the next shot, there is a distant view of the entire back of that same building. None of the laundry is visible and there was not ample time for the neighbor to remove it. more

Quotes:

[Harold ripped a pillow playing with the dog]
Amelia: Those were my mother's feathers!
Harold: Never knew your mother had feathers.
more

Movie Connections:

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies (2000) (TV) more

Soundtrack:

California, Here I Come more


FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful.
W.C. Fields Best Comedy, 16 June 2000
10/10
Author: Matt Barry from Baltimore, Maryland

IT'S A GIFT is generally cited as W.C. Fields' best comedy. For me, it is a nonstop funfest. Unlike some comedies which think they need to have love interest to be popular, Fields makes us laught at him for 73 minutes non-stop. A true genius. This work is not typical of its time, however. In a time when most film comedies were either witty romantic, Lubitsch-esque films, or wild madcap Marx Bros.-style films, IT'S A GIFT stands alone as a piece of physical sight-gag humor. However, there are no impossible sight-gags, little actual slapstick, but enough laughs for five films. This goes on par with DUCK SOUP, TROUBLE IN PARADISE, MODERN TIMES, and A NIGHT AT THE OPERA as one of the finest comedy films of all time.

Interestingly enough, IT'S A GIFT was recently voted to be one of the top 100 funniest films ever made by the American Film Institute. However, a film like this doesn't need any awards to prove its greatness. Regardless of the critics, IT'S A GIFT will surely remain a genuine masterpiece of cinema and of W.C. Fields in particular.

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