IMDb > You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939)

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
7.3/10   550 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 8% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
George Marshall
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Writers:
W.C. Fields (story)
Everett Freeman (screenplay)
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Contact:
View company contact information for You Can't Cheat an Honest Man on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
18 February 1939 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy more
Plot:
Larson E. Whipsnade runs a seedy circus which is perpetually in debt. His performers give him nothing but trouble... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
"Somebody Took The Cork Out Of My Lunch" more (13 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

W.C. Fields ... Larson E. Whipsnade
Edgar Bergen ... The Great Edgar
Charlie McCarthy ... Charlie McCarthy
Constance Moore ... Victoria Whipsnade
John Arledge ... Phineas Whipsnade
James Bush ... Roger Bel-Goodie
Thurston Hall ... Mr. Archibald Bel-Goodie
Mary Forbes ... Mrs. Bel-Goodie
Edward Brophy ... Corbett
Arthur Hohl ... Burr
Princess Baba ... Princess Baba, The Great Edgar's Assistant
Blacaman ... Blacaman - The Lion Tamer
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson ... Cheerful (as Eddie Anderson)
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
76 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
USA:Approved
Company:
Universal Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Legend has it that on the set of You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939), a stagehand was cleaning out W.C. Fields' dressing room and accidentally bumped into a table on which Fields had placed a bottle of whiskey. He caught the bottle before it hit the floor, but the cork had popped out and he couldn't find it. He placed the bottle back on the table and left. Later Fields came back to the dressing room, and a few minutes after-wards stormed out, roaring "Who took the cork out of my lunch?" more
Quotes:
Whipsnade: You kids are disgusting! Standing around here all day, reeking of popcorn and lollipops. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Hollywood Screen Tests: Take 1 (1999) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Chicken Reel more

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User Comments

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3 out of 3 people found the following comment useful.
"Somebody Took The Cork Out Of My Lunch", 23 July 2008
9/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

You Can't Cheat An Honest Man finds widower W.C. Fields running a second rate circus and trying to stay one step ahead of the law as he's creditors just about every place he goes. His children, John Arledge and Constance Moore attend a really posh Ivy League type school and you sympathize with Fields because you know this why he's probably not paying his bills. One also can speculate what his wife must have put up with back in the day.

Moore on a visit to Dad's show falls for the ventriloquist sideshow performer Edgar Bergen. But Bergen doesn't really get along with Fields or I should say his alter ego Charlie McCarthy doesn't.

The Fields-McCarthy feud was legendary on radio and it might seem hard to fathom how a ventriloquist could entertain on radio. But the characters he created were so powerful and had such a hold on the minds of the public that they were real. Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd were characters in their own right, they almost but not quite gained separate identities away from Edgar Bergen.

Anyway on Bergen's show, Bill Fields was a frequent guest and the repartee between Fields and McCarthy is still classic. Even without knowing that background, today's audience can still enjoy You Can't Cheat an Honest Man because the comedy is eternal.

There's not much of a plot except for Moore loving Bergen, but being ready to marry snobbish James Bush to help her father in his financial troubles. I'm sure you can figure out how that goes, especially when prospect in-laws Thurston Hall and Mary Forbes meet Fields at a little clambake they're throwing.

The circus offers a range of opportunity for some great gags including trying to pry Charlie McCarthy out of an alligator, an elephant who gives Fields showers on command and of course sawing Charlie in half during a magic act.

Still it's the repartee between Fields and Bergen and another of the unforgettable characterizations that Bill Fields brings us which makes You Can't Cheat An Honest Man a comedy classic.

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