The Bank Dick (1940)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Edward F. Cline

Writer:

W.C. Fields (writer)

Release Date:

29 November 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Was His Face Red . . . And His Nose, Too ! when the bandits took the money . . . and the SAFE !

Plot:

Henpecked Egbert Sousè has comic adventures as a substitute film director and unlikely bank guard.

Plot Keywords:

Bank | Stock | Exaggeration | Dysfunctional Family | Grandmother

Awards:

1 win

Cast

W.C. Fields	...	Egbert Sousè
Cora Witherspoon	...	Agatha Sousè
Una Merkel	...	Myrtle Sousè
Evelyn Del Rio	...	Elsie Mae Adele Brunch Sousè
Jessie Ralph	...	Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch
Franklin Pangborn	...	J. Pinkerton Snoopington
Shemp Howard	...	Joe Guelpe, Bartender
Dick Purcell	...	Mackley Q. Greene, Movie Location Scout (as Richard Purcell)
Grady Sutton	...	Og Oggilby
Russell Hicks	...	J. Frothingham Waterbury
Pierre Watkin	...	Mr. Skinner, Bank President
Al Hill	...	Filthy McNasty
George Moran	...	Cozy Cochran
Bill Wolfe	...	Otis
Jack Norton	...	A. Pismo Clam, Movie Director

Also Known As:

The Bank Detective (UK)
The Great Man (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

72 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Lompoc, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The newspaper being read by Egbert Sousé is the Lompoc Picayune Intelligencer.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Dr. Stall gives Snoopington the bottle of pills, he is holding his pipe in his hand. In the next shot, his pipe is in his mouth.

Quotes:

Myrtle Sousé: I'll starve myself to death, it's the easiest way out. It's not so difficult to do. I tried it yesterday afternoon.

Movie Connections:

Featured in W.C. Fields: Straight Up (1986) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Home Sweet Home

Quite amusing movie, Fields seems very modern

The irreverent Fields gives spark to what would otherwise have been a quite humdrum comedy movie.

His politically incorrect jokes seem very present-day, and so makes you understand that the people back in the 1940's weren't so far removed from us as we sometimes think.

Fields is nasty to children, his wife and the bank examiner, whistles at pretty girls and in general just behaves terribly. You wouldn't think they would film stuff like that back in 1940, but Fields did. The movie is populated by crooks and phonies, as for instance the bank president, who says "let me give you a hardy handshake" and then just rests his hand lightly in Fields' for a second. It's a very observant and stinging visual commentary which tells more than many phrases: that's what films are good at, and it is used here to great effect.

The final car chase is really scary, with extra's ducking under cars with only inches to spare!