My Little Chickadee (1940)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Edward F. Cline

Writers:

Mae West (screenplay) and
W.C. Fields (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 March 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Tagline:

It's the lafftime of a lifetime ! . . as "Wild Bill" Fields tries to tame the West!

Plot:

Rightly suspected of illicit relations with the Masked Bandit, Flower Belle Lee is run out of Little Bend...

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Bandit | Train | Farce | Hotel

Cast

Mae West	...	Flower Belle Lee
W.C. Fields	...	Cuthbert J. Twillie
Joseph Calleia	...	Jeff Badger
Dick Foran	...	Wayne Carter
Ruth Donnelly	...	Aunt Lou
Margaret Hamilton	...	Mrs. Gideon
Donald Meek	...	Amos Budge
Fuzzy Knight	...	Cousin Zeb
Willard Robertson	...	Uncle John
George Moran	...	Milton, Twillie's Indian confederate
Jackie Searl	...	Schoolboy (as Jack Searl)
Fay Adler	...	Mrs. 'Pygmy' Allen
Gene Austin	...	Saloon musician
Russell Hall	...	Candy
Otto Heimel	...	Coco

Also Known As:

The Lady and the Bandit (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2005) | USA:Approved (certificate #6029)

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

As he leaves at the end of the film, Cuthbert J. Twillie (W.C. Fields) says to Flower Belle, "Why don't you come up and see me sometime?", a reference to Mae West's famous line in an earlier film, She Done Him Wrong (1933).

Goofs:

Continuity: On the train out of town, after Cuthbert gives Flowerbelle the heart shaped charm, his hat starts on his head, but then suddenly its magically in his left hand (so he can use his right hand to hold onto the railing.)

Quotes:

Aunt Lou: These are right pretty pictures of you, Flower Belle.
Flower Belle Lee: Yeah, I like'em. They look just like me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Trading Partners (1984)

Soundtrack:

Willie of the Valley

not Fields best, but good none the less

After Flower Bell Lee (Mae West) is run out of town when she's found out for her hanky-panky with the Masked Bandit, she meets con-man Cuthbert Twillie (W. C. Fields) on the train that she's departing the town. during an Indian raid. She marries him when she spies a bag full of money on his person. Fields is great as always, even if this is nowhere near his best movie. The story doesn't really go anywhere, but W. C. and to a slightly lesser extent West make it highly watchable none the less. This movie can be found in the W.C. Fields comedy collection, along with, "The Bank Dick", "You can't Cheat an Honest Man", "It's a Gift", "International House", and "W.C. Fields:Behind the Laughter"

My Grade: B

DVD Extras: Theatrical Trailer