Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Edward F. Cline

Writers:

Prescott Chaplin (screenplay)
W.C. Fields (original story)

Release Date:

10 October 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical

Plot:

Fields wants to sell a film story to Esoteric Studios. On the way he gets insulted by little boys, beat up for ogling a woman...

Plot Keywords:

Niece | Russian Accent | Script | Gorilla | Film In Film

Cast

W.C. Fields	...	The Great Man
Gloria Jean	...	His Niece
Leon Errol	...	His Rival
Billy Lenhart	...	His Heckler (as Butch)
Kenneth Brown	...	His Heckler (as Buddy)
Margaret Dumont	...	Mrs. Hemogloben
Susan Miller	...	Ouilotta Hemogloben
Franklin Pangborn	...	The Producer
Mona Barrie	...	The Producer's Wife
Charles Lang	...	The Young Engineer
Anne Nagel	...	Madame Gorgeous
Nell O'Day	...	The Salesgirl
Irving Bacon	...	The Soda Jerk
Jody Gilbert	...	The Waitress
Minerva Urecal	...	The Cleaning Lady

Also Known As:

What a Man (UK)

Runtime:

71 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

According to Fields' 2003 biography, the vehicle crashing into the drugstore was a real accident that occurred during filming. The director decided to leave it in to give the film the appearance of having a bigger budget.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the ladder of the fire truck lifts the car into the air, a shadow on the front of the building reveals the rigging and crane that actually did the lifting.

Quotes:

The Great Man: [Suffering from a hangover] Somebody put too many olives in my martini last night!
Stewardess: Should I get you a Bromo?
The Great Man: No, I couldn't stand the noise!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

ESTRELLITA

Almost perfect; 9/10

One of Fields' best (is there anything that's not?), Never Give a Sucker an Even Break is basically his swan song. Never again would he star in a motion picture. And it is a glorious swan song, nearly as funny as his greatest film, The Bank Dick. It may even be his second best film, although several fight for that position: The Old-Fashioned Way, It's a Gift, You're Telling Me, The Man on the Flying Trapeze, etc.

In a somewhat mournful way, the plot revolves around Fields, playing himself, trying to sell a script to a producer played by Franklin Pangborn (a bit confusing, seeing he retains his real name; Franklin Pangborn was an actor, though, not a producer). The film Fields wants to make is a lot like many other classic comedies: a bunch of gags strung together in a haphazard fashion. Part of the joke is that the plot doesn't exist as such. Tastes were changing at the time, and Pangborn is flabberghasted at the nonsensical plot. The funniest moments of Never Give a Sucker an Even Break take place as Fields' own screenplay plays out.

Like a lot of classic comedies, this one is also part musical, but unlike those same comedies, the music in this film isn't painful to sit through (I'm lookin' at you, Marx Brothers!). It's actually quite marvelous. The songs are sung by Gloria Jean, a teenager playing Fields' niece. She is beautiful and a wonderful singer. She's also quite funny when the film gives her that chance (her audition for Pangborn is gold). Also joining the cast is the Marx Brothers' favorite foil, Margaret Dumont, playing a woman who hates men so much she brought her daughter up on top of a steep precipice to raise her without the impediment of that gender.