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Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
10 October 1941 (USA) morePlot:
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... more | add synopsisUser Comments:
Almost perfect; 9/10 moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| 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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
71 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
MonoFilming Locations:
Los Angeles, California, USAFun Stuff
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. moreGoofs:
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. moreQuotes:
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!
more
Soundtrack:
ESTRELLITA moreFAQ
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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.