IMDb > W.C. Fields and Me (1976)

W.C. Fields and Me (1976) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
5.8/10   187 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 29% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Arthur Hiller
Writers:
Bob Merrill (writer)
Carlotta Monti (novel)
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Contact:
View company contact information for W.C. Fields and Me on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
11 January 1978 (France) more
Genre:
Biography | Drama more
Tagline:
Even a man who hates children and dogs has to love someone. more
Plot Keywords:
more
User Comments:
One of the two panned-and-banished 1976 Universal star bios..worth another look. more (4 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Rod Steiger ... W.C. Fields

Valerie Perrine ... Carlotta Monti
John Marley ... Studio Head Bannerman
Jack Cassidy ... John Barrymore

Bernadette Peters ... Melody
Dana Elcar ... Agent Dockstedter
Paul Stewart ... Florenz Ziegfeld

Billy Barty ... Ludwig
Allan Arbus ... Gregory LaCava
Milt Kamen ... Dave Chasen
Louis Zorich ... Gene Fowler

Andrew Parks ... Claude Fields

Linda Purl ... Ingenue
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
111 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
USA:PG
Filming Locations:
Pasadena, California, USA more
Company:
Universal Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The red Pacific Electric interurban rail car (1058) seen in the film had in reality been rescued from the scrapper and was fitted with an internal-combustion engine, rubber tires and a steering mechanism. It appeared in several period Los Angeles-area films, but this movie shows it off to its best advantage. In a happy twist of fate, in 2001 it was refitted with its historic steel wheels and electric traction motors and controls to operate on a new rail line serving San Pedro, CA. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Hollywood Rocks the Movies: The 1970s (2002) (TV) more

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User Comments

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23 out of 24 people found the following comment useful.
One of the two panned-and-banished 1976 Universal star bios..worth another look., 18 November 2000
5/10
Author: fs3 (thewildbunch@yahoo.com)

In 1976, Universal spent significant money to bring two golden-age Hollywood biopics to the screen: Gable and Lombard and W.C. Fields and Me. Both were panned, gave little return on the money spent, and have been relegated to rarely seen, not-on-video status. I haven't seen Gable since the year of its release, but caught up with W.C. on cable awhile back. It's imperfect, but certainly interesting, well-acted and worth another look. (I'd like to see Gable again, too, to see if it's worse or better than I remember.)

Steiger gives a good interpretation of Fields, though unable to channel the unique comic gifts that he possessed. It was always good to see Perrine onscreen in her too-few roles, and Jack Cassidy was effective in one of his last roles prior to his untimely death. The design and technical work result in a great look, unfortunately panned and scanned in the TV version that is seen today (when it's seen at all.)

Interestingly, the Fields portrayal can be traced back to the memorable serial killer Steiger portrayed in 1968's No Way To Treat A Lady, adapting several disguises and voices, one of which evoked Fields. Universal has been pretty good about releasing older films of theirs to DVD at a good price; how about a couple of widescreen editions of these flawed but interesting biopics?

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