Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)

Hard-working, henpecked Ambrose Wolfinger takes off from work to go to a wrestling match with catastrophic consequences.

Directors:

Clyde Bruckman, W.C. Fields (uncredited)

Writers:

Ray Harris (screen play), Sam Hardy (screen play)

Stars:

W.C. Fields, Mary Brian, Kathleen Howard

Cast

Complete credited cast:
W.C. Fields	...	Ambrose Wolfinger
Mary Brian	...	Hope Wolfinger
Kathleen Howard	...	Leona Wolfinger
Grady Sutton	...	Claude Neselrode
Vera Lewis	...	Mrs. Neselrode
Lucien Littlefield	...	Mr. Peabody
Oscar Apfel	...	President Malloy
Lew Kelly	...	Adolph Berg
Tammany Young	...	'Willie' the Weasel
Walter Brennan	...	'Legs' Garnett
Edward Gargan	...	Patrolman No.1
James Burke	...	Patrolman No.2
Carlotta Monti	...	Ambrose's Secretary

Storyline

Ambrose Wolfinger wants the afternoon off (his first in twenty-five years) to go to a wrestling match. He tells his boss that he must attend his mother-in-law's funeral. The afternoon is no joy. He tries to please a policeman, assist a chauffeur, chase a tire, and ends up getting hit by the body of a wrestler thrown from the ring. A series of mishaps leads his boss to send floral tributes to the house and notify the papers of the death (due to poisoned liquor). His shrewish wife, judgmental mother-in-law, and good-for-nothing brother-in-law add to his burdens. In the end he enjoys their fawning loyalty, a raise in pay, and his first vacation.

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Plot Keywords:

murder of wife | wrestling match | mother in law | wrestler | policeman | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Flying Trapeze

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

66 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. Its earliest documented telecast took place in Seattle Monday 13 April 1959 on KIRO (Channel 7); in Grand Rapids it first aired 23 November 1959 on WOOD (Channel 8), in St. Louis 31 December 1959 on KMOX (Channel 4), in Detroit 8 February 1960 on WJBK (Channel 2), in San Francisco 5 March 1960 on KPIX (Channel 5), and in Cleveland 17 September 1960 on WJW (Channel 8). It was released on DVD 20 March 2007 as one of 5 titles in Universal's W.C. Fields Comedy Collection Volume 2 and again 4 June 2013 as one of 10 titles in Universal's W.C. Fields Comedy Favorites Collection; it has also enjoyed an occasional airing on cable TV on Turner Classic Movies.

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Goofs

Fields falls to the bottom of his cellar stairs ending up sitting on a revolver. He removes and raises the revolver with his right hand and switches it to his left hand. In the next shot the revolver is back in his right hand.

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Quotes

Ambrose Wolfinger: My poor mother-in-law died three days ago. I'm attending her funeral this afternoon.
Ambrose's Secretary: Isn't that terrible, Mr. Wolfinger!
Ambrose Wolfinger: Yes, it's terrible. It's awful. Horrible tragedy.
Ambrose's Secretary: It must be hard to lose your mother-in-law.
Ambrose Wolfinger: Yes it is, very hard. It's almost impossible.

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Connections

Remade as Andy Plays Hookey (1946)

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Soundtracks

On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away
(1897) (uncredited)
Music and lyrics by Paul Dresser
Sung a cappella by W.C. Fields, Walter Brennan, Tammany Young and Lew Kelly

User Reviews

Why Isn't This Film Available?

I agree with Fowler of Metarie. This is one of W. C. Fields classic masterpieces. It is certainly on a par with the available later films such as "The Bank Dick" and "Its a Gift". It is a shame that this film isn't available on commercial video.

The scene where W. C.'s character in sent, unwillingly, to investigate the, "burglars singing in the cellar", is one of the funniest on film. He encounters the burglars, including a young Walter Brennan with hair, in the cellar with his friends stealing W. C.'s illegal cider and singing. W. C. admires the singing and enters into the festivities. This scene, from the point where he is browbeaten into going down to check the cellar, to the point point where he is arrested by the investigating cops for making cider without a license, is comparable to anything on film, including the famous "and-a two hard boiled eggs," scene from the Marx Brothers, "Night at the Opera", or Fields own back porch scene from "Its a Gift".

I remember seeing this film broadcast about twenty years ago. I have looked to no avail for it to be rebroadcast ever since. This is such a good movie it really needs to be available.