The Bank Dick (1940)

Henpecked Egbert Sousè has comic adventures as a substitute film director and unlikely bank guard.

Director:

Edward F. Cline (as Edward Cline)

Writer:

W.C. Fields (original screen play) (as Mahatma Kane Jeeves)

Stars:

W.C. Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
W.C. Fields	...	Egbert Sousé
Cora Witherspoon	...	Agatha Sousé
Una Merkel	...	Myrtle Sousé
Evelyn Del Rio	...	Elsie Mae Adele Brunch Sousé
Jessie Ralph	...	Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch
Franklin Pangborn	...	J. Pinkerton Snoopington
Shemp Howard	...	Joe Guelpe
Dick Purcell	...	Mackley Q. Greene (as Richard Purcell)
Grady Sutton	...	Og Oggilby
Russell Hicks	...	J. Frothingham Waterbury
Pierre Watkin	...	Mr. Skinner
Al Hill	...	Filthy McNasty aka Rupulsive Rogan
George Moran	...	Cozy Cochran aka Loudmouth Nasty
Bill Wolfe	...	Otis
Jack Norton	...	A. Pismo Clam

Storyline

Egbert Sousé leads an ordinary life but is about to have an extraordinary day. Henpecked at home home by his demanding wife Agatha and more or less ignored by his daughter Myrtle, he sets off for the day. He comes across a movie shoot whose drunken director hasn't shown up for work and Egbert, saying he has experience, is hired. Afterward, he gets credit for stopping bank robbers and is rewarded with a job as the bank guard. He seems headed for trouble however when he convinces his son-in-law Og, a teller at the same bank, to use $500 for can't lose investment. The investment is a scam however and when the bank examiner arrives, it looks bad for them. As you would expect however, it all turns out well in the end.

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Plot Keywords:

manipulative female | henpecked husband | eating | smoking | cigarette | 

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Taglines:

Was His Face Red . . . And His Nose, Too ! when the bandits took the money . . . and the SAFE !

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 November 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Great Man

Filming Locations:

Lompoc, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screen credits erroneously list Al Hill as Filthy McNasty and George Moran as Cozy Cochran, but their correct role identifications are Repulsive Rogan (Hill) and Loudmouth McNasty (Moran).

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Goofs

Throughout the car chase at the end of the film, tires are constantly heard squealing and screeching, although the entire chase takes place on dirt roads and in fields, where tires wouldn't squeal.

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Quotes

Egbert Sousé: I have a young daughter, marriageable age; also a small daughter; a nice wife and a mother-in-law that loves me like her own son.

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Connections

Referenced in The Sopranos: 46 Long (1999)

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Soundtracks

Listen to the Mockingbird
(1855) (uncredited)
Music by Richard Milburn
Whistled by Shemp Howard

User Reviews

Parallel With The Great McGinty

By probably nothing more than sheer coincidence W.C. Fields's greatest triumph, The Bank Dick, came out the same year as The Great McGinty, Preston Sturges's first directorial triumph. Interesting because I think the two films have the same exact theme.

It's an inverted view of the American dream in that any boob who happens to be in the right place at the right time can become an overnight success. Hard work, save your money, get an education, all that's nothing but hogwash. Well, at least get very good in arithmetic.

Meet Egbert Souse, henpecked American family man, wife, two daughters, and a harridan of a mother-in-law all under the same roof. Egbert is W.C. Fields's finest creation. From being bar room lounger, Souse rises to being a man of wealth and property merely by being in the right place on a few occasions in this film. Very similar to what Brian Donlevy did in The Great McGinty.

I've always loved the Dickensian names that Fields gave his characters in The Bank Dick. Og Ogilby is his sidekick and future aspirant son-in-law played by the ever flustered Grady Sutton. Franklin Pangborn never had a better screen name than J. Pinkerton Snoopington, the bank examiner. And we can't forget the inebriated film director played by Jack Norton, A Pismo Clam. The Bank Dick is the only film I know where you can read the credits, laugh uproariously before the film starts and then eagerly anticipate more.

As good as his films at Paramount were, Fields never had the creative control that he did that Universal gave him for The Bank Dick. It's Fields's height as a performer and not to be missed.

And don't forget, you pronounce his last name SOO SAY.