Souse is invited by a movie production manager to finish directing a picture being shot in lompoc. The bank dick is, as with all the best of fields, appropriately thin on plot and heavy with hilarious setpieces. The bank dick, released as the bank detective in the united kingdom, is a 1940 comedy film starring w. Fields comic persona was a misanthropic and harddrinking egotist, who remained a sympathetic character despite his. Frothingham waterbury about buying shares in a mining company. Fields as egbert souseyoutube best modern quickdraw movie moments. Fields, cora witherspoon, una markel, evelyn del rio, jessie ralph, franklin pangborn, shemp howard, dick. Million dollar legs is a 1932 american precode comedy film starring jack oakie and w. Fields preferred title for the film was the great man, which had also been his original title for the bank dick, but this title was once again rejected by universal. Fields, cora witherspoon, una merkel, at turner classic movies. The bank dick 1940 is an alltime classic comedy starring the great w. Fields, cora witherspoon, una merkel, evelyn del rio director.
Things take a turn for the absurd when he unwittingly captures a bank robber and lands a job as a security guard. The bank dick full movie manahaanahjaja jahsananahanma. Cline, the film is only a little over an hour long. Fields plays egbert souse, a bibulous denizen of lompoc. Fields full list of movies and tv shows in theaters, in production and upcoming films. It is one of his very best and funniest films tied with paramounts its a gift 1934, his nexttolast major film role he last appeared. Fields becomes an unexpected hero when a bank robber falls over a bench hes occupying. Fields stars as an unemployed, henpecked drunk who spends most of. You couldnt find a more perfect embodiment of fields peculiar brand of humor than the character of egbert souse accent grahve over the e who displays total irreverence toward authority. The bank dick 1940 starring w c fields as egbert souse 0s 26 5s uiy ckvhomk. You went for fields, and for the surrealism of his plots. Criterion is proud to present fields last major film in a new digital transfer, with english subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired. Never give a sucker an even break known in some foreign releases as what a man. The bank dick 1940 starring w c fields as egbert souse 0s 26 5s uiy ckvhomk by kevin oneill.
Read the full synopsis of the bank dick, 1940, directed by edward cline, with w. Fields, was an american comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Here is a clip from the film international house and it includes the original theatrical trailer. At eleven, after many fights with his alcoholic father who hit him on the head with a shovel, he ran. William claude dukenfield january 29, 1880 december 25, 1946, better known as w. My little chickadee is a very good film starring w. Hardworking, henpecked ambrose wolfinger takes off from work to go to a wrestling match with catastrophic consequences. Egbert souse fields is an unemployed drunk who divides his time between the black pussy cat cafe and his dreadful family. Drunk and harddrinking at black cat coffee, whose bartender is his friend and confidant joe. When the title was changed, fields was afraid that never give a sucker an even break would not fit on theater marquees, and it would be abbreviated to w.
The bank dick, american screwball comedy film, released in 1940, that is widely regarded as one of w. Sure, maybe the rumors are true that they didnt like each other. Fields, cora witherspoon, una merkel, evelyn del rio, jessie ralph, franklin pangborn, shemp howard, dick purcell, grady sutton, russell hicks, pierre watkin, al hill, george moran, bill wolfe, jack norton, pat west, reed hadley, heather. Fields argued that there was a real bar in santa monica with the same name, but the censors still complained and so fields consented to change the name to the black pussy cat cafe. Fields also wrote the original story, under the pseudonym otis criblecoblis. Movie dvds, mp4 video downloads, mpg videos on usb flash drives. Fields as egbert souse youtube man on the flying trapeze 7 duration. In his penultimate starring role, fields plays a smalltown idler and regular of the black pussy cat cafe tended by shemp howard. Now considered brave, egbert is given a job as a bank guard. Written by fields under the pseudonym mahatma kane jeeves and featuring one of his most hilarious performances, the bank dick is an undisputed classic of american comedy.
Egbert persuades teller og oggilby to lend him bank money, to be returned when the scheme pays off. Fields stars in one of his most famous roles as the bank dick. After unwittingly capturing a bank robber, he lands a job as security guard which leads to complete absurdity. Fields fields is egbert souse, a bumbling, alcoholsodden, minimally employed father in lompoc, ca, who is cordially despised by his wife, motherinlaw, and two daughters.
Watch wc fields clips from the bank dick prime video. Fields played egbert souse, a henpecked drunkard who lands a job as a bank guard after unwittingly capturing a robber. The character is a drunk who must repeatedly remind people in exasperation that his name is pronounced souseaccent grave over the e. While drinking his breakfast at the black pussy cafe. No reflection is intended upon the appearance of w. The great mcgonigle and his troupe of thirdrate vaudevillians manage to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors and the sheriff. He turns around, sees a black man behind him and does this horrendous, racist doubletake. The bank dick is a 1940 film directed by edward cline, written by and starring w. When a fleeing bank robber is knocked cold upon tripping over the park bench where egbert sits, souse is hailed as a hero and offered the job of bank guard. The bank dick is a faulty piece but it provides enough laughs and silliness to merit interest. Fields comes across as one of the more clever and inventive, and ive enjoyed the few works of his that ive now seen. Fields accidentally captures a crook and is given a job as bank detective. Thanks to a tendency to exaggerate his accomplishments, fields, in the films best sequence, inadvertently lands a job as a movie director. Fields, cora witherspoon, una merkel, evelyn del rio.
Fields plays himself, searching for a chance to promote a surreal screenplay he has written, whose several framed sequences form the films center. Fields performs on awhat ever the hell that is by sandpit49. Fields stars as an unemployed, henpecked drunk who spends most of his time at the black pussy cat cafe. The bank dick 1940 is probably fields best film, but his career resides not so much in individual films as in scenes and moments scattered here and there between his first short subject, in 1915, and his last films in the mid1940s. Overview of the bank dick, 1940, directed by edward cline, with w. Fields comic persona was a misanthropic and harddrinking egotist, who remained a sympathetic character despite his supposed contempt for children and dogs. Wc fields stars in these excerpts from the 1940 feature film the bank dick stars wc fields, cora witherspoon. Fields when we say that the great man has mellowed considerably, and for the best, since he was last among us in my little chickadee and. Fields comedy collection the bank dick my little chickadee you cant cheat an honest man its a gift international house. After unwittingly capturing a bank robber, he lands a job. Youd like to have a nose like that full of nickels, wouldnt you. The bank dick along with its a gift, one of the definitive w. Set in lompoc, california, fields plays egbert souse who accidentally thwarts a bank robbery and ends up a bank security guard as a result. Fields egbert souse, cora witherspoon agatha souse, una merkel myrtle souse.
The bank dick 1940, on the other hand, is pure gold from start to finish. Fields plays egbert souse, a bibulous denizen of lompoc who supports his family by winning radio contests. It is one of his very best and funniest films tied with paramounts its a gift 1934, his nexttolast major film role he last appeared in clines never give a sucker an even break 1941, and his first solo starring role in a. Henpecked egbert souse has comic adventures as a substitute film director and unlikely bank guard. Their on screen chemistry is good and the plot moves along at a good pace. Grady sutton, russell hicks, pierre watkin, al hill, edward f. Theres a scene in the bank dick where w c fields is waiting in line in a bank. Actually, joe breen of the production code administration did object to the name black pussy cafe as he felt it was a dirty joke. Despite a scant 72minute running time, it breezes through enough plot for ten lesser films, managing to build and double back on itself to a satisfying conclusion. He went to school for four years, then quit to work with his father selling vegetables from a horse cart.