The Bank Dick

Criterion has done an extraordinary job restoring this 1940 W.C. Fields gem, giving it a nearly flawless new digital transfer. Fields, who wrote the script under the nom de plume Mahatma Kane Jeeves, stars as Egbert Sousé, a harried husband who becomes a reluctant hero when he inadvertently foils a bank heist. Granted, the slender plot amounts to little more than a series of skits, but they spotlight Fields at his funniest (besides his short "The Fatal Glass of Beer," which is also available on the identically priced new Criterion release 6 W.C. Fields Short Films). An essential addition to any film library. (S. C. Sickles)