Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

While famed early comedians Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd played sympathetic underdogs in their slapstick classics, W.C. Fields adopted the role of a not-so-lovable bully (who harbored particular antipathy towards children and dogs). In the 1941 film Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, Fields plays himself, with the real Gloria Jean costarring as his niece, the latter appearing in films for Esoteric Pictures, a studio run by Franklin Pangborn (the actual name of a noted character actor). Hoping to revive a flagging career, Fields pitches a wacko film script to Pangborn, which is acted out onscreen as Pangborn sits at his desk, reading with increasing incredulousness. And it’s not hard to see why: Fields flies to Russia on a plane with a sun deck (open air), falls 10,000 feet after he dives over a railing after a bottle of liquor, and lands on a bouncy divan on top of a towering column of rock where a daughter (who has never seen a man) is being held in Rapunzel-like captivity by her mother, Mrs. Hemogloben (Marx Bros. regular Margaret Dumont). In a decidedly un-#MeToo scene, Fields tricks the beautiful young daughter into kissing him with a made-up game of 'squidgillum' (which, to be fair, is also later employed by Mrs. Hemogloben towards a male). Fields ultimately joins other men from the local town in a competitive effort to woo the financially well-off mother. Highlights in this essentially extended vaudeville routine (featuring songs and slapstick) include some funny studio backlot business (as Gloria Jean attempts to rehearse while carpenters are trying to build a set) and a Keystone Cops-like high speed climactic car chase scene. Bowing on Blu-ray with a handsome digital transfer, extras include audio commentary by film historian Eddy Von Mueller, and an archival documentary tribute to Fields by Canadian comic duo Wayne and Shuster. Fans of Fields will appreciate this, the comic master’s final starring film. Recommended. (R. Pitman)