I love W.C. Fields, so I had to see this film. It’s really not a W.C. Fields film, but more of a Mae West flick though.
West (SHE DONE HIM WRONG) plays Flower Belle Lee, a hussy in the Old West who gets kicked out of town for romancing a masked bandit. She is unable to return to respectable society until she marries. On the train out of town, she meets Cuthbert J. Twillie (Fields, THE BANK DICK), who she thinks is loaded, but is really a conman. She goes through a sham marriage with him and when they arrive in the next town he ends up being made sheriff. While in town, Flower Belle is courted by the shady bar owner Jeff Badger (Joseph Calleia, GILDA) and his rival — the town’s newspaper owner Wayne Carter (Dick Foran, TV’s LASSIE).
Co-written by West and Fields, the film is filled with one-liners — some great, some not so great. West and Fields both do their shtick for the entire film, but too much West can be annoying when the material feels like it wasn’t even fresh in the Wild West days. It might have the tightest structure of any of the Fields films I’ve seen, but it seems to have less freedom for invention.
The Western setting seems to force the plot into too many cliches. A random gag sequence in the hands of Fields can be a delightful diversion, but West’s over-the-top sultry temptress routine gets redundant. One eye roll is funny, but it can’t save every joke. Despite its flaws, the film still has some entertainment value. Fields is good. I loved his line — “During one of my treks through Afghanistan, we lost our corkscrew. Compelled to live on food and water for several days.” His delivery is perfect. This is a film for Fields or even West fans. All others should check out IT’S A GIFT or THE BANK DICK to see Fields in top form instead.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
