Posted on 10/16/2015 5:23:12 PM PDT by DemforBush
Ah yes, my little chickadees, it's WC Fields night at the DfB Theater. Fields gives us his swan song performance in this wacky (and occasionally surreal) satire of the movie industry
Co-Starring Gloria Jean and Franklin Pangborn. Appearance by Dickie Moore...
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Also, a little bonus this week: Since you can't have a proper old-time movie experience without showing a short first, here's one of my favorite Our Gang/Little Rascals shorts - Free Wheeling
Enjoy!
This Italian is watching Goodfellas on VH1 :)
But it’s not the same without the cursing. they seem like polite gangsters lol
the HOW AM I FUNNY scene is on
Ping!
The edited-for-tv version of Casino is pretty funny too.
The “desert scene” goes something like: “FREAK you!, you MONEY LOVER!”
Gloria Jean was my sponsor when I received my First Holy Communion and Confirmation in California in 1986. Last I heard, she was living in Hawaii. She must be around 95 years old now.
LOL!!!
I actually love old movies, All About Eve, Jezebel, Of Human Bondage...big Betty Davis fan. Strange for a 47 year old guy. Find her sexy. Except for Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. She wasn’t sexy in that but she WAS good.
But tonight it’s gangster without curses night!!
Franklin Pangborn was a hunk of a man.
My favorite film of his is It’s A Gift. I couldn’t find the complete movie on YouTube, but here are some of the best scenes.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=it%27s+a+gift++fields
I always laugh at the line Fields gives to Gloria Jean after she threatens to quit school: “You don’t want to grow up and be dumb like ZaSu Pitts, do you?” Great chase finale.
Although truthfully, I prefer Fields’ earlier Paramount vehicles, with their backdrops that often exuded that sort of small-town americana that they did... “You’re Telling Me,” “It’s a Gift,” “Tillie and Gus,” and such. Or even, “The Old-Fashioned Way” with its comedic turn-of-the-century depiction of the old “10-20-30” stage melodramas, which proliferated across the country in the days right before nickelodeons took over.
Yes, “It’s a Gift” (1934) is probably my all-time favorite comedy. Each time I view it, I invariably catch something new... some small, subtle bit of humor that I didn’t originally notice, which will elicit a laugh. I once met the actress, Jean Rouverol, who played Fields’ 18-year-old daughter in the movie, and was glad to tell her how much the film meant to me.
“Any man who hates children and dogs can’t be all bad.”
“Water? An abominable substance, my boy. Fish [fornicate] in it.”
“Scram, kid, before I break both your legs.”
(Epitaph) “On the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.”
Wow, that’s pretty neat!
I’d read she was living in Hawaii, too. Supposedly with her son’s family.
I’d always heard “It’s a Gift” is Fields’ best work. I tried my darndest to find it on youtube and elsewhere, but had no luck beyond a clip or two.
Thanks. I don't think I've seen these 2 others (It's A Gift I found and downloaded a few years ago). Fortunately, YouTube has at least one of them there...
WC Fields - You’re Telling Me (1934) [1hr, 10min]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqde74MtyLc
That’s what I’d heard as well.
Personal life:
In 1962, Gloria Jean gave up show business to get married and raise a family. The marriage was not successful; her husband was frequently absent, living apart from his wife and son. Gloria Jean obtained a divorce and began a second career with Redken Laboratories, a national cosmetics firm, where she worked until 1993.
Revived interest in her life and films:
In December 1991, Gloria Jean was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star “Lifetime Achievement” Award, recognizing her achievements within the film industry as a juvenile performer.[2] Gloria Jean has also participated in various nostalgia and autograph shows, meeting fans and displaying memorabilia.
Gloria Jean’s films are beginning to receive new exposure: If I Had My Way has been restored to its original length and issued on DVD, followed by the DVD release of Never Give a Sucker an Even Break. (Latter-day documentaries about W. C. Fields include recent clips of Gloria Jean, reminiscing about working with him.) Universal Pictures has also struck new 35mm prints of Mister Big and Get Hep to Love for theatrical use. Her 1947 film Copacabana is widely available on home video.
Recent years:
After her retirement from Redken, Gloria Jean lived in California with her sister, Bonnie. After Bonnie died in 2007, she moved to Hawaii, where she now lives with her son and his family. Her authorized biography, Gloria Jean: A Little Bit of Heaven, was published in 2005. A tribute website, GloriaJeanSings.com, followed, again with Gloria Jean’s cooperation. Her Internet presence includes a new series of videos showing the actress as she appears today; in 2009 she became the first movie star to introduce her own film clips on YouTube.[citation needed]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Jean
W.C. Fields scoffed at the idea that comedy could be written down and plotted out. Just about all of his movies were slight on plot and heavy on sight gags and snarky remarks from Fields.
Fields in the diner with the waitress is gold!
Beanbag? It becomes very exciting at times. I saw the championships played in Paris; many people were killed...
From wikipedia...
"In 1943, [Jean] Rouverol and her husband had joined the American Communist Party.
In 1951, when agents for HUAC attempted to subpoena them, Rouverol and her husband chose self-exile to Mexico with their four small children rather than face a possible prison sentence, as endured by some of their friends who were dubbed the Hollywood Ten. Labeled as subversives and dangerous revolutionaries by the government, they did not return to the United States on a permanent basis for thirteen years, during which time they had two more children."
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