It Ain't a Fit Night Out for Man or Beast

Trailer—It Ain't a Fit Night Out for Man or Beast

That Fatal Glass Of Beer refers to a glass that George Chandler took on a trip to the big city which led to a life of crime. This particular short subject for Mack Sennett that W.C. Fields did was one of his masterpieces. It's not a series of gags although there are some good ones here including that recurring one where he goes to the cabin door and says it's not a fit night out for man nor beast and then gets hit with a blast of studio snow. But the film itself is a really good satire on all the Victorian morality plays that Fields grew up with in his youth. Rosemary Theby as his wife and George Chandler as their son get a few laughs as well. Chandler left the Yukon wilds and went to the big city where demon rum got a hold of him and he robbed a bank of some bonds which he was carrying as a messenger. Such stories were the staple of the theater while Fields grew up in the 1880s and 1890s. That Fatal Glass Of Beer is a great spoof on all of them. As one of the great tipplers of Hollywood, Fields had little patience with pompous moralizers. And remember Prohibition was coming to a close when That Fatal Glass Of Beer was made. People were very tired of the great experiment as it was called and this film no doubt found an eager audience. Definitely the best of the short subjects of W.C. Fields.

source: It Ain't a Fit Night Out for Man or Beast

This is the ultimate satire on those "lost in the wilderness" and "alcohol is the devil" films, done in the early days of the talkies. W. C. plays the patriarch of the family, who seem to live in the midst of an endless snowstorm in the Yukon; every single time he opens a door and proclaims "It's not a fit night out for man nor beast", he gets a faceful of snow. His son, Chester, played by the wonderful George Chandler, was put in jail for 3 years for stealing bank bonds after drinking a single, fatal glass of beer. He comes home and is welcomed by his crying mother and his father, who wasn't crying when he first greeted his son, but soon does when the son starts to cry and the mother won't quit. W.C. goes out to "milk an elk", and of course gets a faceful of snow. In fact, he is covered in fake snow throughout this short, even inside. There are hilarious cuts of W.C. against a background screen, which show either the snowy wastes careening by and W.C. and the dog sled team merely walking, or a herd of elk stampeding while W.C. talks pleadingly to them to "come to papa". He goes out to get water, but gets nothing but ice cubes from the pump. I laughed more at this than anything else I've seen lately; it's a real gem.

This movie contains so much surralistic humor, so it stands for itself! The song about Chester is so funny, that there's almost no need to mention Fields' trembling voice when he's singing the song without any voice ("You know, we can't get any ipecac up in this part of the country."). The scenes where a "regiseur" throws corn-flakes into his face ("Tastes more like corn-flakes.") when he says the classic: "And it ain't a fit night out for man nor beast" and at the end of the movie don't throw any corn-flakes. It's so funny! For you fellas and girls: Don't let ya' temptations lead you to the big city, 'cause it surely will get you to "sell them bonds".

This little comedy was produced by Academy Award winner Mack Sennett and stars Walk of Fame member W.C. Fields as an aged prospector who sings a heartbreaking tale to an officer about how his son left him and his wife for the big city, where he quickly got sucked into the abyss of wrongdoing and malice, was consequently arrested and had to go to prison. And surprise, surprise, shortly after the father sings the song, the son returns home willing to stay with his family forever now. Everybody breaks out in tears of happiness and joy. Or do they? Unfortunately, I wasn't particularly entertained during these slightly more than 18 minutes. Here and there it has its strengths, but as a whole I was rather underwhelmed, especially during the scene with the deer towards the end which could not have been more obvious it was Fields just walking in front of an earlier recorded tape of the animals. Come on guys, this was done better 40 years ago. Anyway, watch it if you're interested in fields or into what American comedy looked like between the World Wars, otherwise stay away.

I have probably watched this little gem a hundred times. Every time Officer Postalwhistle shows up and the sad song of the Fatal Glass of Beer is sung, I fall apart. Ah the broken tambourine. This is a series of sight gags and wonderful schtick that will live forever. The film quality is terrible but it doesn't matter. Fields is at his caustic best, especially when he finds out that Chester disposed of the money. The scene with the loaves of French bread being dunked across the table in the other person's soup, going out to milk the elk, all are dominoed into some sort of order. When Fields begins to pontificate, it is hilarious, especially the b-hoy in the c-hountry speech. It goes from place to place with the plot only there as a vehicle for the next gag. The snow in the face punctuates each scene. I love how the wife just kind of does what she needs to do, but Fields revolves like some rogue planet moving from place to place. This is a gem for the ages!

Directed by Clyde Bruckman, "The Fatal Glass of Beer" is a W.C. Fields short that is overall very weak. Fields plays Mr. Snavely, a married man who lives in a log cabin in the country during a ferocious blizzard. The most memorable, but not necessarily funny, running gag in the film involves Snavely opening the cabin door and saying, "And it ain't a fit night out for man or beast!", before getting pelted in the face with snow. Even the dulcimer tune he sings about his estranged city-boy son Chester is lame, and I'm a big music lover! The only scene in this short that I think is funny is Mr. & Mrs. Snavely's sudden physical abuse of Chester at the very end. And that's just about all I have to say regarding "The Fatal Glass of Beer".

This Mack Sennet produced comedy starred W. C. Fields and it was deliberately constructed like an old fashioned stage melodrama--complete with the same type music, sets and entrances. The concept was kind of funny, but after a while the single joke got kind of thin. However, there was an eventual payoff, as the ending of the film was terrific. The story begins with Fields singing an annoying and bad song about the evils of strong drink(?!). This is where the title of the film was derived, but about 80% of the short occurred after this and was unrelated to the song, other than the fact it was all told as a giant morality tale against vice. Not bad, but certainly not up to the standards of such Fields full-length classics as IT'S A GIFT and THE BANK DICK.

With an effective blend of the subtle and the outlandish, this comedy is one of the most memorable and distinctive of W. C. Fields's short movies. It works well both as a spoof of movie-making techniques (especially from, but hardly limited to, the old melodramas), and also as a showcase for Fields's array of comic skills. There is the silly song about "The Fatal Glass of Beer", plenty of sight gags, the recurring "ain't a fit night out" gag, and more. It all works even better when you watch it over again - Fields can be so unpredictable that you don't notice all the subtleties when you're still trying to figure out where it's all going. This one has plenty of good moments and also, despite its deceptively simple appearance, some careful craftsmanship.