Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

source: Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

Moviecut—Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

This movie is the reason that video players come with a fast forward button. How anyone could sit through this saccharine sap fest is beyond me. The target audience must have been weepy old women. The last 23 minutes with Fields and Pitts are the only reason to watch this nearly complete waste of celluloid. Fields must have lost a bet and was thus compelled to participate in this turkey.

This is a poignant drama, about the Wiggs family who live in poverty and give thanks, even though they do not have a turkey for Thanksgiving. Mrs. Wiggs (Pauline Lord) has quite a few children, and the girls are all named after continents. A very young Virginia Weidler plays Europena. And while there may not be enough money to go around to raise the children decent-like, there is plenty of love to make up for it, and kindness from Mom's friend Miss Lucy who gives them a turkey. The family is equally surprised when another turkey shows up, their ne'er-do-well father played by Donald Meek. Meanwhile, W.C. Fields is a neighborhood bachelor that a love-starved neighbor lady, played by ZaSu Pitts, is trying to get her hooks into! Don't ask why, because I haven't figured out why anyone would want to marry Fields.

Mrs. Wiggs Of The Cabbage Patch was based on a novel, about the exploits of a fatherless family trying to survive, at least through Thanksgiving. Starring Pauline Lord, she plods on with her little brood, looking hopefully to the future. If the story ended with this, then we wouldn't be noting it here. Paramount had to do something to liven it up, and make it more worthy, so they added a few trump cards, notably W.C. Fields and Zasu Pitts, with a budding romance between the two to make things a bit more interesting. That worked. Pitts is now just a remembered funny name of movies, but we tend to forget that her career was long, fruitful and funny, all of the way into television. Her sense of comic timing was legendary. Bill Fields in his role is somewhat subdued, but as a supporting actor, he dresses up the production greatly. Let's not give anything away here, but this is why I have a copy! Hard to find, (on Goodtimes), and at a budget price, try to find this one.

I never forgot this old, old movie that I watched several times as a child probably 50 years ago. Black and white, of course, with W. C. Fields stealing freshly-baked pies from Mrs. Wiggs' window sill. It is a time capsule of its times and although Mrs. Wiggs is about to be evicted from her impoverished little shack, she is saved by a young man and woman, who may be a social worker and her wealthy fiancé. Or maybe not. I only remember the strong emotions this film evoked in me and my little brother, who used to sit on the floor in front of the TV with me while we watched it together. I am afraid it is lost in the shuffle forever but long to see it one more time. Mores the pity.