Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

source: Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

This movie came out shortly after "The Bank Dick" and suffers by comparison. "The Bank Dick", though not his best film (I'd give that honor to "It's a Gift"), is one of the better ones. Also, it really shows that Fields had so much control over the movie--though perhaps it is a little too self-indulgent and surreal at times. Some may find the extreme silliness refreshing--I just thought it bordered on stupid on occasion (like when he dove out of the airplane after his lost bottle of hooch only to fall into the arms of Margaret Dumont--unscratched). Also, insisting on the casting of the teen actress Gloria Jean was a big mistake as Fields is at his best when he is fighting or abusing kids, not treating them in an avuncular manner (wow--that's a big word--it means treating them like he's their beloved uncle). Despite these two big drawbacks, the film still has wonderful moments and I do recommend it. However, if you are unfamiliar with his films, DON'T watch this one first!

W.C. Fields movies are always filled with his unique brand of humor, none more so that than "Sucker". If you see only one Fields film this should be it. The chase scene at the end is one of the best from the 1940's and still holds up decently today.

This is my favorite W.C. Fields film because of its surrealistic and sometimes outright off-beat directorial style. Fortunately, there is no plot here, just "Uncle Bill" acting at his looniest best. The scene where he jumps out of an airplane should be an all time classic.

Finally tracked down a videotape of this little classic, and was extremely impressed. A fitting send-off for Fields, as it takes the insanity of the motion picture business head-on, and lets his more "off-the-wall" humor take center-stage. Like the best of the Marx Brothers' classics, there's not much plot to get in the way of the laughs--just gag after gag after gag. My favorite scene? Uncle Bill going into a soda shoppe, and remarking to the camera, "This was supposed to be set in a saloon, but the censor wouldn't allow it. It oughta play just as well..."

Expecting another humorous film, a la "You Can't Cheat An Honest Man," I was disappointed in this W.C. Fields effort. I just didn't find it that funny or, to give him a even break, not up to his standards. Oh, it had a few funny segments such as Fields jumping out of an airplane and the cool Keystone Cops-like chase scene at the end. It also had a cute 13-year- old Gloria Jean, who showed us a good voice for a young girl. However, that alto voice is a bit too high for me. There were several songs in this film and none of them were any good. Most of the humor was Three Stooges-like stuff and it wasn't very funny. The Stooges did better at that sort of thing. Sorry to see Fields go out like this (his last film.) In the end, spending your money buying this film proves the title, us being the "sucker."

Without doubt, "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" is Fields at his absolute best. The "plotline" is so completely beyond belief that it provides the nearly perfect vehicle for Fields' unique and irreverent style with its constant stream of sight gags and one-liners. His mumbled verbal interactions with Madame Hemoglobin (Margaret Dumont) and the "tiny waitress" in the café (Jody Gilbert) are as memorably irreverent as anything he had done previously and are worth listening to closely to fully appreciate. The constantly changing scenes and situations in this film provide ample opportunity for his verbal and visual "charms" to be fully utilized, and in my opinion this is his finest and most consistently funny effort. If you haven't seen this film, give it a viewing or two. If you are a true Fields fan, you'll enjoy it as much as or more so than any of his other more well-known offerings.

W.C. Fields was a pioneer of the American cinema. As such, he was a true original who not only acted, but also wrote most of the material for his films. Mr. Fields left an important body of work for us to watch, laugh and admire. His "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" was his last film. The film, although a bit dated, still has some sparks thanks to Mr. Fields, playing the Uncle Bill of the story. The film, directed by Edward C. Cline, still has a lot of laughs. The film is a satire about the movie industry that Mr. Fields knew so well. Mr. Fields takes us behind the cameras to show us the craziness that is associated with making films. Of course, it is somewhat exaggerated as we don't believe what goes on at some of the Esoteric Studios. Aside from Mr. Fields, Gloria Jean plays his niece, the sweet voiced girl appearing in one of the films in production. Also, Leon Errol, Margaret Dumont and some old pros are seen doing their best.