Day 78: W.C. Fields: Six Short Films (1915-1933)
Returning once again to “The Criterion Summer” after yesterday’s ”The Bank Dick,“ W.C. Fields now brings us six of his short films, consisting of all five of his “talkies” and his very fist ever silent picture. Though each of these is a separate film unto itself, watching them together does show a story all its own- the comedic maturity of the great W.C. Fields. With each short, a snapshot is made of a comedian growing and changing to not only find and define his own style, but to adapt to the new technical obstacles, such as sound, that Hollywood brought to his work.
In his first film ever, “Pool Sharks” (1915), Fields is just an echo of what he would become. Made up with a cane and a long mustache, it is more than obvious that Fields, like so many silent comedians at the time, is trying to jump on the “tramp” persona bandwagon that Charlie Chaplin had driven to immense success, but, unlike Chaplin, Fields has no sense of sweetness or vulnerability with his character and an air of bumbling self importance, which would one day make him famous, can already be seen.
By his debut into sound with “The Golf Specialist” (1930), Fields had really honed his snarky demeanor, but the last piece of the puzzle had remained elusive until now. Finally allowed to be heard by a cinema audience, his slow demeaning draw comes out fully formed from his years in vaudeville and brings a lot of humor to Field’s J. Effingham Bellweather as he tries to show a pretty woman his golfing skills, but never once gets to hit the ball.
In 1932, Fields further went into adjusting his character with “The Dentist,” a piece that many consider his most violent. Finally losing that awful mustache from his silent picture days, Fields now plays an archetype that would be the foundation of his career – the blustery father figure. After locking his daughter away from the love of her life, Fields dentist character spends the rest of his time helping patients with their problems- mostly fixing the issues with a drill, but no painkiller. For an early black and white comedy, it really does have itself a dark streak as, in later films, Fields would at least acknowledges his victims and their pain whereas here he just barrels on his merry way. Also, it should be noted, that this short has had a censored deleted scene put back in where Fields tries to pull a woman’s tooth but ends up having her legs spread around him. Of course he then quips, “This won’t hurt ya…much.” A rather saucy moment indeed.
In the next year, Fields went on to perform in “The Fatal Glass of Beer,” easily the oddest short of the bunch. Being less a slapstick and more of a satire of overwrought melodramas, popularly set in the cold snowy Yukon, Fields finds himself once again the father figure of a ramshackle cabin in the middle of nowhere. Oddly unlike any of his other work, Fields is rather toned down and in control for most of the piece, mimicking the acting style found in the popular “Yukon dramas,” but that doesn’t, by the end, he has knocked a couple noggins. It just wouldn’t be the same if he didn’t.
In the last two shorts of the collection, “The Pharmacist” and “The Barber Shop,” the classic Fields persona is in full force as he finds himself, once again, a family man as well as the proprietor of the shops found in each short’s title. In both, Fields sets about his daily duties and hijinks ensues with each visitor to his establishment, culminating in a right climatic mess- just the way we like to see a Fields picture turn out. Here, Fields seems most comfortable in his skin and, in the years to come, the ease of his comedic timing would serve him well.
With “W.C. Fields: Six Short Films,” we are allowed to not only laugh at one of the most renowned comedians of his time, but better understand both the maturity and changing of his process. In a way, we can see the “big picture” that is W.C. Fields and appreciate him finally as a whole.
To learn more about “W.C. Fields: Six Short Films,” check out Criterion’s page here.
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