The Barbershop was the fourth and last Mack Sennett short subject that W.C. Fields did for Paramount. In this last one and in The Pharmacist he honed his henpecked character to perfection.
As you gather by the title Fields is a barber and he lives above the shop with his wife Elsie Cavanna and son Harry Watson who is busy annoying dad with a lot of stupid riddles. It may have been in this film and in The Pharmacist that Fields developed his well known appetite for children. Remember he said he liked them if they were properly cooked.
His moment of sunshine every day is shapely manicurist Dagmar Oakland who brightens his working day. But Fields is so under the thumb of his wife he dare not make a move. Still he can and does dream.
My favorite gag is the very obese gentleman who went into the steam room Fields installed and came out like a third world starvation victim. If losing weight were only that simple.
I do also like that two bull fiddles mate and have a nice litter of violins as a result. That's another great sight gag.
In the end Fields does not get credit for an albeit accidental act of heroism. But it's all in a day for Fields whose characters just can't catch a break ever.
As you gather by the title Fields is a barber and he lives above the shop with his wife Elsie Cavanna and son Harry Watson who is busy annoying dad with a lot of stupid riddles. It may have been in this film and in The Pharmacist that Fields developed his well known appetite for children. Remember he said he liked them if they were properly cooked.
His moment of sunshine every day is shapely manicurist Dagmar Oakland who brightens his working day. But Fields is so under the thumb of his wife he dare not make a move. Still he can and does dream.
My favorite gag is the very obese gentleman who went into the steam room Fields installed and came out like a third world starvation victim. If losing weight were only that simple.
I do also like that two bull fiddles mate and have a nice litter of violins as a result. That's another great sight gag.
In the end Fields does not get credit for an albeit accidental act of heroism. But it's all in a day for Fields whose characters just can't catch a break ever.