The Bank Dick was the first W. C. Fields film I saw. I was a teenager at the time, and had to drive into Hollywood where it was playing at one of the trendy "art houses" that routinely featured films made in the 1930s and 1940s. Unknown to me at the time, there was a full blown revival of W. C. Fields films going on, but the only way I could see his films was to scout out theaters where they were featured, or hope that one of the local TV stations would occasionally play one of his better known films.
Even as a teenager I was immediately struck by The Bank Dick's crisp dialogue which was generously sprinkled with double entendres. It was obvious that Fields clearly enjoyed pushing the proverbial envelope well beyond the strict censorship which existed in 1940. I mean, come on! A bar called "The Black Pussy Cat?" Oh my! What was he thinking? Incidentally, the "Dick" in The Bank Dick isn't a reference to a certain part of the male anatomy, but rather, it was slang for "Dick Tracy," a well loved fictional comic book crime fighter of the 30s.
Whatever the case, from then on, I was hooked. One watches W. C. Fields films not for the plot, but to see Fields drinking, smoking, and his endless gibberish which seems totally normal for a man who in real life did as much drinking as he does in his films.
No matter where you begin, any film with W. C. Fields in it is better because of him. One only wishes there were more to enjoy.
Even as a teenager I was immediately struck by The Bank Dick's crisp dialogue which was generously sprinkled with double entendres. It was obvious that Fields clearly enjoyed pushing the proverbial envelope well beyond the strict censorship which existed in 1940. I mean, come on! A bar called "The Black Pussy Cat?" Oh my! What was he thinking? Incidentally, the "Dick" in The Bank Dick isn't a reference to a certain part of the male anatomy, but rather, it was slang for "Dick Tracy," a well loved fictional comic book crime fighter of the 30s.
Whatever the case, from then on, I was hooked. One watches W. C. Fields films not for the plot, but to see Fields drinking, smoking, and his endless gibberish which seems totally normal for a man who in real life did as much drinking as he does in his films.
No matter where you begin, any film with W. C. Fields in it is better because of him. One only wishes there were more to enjoy.