To celebrate World Gin Day, here's some W.C. Fields!
Followed by caricatures of Fields from classic cartoons.
And, inevitably, cartoons involving delirium tremens and elephants!
It just wouldn't be World Gin Day without cartoons starring drunken dogs!
The official World Gin Day website adds: Gin Day was established by England’s own connoisseur of the juniper-based drink, the Gin Monkey. Emma, the titular Gin Monkey, has been a huge fan of cocktails of all kinds and has worked throughout the Newcastle, London, and Leeds area in multiple cocktail bars. Taking this experience to the streets she created her Gin Monkey site, put together with the intent of saving intrepid bar-hoppers from finding the worst of the alcohol joints at their destination.
What is the best way to top off a selection of inebriated film clips curated specifically for World Gin Day? By an entire film about inebriation starring Charlie Chaplin!
A key function and reason for being of this blog is to pay tribute to favorite comedians, comediennes and animators from decades gone by; we love the spectacular, the merely great and just occasionally great who take us to "the laughing place." Right now, we're reeling from the passing earlier this week of one of the all-time greats, Second City and SCTV troupe member Joe Flaherty, while also celebrating the natal anniversary of the hilariously funny Grady Sutton (1906-1995).
Could have celebrated the 100th birthday of Grady Sutton, another all-time favorite, especially as a foil to all-time great W.C. Fields, when I started this blog way back in 2006. Why not? I don't know! Shall tip our battered top hat worn by William Claude Dukenfeld to Grady Sutton, born April 5, 1906, today!
Rather amazingly, Grady Sutton, over a 55 year career, both appeared in silent films and played the role of the principal in ROCK N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL. That's right - that means he had a show business career that crossed paths with both W.C. Fields and The Ramones. His first claim to fame was a continuing role in the early 1930's Hal Roach Studios series The Boy Friends.
On a YouTube channel devoted to the career of ace movie stuntman Dave Sharpe and, lo and behold, there's The Boy Friends in AIR-TIGHT. Grady was, along with former Our Gang star Mickey Daniels, the top comic in the series, while dapper Dave Sharpe acted as the leading man.
There are two comedy shorts we know of titled THE KNOCKOUT. Most dyed-in-the-wool silent movie buffs have seen the 1914 Keystone Comedy featuring Roscoe Arbuckle and a young Edgar "Slow Burn" Kennedy (with hair!) as pugilists and none other than Charlie Chaplin as the referee. The second is a Hal Roach Studios 2-reeler featuring The Boy Friends; Grady's dancing at 0:54 is a hoot!
Very likely as a direct result of appearing in The Pharmacist, produced by Mack Sennett, Grady Sutton also appeared in the following Mack Sennett Star Comedy - Husbands' Reunion.
When Hal Roach Studios cameraman George Stevens moved on from The Lot Of Fun to RKO Radio Pictures in 1933, he launched a short subjects series, The Blondes & The Redheads, featuring Grady along with cartoon voice artist Carol Tevis (you know her when you hear that high-pitched squeaky voice) and leading ladies June Brewster and Dorothy Granger.
The Blondes & The Redheads comedies are very enjoyable 2-reelers and, having fallen into the public domain, all available on YouTube, in some cases as a playlist.
Grady Sutton is best known to classic movie buffs and comedy fans for his supporting roles in W.C. Fields films.
He is consistently hilarious in the 1939 Fields vehicle You Can't Cheat An Honest Man.
Fields subsequently cast Grady as the unbelievably dense Og Oggilby in THE BANK DICK (1940).
Grady Sutton continued working in TV and movies through the 1970's. As there are so many guest appearances and walk-ons in movies and sitcoms through the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's, it is difficult to say where to begin, He was one of the co-stars of The Pruitts Of Southampton a.k.a. The Phyllis Diller Show, featuring standup comedienne Diller, along with a host of talented character actors (including Grady, Reginald Gardiner and the ubiquitous Richard Deacon, post-Dick Van Dyke Show role as subject of scorn Mel Cooley).
While on the topic of comedians who brought the writer of this blog a million laughs, we're saddened to hear that Joe Flaherty, writer, teacher, director, improv expert and cast member in Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog's favorite sketch comedy show, SCTV, has passed at the age of 82.
Here, two cast members from that great series, Joe and John Candy, appear on Late Night With David Letterman.
One SCTV character who never fails to crack up the crew here is Guy Caballero!
Another is Count Floyd.
Monster Chiller Horror Theatre's House Of Cats remains a favorite!
Mr. Flaherty, a Pittsburgh-born cornerstone of the Second City troupe and the National Lampoon radio show, brought the comedy-centric gang here a million laughs on SCTV and a slew of other television programs and movies (Freaks & Geeks, Happy Gilmore, Maniac Mansion). . . as well as thrills introducing the superlative Canadian rock band Rush in concert as Count Floyd!
And Grady Sutton, our often befuddled assistant in navigating the distictive world of W.C. Fields in The Pharmacist, The Man On The Flying Trapeze, You Can't Cheat An Honest Man and The Bank Dick did the same, getting big laughs from this comedy fan on everything from pre-code 2-reelers to MGM's Ziegfeld Follies to many TV shows and the latter-day likes of I Love You, Alice B. Toklas, Support Your Local Gunfighter and Rock N' Roll High School.
Exhaling a profound sigh of relief today, watching Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (while cursing Blogger for not having a functional Preview), thoughts turn to another amazing actor who, as Cary Grant did, got big laughs on the big screen, the great comedian W.C. Fields (January 29, 1880 — December 25, 1946), arguably the funniest of all the comics who enlivened the silver screen.
Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog last posted about W.C. Fields on the centenary of the comic/writer/actor/juggler extraordinaire's first silver screen appearance in Pool Sharks (1915). Since the Statute of Limitations on this topic has expired (along with approximately 97.8% of this blogger's writing mojo), today shall be devoted to W.C. Fields.
What do we love about Fields? Well, in addition to the fact that Fields, using such memorable pseudonyms as Mahatma Kane Jeeves, Charles Bogle and Otis Criblecoblis, contributed screenplays, gags and storylines to many of his movies, it's his independent attitude towards life. When Fields mutters in the reel world, he's saying what is on our minds. In the real world, one can only be so cantankerous, insubordinate, defiant and contemptuous of authority; say ANYTHING along those lines of Fields' mutterings, even under your breath, especially around those in positions of authority, and the results will always be bad, not good!
The Fields seen in the 1930's Paramount features is not an anarchist (a la The Marx Brothers and Clark & McCullough) but a harried and stressed-out everyman.
It's A Gift is the film that best expresses the stressed everyman characterization. As funny as then iconoclastic Fields from the later Universal features is, these three Paramounts are this comedy aficionado's favorites, due to the booze-loving and spoiled brat-hating persona's inspired work within the characterization and the storylines.
Harold Bissonette, Fields' small-town grocer in It's A Gift, surrounded by louts, blowhards, busybodies and a shrewish spouse, tries his very best to get through his daily tasks, as indignities upon indignities are heaped upon him. He's the predecessor of Rodney Dangerfield's guy who got "no respect," but quietly defiant and irreverently well aware of the rampant idiocy in his midst. The idealized small-town America of the day, and its citizenry, does not get the Frank Capra treatment but is skewered deliciously, to a significant degree due to hilarious performances by the supporting players, especially Charles Selton as the blind but unrelentingly obnoxious Mr. Muckle.
Through it all, Fields' skilled acting distinguishes him as one of the funniest and most brilliant comedians and character actors ever to appear in motion pictures.
The followup, The Man On The Flying Trapeze, includes much of the It's A Gift cast and gets considerable comic mileage out of similar themes.
Among our all-time favorite comedy films here at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog are the Fields & Alison Skipworth "road hogs" segment from the 1932 anthology feature If I Had A Million and the Paramount gems Million Dollar Legs and International House.
Million Dollar Legs is part of a noteworthy trio of extremely wacky, irreverent and satiric 1930's comedies, along with Wheeler & Woolsey in Diplomaniacs and the Marx Brothers' Duck Soup.
While these first films Fields appeared in for Paramount Pictures were not vehicles for his specific personality and characterization - he was just one among many talented comedians in the casts of both Million Dollar Legs and International House - they are supremely zany, immensely entertaining and loaded with pre-Code flavor.
Six Of A Kind (1934) would re-unite Fields with fellow cast members from International House Burns & Allen.
Definitely NOT among all-time favorite films but fascinating to watch nonetheless is the 1933 version of Alice In Wonderland, a bizarre curio featuring just about everyone on the Paramount lot, including Fields.
It's an odd but interesting slice of 1933 cinema, and no doubt preceded by pot smoking when screened in the 1960's. It scores points for being a lot weirder than the subsequent but less interesting Walt Disney cartoon version of Alice In Wonderland and, in its commitment to a fantasy world, closer to stop-motion animator Lou Bunin's terrific take on Lewis Carroll.
Castle Films, which distributed 1-reel clips from many of the Fields features for the home movie market, deserves credit, along with the TV stations that frequently showed It's A Gift, The Bank Dick and Never Give A Sucker An Even Break, for spreading the word about the classic comedy of W.C. Fields to a new generation. Numerous movie buffs and film collectors were introduced to Fields by Castle Films reels on 8mm and 16mm.
A Castle Films reel featuring Fields' astounding juggling act (from The Old Fashioned Way) was quite popular among young film collectors who were that new generation in the 1960's and 1970's; this blogger ran his 8mm print of The Great McGonigle over and over and over again.
Sound movies on glorious 8mm film were a big deal to young baby boomer film buffs. Castle Films did very well with their excerpts from W.C. Fields and Abbott & Costello features, as well as from such Universal monster movie masterpieces as The Bride Of Frankenstein, Dracula, The Bride Of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Invisible Man.
Adding to Fields' resurgence of popularity (along with comedies starring The Marx Brothers and Mae West) as baby boomers discovered how incredibly funny he was, along with the films getting shown on television and in said screenings, were how often Fields' 2-reelers from 1932-1933 were featured at rep cinema houses and college screenings.
16mm prints of the Fields comedy short subjects (The Pharmacist, The Barber Shop, The Fatal Glass Of Beer and The Dentist) produced by Mack Sennett were frequently seen in the golden age of repertory cinema.
In addition, author Leonard Maltin's writings spotlighting Fields - The Great Movie Shorts, The Great Movie Comedians and more - did much to keep the memory of film humor's kings and queens alive.
A seasoned headliner in vaudeville by age 21, Fields toured the world as a successful juggler-comedian decades before the motion picture starring roles he is remembered for today. He rocked the Folies Bergère in Paris, the Ziegfeld Follies in 1915 and starred on Broadway in the musical comedy Poppy (1923) and The Comic Supplement (1924). This led to a few appearances in silent features such as D.W. Griffith's Sally Of The Sawdust and That Royle Girl.
He played a character role as an inebriated British sergeant in the Marion Davies vehicle and big budget Revolutionary War drama Janice Meredith, but, unfortunately, Fields does not have much to do. Since Davies, much to the chagrin of William Randolph Hearst, was a gifted comedienne rather than a historical drama grande dame, the possibilities of Davies and Fields doing comedy are not explored. Can't imagine Hearst tolerating a - shudder - comedian sharing scenes with Marion, who, little did the publishing magnate know, was one of the funniest ladies in motion pictures.
Fields starred in a few more silent features, several in collaboration with director-writer Gregory LaCava, for Paramount Pictures, before returning to the stage as the star of Earl Carroll's Vanities in 1928-1929. These late silents included The Potters, So’s Your Old Man, It’s The Old Army Game, Fools For Luck, Two Flaming Youths and Tillie's Punctured Romance, the latter three co-starring Mack Sennett Studio headliner ("Walrus" in the Keystone Comedies) and memorable Chaplin supporting player Chester Conklin. The Potters and the three Fields-Conklin comedies remain lost films. The Fields-Conklin features did poorly at the box office that, at least for awhile, the cantankerous comic gave up on a movie career. He accepted a lucrative offer starring in the 1928 edition of Earl Carroll’s Vanities at a salary of $5,000 per week.
Thankfully, there is a W.C. Fields channel on YouTube, where the Paramount features Mrs. Wiggs Of The Cabin Patch, The Old Fashioned Way, The Man On The Flying Trapeze and Poppy are, at the moment, available on YouTube (in 10 minute clips) in their entirety. There are also several DVD box sets.
While the baseball fans at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog remain quite sad to note the passing at 86 of Baseball Hall of Fame legend Henry "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron, an unstoppable champion on and off the diamond (and, along with Willie Mays the Greatest Of All Time)
these classic comedy routines offer, like Mr. William Claude Dukenfield's favorite single malt scotch, an exceptional tonic when smiles and laughs are much needed.
"Bill never really wanted to hurt anybody. He just felt an obligation." Gregory LaCava
100 years ago, vaudeville star W.C. Fields began his movie career with the 1915 short subject Pool Sharks, the signature Fields mannerisms and timing are already readily apparent.
After spending Wednesday's post pondering the future of Turner Classic Movies, possibly needlessly, we note that the channel shall be paying tribute today to one of the favorite comedians here at Way To Damn Lazy To Write A Blog, the great W.C. Fields. The tribute, W.C. Fields: 100 Years In Film, celebrates the centenary of the actor, comedian and Ziegfeld Follies star's first silver screen appearances.
As The Marx Brothers did, Fields enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the 1960's and 1970's. In a development that seen today - in an era when anything that hits the airwaves or the internet enjoys much LESS than Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame and anything more than 30 minutes in the past is instantaneously looked down upon - would be unthinkable, the youth of the era embraced the razzing of the social order and the anti-establishment modus operandi exemplified by both comics.
TCM's tribute to the cantankerous, iconoclastic, booze-swilling comic kicks off with his best known and most nose-thumbing film, The Bank Dick.
Mr. Fields' granddaughter, global health advocate Dr. Harriet A. Fields, along with Ben Mankiewicz, will be co-hosting. It's not the first TCM homage to the inventive and original comedian, as he was the featured Star Of The Month awhile back.
Although it is tough for Fields fans to watch him in a silent movie - you just want to hear that nasal drawl and the muttered asides he would do so brilliantly in talkies - he starred in several 1920's features for directors D.W. Griffith and Gregory La Cava.
At the end of silents, Fields was teamed with Mack Sennett Studio, Fox Sunshine Comedies and Charlie Chaplin Productions favorite, the diminutive and very prolific comic Chester Conklin. None of these late 1920's features the pair made for Paramount Pictures exist at this time.
After the last Paramount features Fields found himself briefly making short subjects at Radio Pictures.
Fields apparently was signed for the 1930-1931 season of short subjects, but, noting the low billing in the following advertisement, one wonders if he had already left Radio Pictures by the time this got published.
The first and only Fields Radio Pictures short, The Golf Specialist, is the first time in a talkie we get to see the famous Fields golf routine.
Fields would appear in the Marilyn Miller musical comedy Her Majesty Love for First National, along with fellow Ziegfeld Follies comic Leon Errol and silent film comedian, known as the Keystone Cops chief from Mack Sennett and Henry Lehrman comedies (as well as numerous 1920's character roles), Ford Sterling.
His next opportunity would be the four short subjects produced by Mack Sennett and released in 1933: The Pharmacist, The Barber Shop, The Dentist and The Fatal Glass Of Beer. The last of the group is a stinging sendup of the Victorian melodramas ("The Drunkard") that were the rage in the late 19th and early 20th century. Fields skewers 'em with relish!
The return of Fields to Paramount in 1933 would result in many of his very best films, ranging from the wonderfully bizarre Million Dollar Legs and International House to his pairings with character actress Alison Skipworth (If I Had A Million and Tillie & Gus) and arguably his greatest starring vehicles, It's A Gift and Man On The Flying Trapeze, produced in 1934-1935.
Most notable of the Fields Paramount features on TCM tonight: It's A Gift, which stars Fields in his beleaguered every man character.
He owns a small-town grocery store and is surrounded by obnoxious patrons, the mischievous and irritating Baby LeRoy and a domineering, constantly complaining spouse (played to a T by Kathleen Howard). The sight gags, routines and Fields' performance in this are impeccable. Here's the famous "sleeping on the porch" sequence.
Also on the bill: the Dickensian version of Fields, shining as Micawber in David Copperfield.
There will also be a particularly hilarious opus from his last group of films produced by Universal, You Can't Cheat An Honest Man.
Frankly, we're just a tad skeptical about the RKO Short Subjects Department's claims here. While comedy geeks love Benny Rubin, for cryin' out loud, he's the top of the bill and W.C. Fields is the bottom! Well, both were headlining RKO Radio Pictures 2-reelers at the time.
Even more amazing is the bit about kids "clamoring for" Larry Darmour Productions' cheesy, low-budget Mickey McGuire comedies - yes, even in a hurting, battered, Great Depression and entertainment-starved America. We do, however, at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog, admit to liking Billy Barty's performance in the following film as the conductor TONS.
By all accounts Billy Barty was a very good musician (started his career touring vaudeville in his family's band) who offscreen would rock the drum kit like his heroes from the Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman big bands. Billy soon left these comedies to contribute some amazing bits to Busby Berkeley's already hallucinogenic production numbers in WB musicals.
Meanwhile, the Mickey McGuire series moved from RKO to Columbia distribution for its last season in 1933-1934. Comedy shorts starring Clark & McCullough, Edgar Kennedy, Harry Sweet and Grady Sutton continued being produced by RKO.
Notably, at the bottom of this ad, most certainly bringing up the rear, is a reference to RKO's Toby The Pup cartoons, produced by Dick Huemer, Sid Marcus and Art Davis at the Charles Mintz Studio.
That means we simply must close this post with two, not three, no make that FOUR animated adventures starring the (not exactly) beloved Toby. The cartoons never got distributed to U.S. television and were largely unseen for several decades.
For the longest time, only one entry from the Toby The Pup series, The Museum, was available for viewing.
Since then, animation historians (Serge Bromberg of Lobster Films and prolific chronicler of comic art David Gerstein in particular) have found several more Toby cartoons. In this writer's cartoon-crazed opinion, they equal or surpass the wacky Fleischer Studio hijinx from the same period and also rival the contemporaneous Disney cartoons for animation technique, early 1930's "rubber hose" style.
