Well I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while and for you folks who don’t own this on physical media, watch it online before it gets taken down (or better yet, buy a copy). The topic of this week’s discussion is W.C. Field’s 1934 classic, YOU’RE TELLING ME. I’ve always made it known that while I like all of Fields work, there are a small handful of films made in the mid 30’s for Paramount that I think are masterpieces and this film is one of them. It’s the ability to take a flawed but very human and relatable character along with a messed up family dynamic and bring a lot of humor to it all. Some of the humor is quite dark in this case as there is even a suicide attempt from Fields, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
YOU’RE TELLING ME starts out in a way most people associate W.C. Fields - drunk. It’s late at night and Fields is walking to his door. The way he stumbles off the path and bends over losing his hat is very graceful to watch, almost Chaplin like in the sense I just can’t take my eyes off him. I love the little device he uses for the lock on the door to overcome his drunkenness and make it easier to get his key in the hole. Very clever. When he’s in the house, the way he keeps dropping the hat and getting his head continuously caught in those beads is more fine physical comedy. His wife is of course waiting for him and the excuses about being out late he comes up with are funny, my favorite part being the “half past eight” gag. Yeah, he’s lying to her but as his wife’s character gets revealed throughout the film, can you blame him for desperately trying to avoid her wrath. The shoe bit is a nice start, but she eventually gets exposed as a status seeking phony who does nothing but berate and put down her husband. Very unlikable.
Then there’s the dynamic with Fields daughter and her boyfriend. She comes from a lower middle class family while the boyfriend comes from wealth, with his prudish mother being played by Kathleen Howard - a future Mrs. Fields in other Paramount films. Fields wife puts on airs for the boyfriend’s mother but Fields just acts himself and gets totally rejected. So there’s the guilt that his position in life is preventing his daughter from marrying the man she loves.
Fields is also an inventor, with no moral support from his wife but support from his drinking buddies. After a funny scene with Fields displaying a chair to knock out burglars, he shows us his puncture proof tires. He takes the tires to a tire company for a demonstration. The tires are on his car and he plans to shoot the tires with a gun to show they are puncture proof. Through circumstance, Fields car gets moved so by the time he is shooting the tires for the people he’s trying to sell his invention to, the tires inflate. He’s shooting the wrong car. Between this humiliation and ruining things for his daughter, Fields is at a low point now.
The darkest scene in the movie somehow turns into one of the most touching scenes in all of classic comedy. Fields is on a train and tries to commit suicide by drinking iodine. Fortunately, Fields savior is none other than Vernon Dent, who is as as heavy as I ever saw him and is sporting a foreign accent. Between Vernon’s singing, shaving noises and whip cream flying into Fields face, he is too distracted to drink the iodine. Driving by a cemetery seals the deal that Fields won’t do it.
We are then introduced to Princess Lescaboura, played wonderfully by Adrienne Ames. A shame she didn’t do more based on this performance. I’ve only ever seen her elsewhere in THE DEATH KISS with David Manners and Bela Lugosi and she tragically passed from cancer at age 39. Anyway, she is lamenting to an assistant about how she can’t be with the man she loves because she’s a princess and he’s a commoner. Completely mirrors the class distinction with Fields daughter and her boyfriend. She also cuts her finger and is given iodine. Fields walks by, sees the iodine and assumes the princess is aiming for suicide just like Fields was. Not knowing she’s a princess, he tells her not to do it.
What follows is an incredibly touching scene where Fields pours his heart out to The Princess. Relating to the daughter situation, she listens very empathetically and Fields is about as honest and forthright as you’ll ever see him. Like I said, very moving. This leads to two things. One is The Princess gets the idea to go to Fields town and pretend she’s a long time friend of Fields. This will boost Fields standing in the town and make it so the daughter and boyfriend can marry. Secondly, it comically shows the seedy nature of humanity in general.
While in the train with The Princess, two town ladies see Fields with her and think he’s having an affair. After gossiping to the townspeople, we see all these townspeople telling the tale. Each time, it’s a different story. A comical way of showing how gossip spreads. Once The Princess is in town and says she knows Fields, everybody’s attitude about the family changes, again comically showing the two faced nature of a lot of people - except Fields. Through all the snobby parties, through all the praise and admiration, he’s completely unmoved. All he wants to do is have a drink with the mayor and his friends. He’s the same person no matter what, the least pretentious of them all.
It’s hysterical how they find Fields to tell him he’s accepted. A big parade of people find him and what’s he doing? Lugging around a huge ostrich. Such a funny visual and situational gag. Fields now even gets to play golf to open up some good course and it is a wonderful excuse to use ten minutes of scream time to do his classic golf routine. You know, the one, where he’s distracted in a million ways before even driving the ball. A classic comedy scene, made all the more great with help of Ames as The Princess encouraging Fields and especially Tammany Young as the caddy. Fantastic scene.
In the end, the tire people find the car with the right tires and bid with Fields for the puncture proof tires. So in addition to getting Fields daughter with her boyfriend, she helps him bid to become a rich man. A true fairy Godmother and Fields still doesn’t realize she’s a real princess. Still, even to the end, as a rich man who can do anything, all Fields wants to do is have a drink with the boys. God bless him for being real. Great drama, commentary on human nature, comedy and characterization for Fields. YOU’RE TELLING ME is a must see for classic comedy fans.
