Film & Shorts Discussions > Random Comedy Reviews
MISSISSIPPI (1935) W. C. Fields, Bing Crosby
NoahYoung:
--- Quote from: Dr. Mabuse on August 12, 2024, 02:13:03 PM ---One of my favorite scenes with The Great Man.
--- End quote ---
Yes, that's a great scene. There are many more great scenes with Fields in the picture. All I need to see is him at a bar, at a pool table, or at a card table, and I'm happy.
I hesitate to say that this in an under-rated movie; it is more a lesser-known movie in the W.C. Fields canon.
metaldams:
I have seen MISSISSIPPI two or three times and it’s really never made much of an impression. The point about taste in music really hits home because I think that definitely applies to me. I’ve been listening to musical stylings of Overkill and Saxon as of late - a bit removed from Bing. Intellectually, I can appreciate Bing as a singer and I also agree I like him in a light hearted comic setting in the Road films with Bob and Dorothy the best.
My taste in Fields really is best for me in those family comedies and the older I get, the more sense it makes they resonate with me - my life experience with family! MISSSISSIPPI has some fun Fields routines in something that is not completely his film.
Nice review, Noah and thanks to you, Homok and Paul for keeping the fires burning around here.
With my Italian horror interest, crazy to think there’s a link here. A much older Joan Bennett has a big role in 1977’s SUSPIRIA!
NoahYoung:
--- Quote from: metaldams on August 13, 2024, 06:10:55 PM ---I have seen MISSISSIPPI two or three times and it’s really never made much of an impression.
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That's a lot of times to watch a film that didn't make much of an impression on you! :D
--- Quote from: metaldams on August 13, 2024, 06:10:55 PM ---My taste in Fields really is best for me in those family comedies and the older I get, the more sense it makes they resonate with me - my life experience with family! MISSSISSIPPI has some fun Fields routines in something that is not completely his film.
--- End quote ---
You mean films like: IT'S A GIFT, MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE, and YOU'RE TELLING ME.
I almost included the BANK DICK, but the film is really a farce around Fields scheming and lying to everyone, although he does have a family in it.
Those 3 films I mentioned were actually remakes of his silent films -- so it was obviously a subject he enjoyed poking fun at as well. I do have to admit that the only silent Fields film I've seen is POOL SHARKS, which is terrible.
His 4 Sennett talkies can be considered family comedies as well, though THE PHARMACIST is the purest in that sense, and my least favorite of the bunch.
MISSISSIPPI has some really great Fields stuff. You never get the feeling while watching the film that he is "comic relief" or a "supporting player", because in neither case was that the intention. His false braggadocio became a common attribute of Fields characters going forward, and his oft-told tale (in this film) of him "carving through a wall of human flesh" foreshadows his similar tales in THE BANK DICK and YOU CAN'T CHEAT AN HONEST MAN. In the former, we have proof that he's lying since we saw what he was talking about, and the bank robber didn't pull a knife on him "this long."
--- Quote from: metaldams on August 13, 2024, 06:10:55 PM ---Nice review, Noah and thanks to you, Homok and Paul for keeping the fires burning around here.
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You're welcome.
--- Quote from: metaldams on August 13, 2024, 06:10:55 PM ---With my Italian horror interest, crazy to think there’s a link here. A much older Joan Bennett has a big role in 1977’s SUSPIRIA!
--- End quote ---
Hmmm...it seems that she gravitated to roles like that, as in DARK SHADOWS.
I did also want to point out that at least in the sound era, Fields never made a really bad film that he starred in, the possible exception being MY LITTLE CHICKADEE. Contrast that to the Marx Brothers and Laurel & Hardy, who had many clunkers and embarassments late in their careers. I chalk that up to Fields either writing the material, or embellishing the writing of others -- which he actually did in MISSISSIPPI, according to his grandson, Ronald J. Fields, in his terrific book, W. C. FIELDS: A LIFE ON FILM. (BTW, Ronald J. Fields is now a dead ringer for his grandfather!)
https://www.ronaldjfields.com/
metaldams:
Yes, indeed I’m referring to IT’S A GIFT (which I’ve reviewed here), MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE and YOU’RE TELLING ME. Three total masterpieces. I rank THE OLD FASHIONED WAY just a hair below those films but still find it very, very good. But those four films for me are Fields at his absolute peak. The Paramount films after, which MISSISSIPPI is a part of, feel a tad compromised - probably partially due to his health at the time. I enjoy the Universal films slightly less than the four great Paramount films, but enjoy them I do. TILLIE AND GUS feels like a warm up. Before that Fields was an entertaining character actor at Paramount. The Sennett shorts are great. The silent features which were remade into my favorite talkies are worth seeking out.
There’s my synopsis on Fields. Agree he never made a truly bad film, but there are tiers in my world.
NoahYoung:
--- Quote from: metaldams on August 14, 2024, 11:20:27 AM ---Yes, indeed I’m referring to IT’S A GIFT (which I’ve reviewed here), MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE and YOU’RE TELLING ME. Three total masterpieces. I rank THE OLD FASHIONED WAY just a hair below those films but still find it very, very good. But those four films for me are Fields at his absolute peak. The Paramount films after, which MISSISSIPPI is a part of, feel a tad compromised - probably partially due to his health at the time. I enjoy the Universal films slightly less than the four great Paramount films, but enjoy them I do. TILLIE AND GUS feels like a warm up. Before that Fields was an entertaining character actor at Paramount. The Sennett shorts are great. The silent features which were remade into my favorite talkies are worth seeking out.
There’s my synopsis on Fields. Agree he never made a truly bad film, but there are tiers in my world.
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POPPY could have been great, but it's still very good despite his ill-health which frankly I don't notice on-screen. Another period-film -- but I like him best in a contemporay setting.
I think HONEST MAN, THE BANK DICK, and NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK are masterpieces and right up there with the aforementioned Paramounts. I might actually put all 3 ahead of THE OLD FASHIONED WAY, depending upon my mood. (The DRUNKARD play-within-a-film weakens it for me, as does the "Gathering Up the Shells at the Seashore" song.)
I've never seen MRS. WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PATCH -- a supporting character role for him -- and don't plan to anytime soon.
I haven't seen TILLIE AND GUS in ages, but it's been sitting on my hard drive for several years waiting for a viewing.
INTERNATIONAL HOUSE is a pre-code hoot, and Fields steals the picture from his co-stars. It's not a "Fields picture", but even when he is not on-screen, it's great.
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