My Little Chickadee (1940) Directed by Edward F. Cline
Comedy / Western
Film Review
With both their careers on the wane by the late 1930s, Mae West and
W.C. Fields each found a new lease of life when they agreed to appear
in this raunchy comedy western, which proved to be a massive box office
hit. By all accounts, the two performers loathed each other,
West's dislike for her co-star being fuelled when Universal gave him
equal credit for the screenplay which she had mostly written. West also
disapproved of Fields' heavy drinking. There is no trace of this
backstage antagonism on screen and the two stars work together
surprisingly well, probably because they make such a stark
contrast. Whilst Fields trips over the scenery and has fun
playing the loveable rogue, West flutters her eyelashes, drops the
occasional double entendre soaked epigram and conquers every red
blooded male within a ten mile radius.
Among the film's many highlights are the scene in which Fields gets
into bed with a goat (thinking it is his other half in a fur coat) and
another in which the shapely Miss West gets a class of schoolboys to
stand to attention and explains the meaning of subtraction.
There's very little to the plot and not all the jokes hit their mark
but the sheer pleasure of seeing these two cinema icons on screen
together makes us blind to these shortcomings. It is a pity that
this is the only time when Fields and West worked together. They
could have been a sensational double act.
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Film Synopsis
Saloon bar singer Flower Belle Lee is on her way to visit her relatives
in Lower Bend when her stagecoach is halted by a masked bandit.
Having despoiled the coach, the bandit flees, taking Flower Belle with
him. When the singer turns up in town a few hours later,
apparently unharmed, the townsfolk are suspicious. Then, when she
is seen having a midnight tryst with the bandit, Flower Belle is
banished from the town for improper conduct. On the train to
Greasewood City, Flower Belle meets con artist Cuthbert J. Twillie and,
seeing that he has bag filled with banknotes, agrees to marry him on
the spot. On arriving in Greasewood, the seductive Miss Lee
immediately attracts the attention of the town's big man, Jeff
Badger. To get rid of Twillie, Badger has him made sheriff of the
town, knowing that no one stays in the post long before he is gunned
down...
Cast: Mae West (Flower Belle Lee),
W.C. Fields (Cuthbert J. Twillie),
Joseph Calleia (Jeff Badger),
Dick Foran (Wayne Carter),
Ruth Donnelly (Aunt Lou),
Margaret Hamilton (Mrs. Gideon),
Donald Meek (Amos Budge),
Fuzzy Knight (Cousin Zeb),
Willard Robertson (Uncle John),
George Moran (Milton),
Jackie Searl (Boy),
Fay Adler (Mrs. 'Pygmy' Allen),
Gene Austin (Saloon Musician),
Russell Hall (Candy),
Otto Heimel (Coco),
Mark Anthony (Townsman),
Hank Bell (Townsman),
William 'Billy' Benedict (Lem),
Georgie Billings (Boy),
Wade Boteler (Leading Citizen)
Country: USA
Language: English
Support: Black and White
Runtime: 83 min
The very best of German cinema
German cinema was at its most inspired in the 1920s, strongly influenced by the expressionist movement, but it enjoyed a renaissance in the 1970s.
In the 1940s, the shadowy, skewed visual style of 1920s German expressionism was taken up by directors of American thrillers and psychological dramas, creating that distinctive film noir look.
With so many great films to choose from, it's nigh on impossible to compile a short-list of the best 15 French films of all time - but here's our feeble attempt to do just that.