My Little Chickadee (1940)

Many of the comedians of this time seemed to be posing for the camera, delivering a line, then moving on. For some, this wouldn't have made for much of a movie, but put together Mae West and W. C. Fields and the lines carry the show. We are introduced to West early on so we can see her character (or lack of it). She is a formidable person who could stop a train. Every man immediately begins panting when they see her. By modern tastes she's over the top, but it doesn't matter here. Fields, the gambler and con man, finds himself married to West in a bogus ceremony. It's a "marriage of convenience" and Fields, try as he might, can't even get to first base. The joy in this, as with any Fields movie, is his total commitment to getting his way, even though it ain't gonna happen. Very memorable lines.

Mae West stars alongside W.C. Fields in this comedy classic from the 1930s about the Wild West. She plays Florabell who is disgraced by one town and goes to another town. Aboard the train, she meets up with W.C. Fields's shady character and they get married. Florabell's gentlemen admirers and suitors include the masked bandit who rides on a horse and robs people among others. Anyway, W.C. Fields called Mae West, his favorite co-star, probably because she was his peer. She knew how to write and make some laughs. The scene in the town school is quite memorable. Mae West had her own unique walk, style, and language all of her own worth watching. Want to know who inspired Madonna and Lady Gaga, I think Mae West would have been the first and unforgettable lady of shocking attitude. The film also stars Margaret Hamilton as the dreadful woman who hates Florabell. Hamilton also played the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz. She was a brilliant character actress of her time and is worth watching here. In the days of the Great Depression and a coming war, I could see why people flocked to the theaters every weekend.

Mae West & W C Fields collaborated on the script. In real life they hated each other. Other than 1 scene, they do not appear together. So why does this work?It works because both of these actors could write & Mae could sing a little. Actually, for its day, the movie gets a mature rating. There is one scene where West sets up Fields in a hotel room in bed with a goat. This happens in spite of tight censorship. Margaret Hamilton makes one of her many film appearances in support of these two stars. That is a good example of how odd this film is. It creates odd problems with its 2 stars as they did not get along. Thing is in spite of the hate between them, they could do a film This film is solid, and some of West's & Fields best work.

Parts of this movie are great--particularly those with WC Fields. In particular, I liked the horrible and cowardly way that he dealt with the attack on the train--pushing hapless little kids with cap guns out the door to face the onslaught! But, you'll no doubt discover that although this is a WC Fields and Mae West film, they don't interact much together, as they apparently hated each other and had to often be filmed separately. Mae's moments are generally flat compared to Fields' as she once again plays the trampy old broad who every man MUST possess (god only knows why). While the film certainly has some excellent moments, there are better films by Fields you can watch (such as IT'S A GIFT, THE BANK DICK, etc.). As for West, this is probably a better than average effort from her as at least her character is slightly different than her usual 1930s fare.