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When counting out change for a customer buying tickets at his debt-ridden circus, Fields leads the customer to believe that he not only has counted out too much, but accidentally given him change for a 20 rather than a 10. The customer grabs the money and runs without bothering to point out the mistake. I think you can guess what actually happened.

This is really the only relevance of the title to a movie which is basically a series of skits showcasing W.C. Fields and Edgar Bergen, occasionally together, but usually in individual routines. Although W.C. is always a pleasure to watch, this is certainly not one of the better movies in which to do that. First of all, the Bergen routines grow tiresome quickly. There's only so much I can take of watching a ventriloquist who moves his lips while everyone pretends that his wooden dummies are alive. Second, Fields' routines never reach the level of inspired zaniness which his best films are able to achieve.

Finally, Fields never really imbues his character with any humanity until the final scenes. It his ability to do so which makes his best movies so special ("It's a Gift", "The Bank Dick", "You're Telling Me", etc.). Without it, all you have is a run-of-the-mill hit-or-miss comedy.

You Can't Cheat An Honest Man finds widower W.C. Fields running a second rate circus and trying to stay one step ahead of the law as he's creditors just about every place he goes. His children, John Arledge and Constance Moore attend a really posh Ivy League type school and you sympathize with Fields because you know this why he's probably not paying his bills. One also can speculate what his wife must have put up with back in the day.

Moore on a visit to Dad's show falls for the ventriloquist sideshow performer Edgar Bergen. But Bergen doesn't really get along with Fields or I should say his alter ego Charlie McCarthy doesn't.

The Fields-McCarthy feud was legendary on radio and it might seem hard to fathom how a ventriloquist could entertain on radio. But the characters he created were so powerful and had such a hold on the minds of the public that they were real. Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd were characters in their own right, they almost but not quite gained separate identities away from Edgar Bergen.

Anyway on Bergen's show, Bill Fields was a frequent guest and the repartee between Fields and McCarthy is still classic. Even without knowing that background, today's audience can still enjoy You Can't Cheat an Honest Man because the comedy is eternal.

There's not much of a plot except for Moore loving Bergen, but being ready to marry snobbish James Bush to help her father in his financial troubles. I'm sure you can figure out how that goes, especially when prospect in-laws Thurston Hall and Mary Forbes meet Fields at a little clambake they're throwing.

The circus offers a range of opportunity for some great gags including trying to pry Charlie McCarthy out of an alligator, an elephant who gives Fields showers on command and of course sawing Charlie in half during a magic act.

Still it's the repartee between Fields and Bergen and another of the unforgettable characterizations that Bill Fields brings us which makes You Can't Cheat An Honest Man a comedy classic.

This has probably become Feild's most underrated film. It has a few clumsy scenes, probably the most questionable racial "jokes" (through, given the milieu, probably quite true to life), and a lot of screen time goes to Edgar and Charlie.

Still, it is quite a wonderful film; and it retains the fundamental wacko universe that defines top Feilds. Some of the circus stuff is pretty amazing too, and they get a fine performance from the Lion tamer.

I think the ending probably must have looked so bad in the editing room they just said the hell with it and went for the sort of non ending with Mortimer. No matter, it's a jem, and if not "A" grade W.C., it's very close.

Making a Comeback to the Screen After a Three Year Break to Rest and Retain His Control Over Drink, W.C. Fields Finds Himself Able, Although Maybe a Step Slow, to Perform and Write the Script. While Not At the Top of His Game, Fields Manages Quite Well as Scribe and His Acerbic Way of Charming Audiences.

He Brings Along Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, the Two Wooden Dummies. Fields Had Kept His Hand In on the Radio During His Movie Break and had Cultivated a Running Feud on the Airwaves that Proved Quite Popular. So it was Only Natural that They Help W.C. with His Return to the Silver Screen.

They Did Prove Adequate and Perhaps Made the Picture More Popular with the Kiddies and the Circus Backdrop Also Helped with the Younger Set. W.C. Fields Humor was Strictly Speaking "Adult" in Nature, So This was a Bit Different but a Good Contrast. Some May Say that This is Diluted Fields, but Considering the Aging Comedian was on Shaky Ground, it Didn't Hurt the Film that Much.

The Film as a Whole has Enough of Fields to Make it Worthy of His Other Work. The Ping Pong Match, the Circus Shenanigans, and the Wordsmith Fields Fills the Film with Puns, Odd Sounding Words and Phrases, and Some Delirious Sight Gags, Like the Alligator Pit.

The Movie was a Good Comeback for Fields, Although One Could Sense there Weren't Many Good Years Left as the Decade Closed. In the Thirties Though, W.C. Fields was a Top Draw and a Genius of the Genre.

Note…W.C. Fields made one more bona fide classic…The Bank Dick (1940).

In yet another variation of his "Poppy" role from his Broadway hit of the 1920s, Fields here plays Larson E. Whipsnade, owner of a circus. He has 2 children who have been off at school. The daughter, Constance Moore, feels compelled to marry for money. The son has no role.

At the circus, among Fields' attraction are Edgar Bergen and his dummies. Fields and Bergen had a solid chemistry and the radio "fued" between Fields and the dummy Charlie McCarthy were hugely popular. Their banter here is quite funny.

The plot is thin and revolves around the daughter's marriage and the financial troubles of the circus. But it's enough for Fields to build some hilarious routines around. The climactic ping pong game at the home of the groom's parents is very funny. Also funny is Fields dressed up as circus star, Buffalo Bella, the sharp-shooter.

Moore and Bergen have zero chemistry as the "lovers." But good support is provided by Eddie Anderson, Mary Forbes, Thurston Hall, James Bush, Grady Sutton, and especially Jan Duggan as Miss Sludge, the woman who starts the ping pong match. Duggan memorably co-starred with Fields in THE OLD FASHIONED WAY.

The Fields universe rarely goes well but there is a happy ending.