The Pharmacist

This W. C. Fields short is similar to another short he made called THE BARBER, as both are very slowly paced and meandering films that don't rush the jokes or even have that many jokes. It looked as if there was only a script outline and they told Fields to take his time, make up some of his usual one-liners and act as if its another day in the life of this Pharmacist. In fact, now that I think about it, it is also very reminiscent of the first portion of the full-length Fields film IT'S A GIFT (my favorite of Fields' films). For those who love Fields, they'll laugh and enjoy the leisurely stroll and for those who don't, I doubt it will change their opinion very much. The film doesn't take any risks or have any over-the-top humor like his FATAL GLASS OF BEER or THE DENTIST, but I actually like both style of films.

A MACK SENNETT Short Subject.

Caught between his frightful female relations on the second floor & the rather odd customers down in the shop, THE PHARMACIST in a small town reacts with predictably irascible behavior.

Initially conceived as a skit in 1925 for the Ziegfeld Follies by the inimitable W. C. Fields, THE PHARMACIST become one of a quartet of short subjects produced by Mack Sennett in the early 1930's. Fortunately, Fields was given full rein to control the film as he saw fit. The success of the shorts gave a new glow to Sennett's reputation, as many in Hollywood thought the old comedy master was washed-up with the end of the Silents. For Fields, this was the opportunity to paint large on a small canvas, going straight for the laughs (based on his unique personality) without any time wasted on character development or plot complexities.

Elise Cavanna plays Fields' ghastly wife & Babe Kane is his canary-munching daughter. (Looking enough alike to be sisters, these two actresses were actually only seven years apart in age.) Grady Sutton has a small role as the much-maligned Cuthbert.

This is the kind of short comedy that shows W.C. Fields's brand of humor at its most distinctive. Mixing the subtle and the outrageous, it offers plenty of good gags, and it is the kind of feature that improves the more carefully you watch it. It has some fine surreal moments that, at least if you enjoy Fields's style, can be quite hilarious.

As "The Pharmacist", Fields plays a character who is at the same time good-natured yet misanthropic. He lives and works in a ridiculous situation, giving Fields the chance to use his voice, facial expressions, and mannerisms in some very funny ways. A couple of the vignettes with the customers are so nicely done that it's easy to miss the many subtleties. (The fussy man asking for a stamp might be the best-remembered of them.)

As the wife and daughter, Elise Cavanna and Marjorie Kane are also very good, fitting their characters right into the world that Fields creates.

Fields excels in (among other things) throwing his viewers an occasional curve, and it's not always easy to catch everything, "The Pharmacist", like its companions "The Dentist" and "The Barber Shop", has a resourceful supply of material performed by one of the movies' most talented comedians.

W.C Fields should have made more short comedies before settling into feature length films. His style translated to comedy shorts better in some ways than with his feature films. "The Pharmacist" has Fields once again playing a henpecked husband who is struggling to keep his pharmacy business successful. He has customers who don't buy anything, a run in with a wanted outlaw and two daughters who are about as much use as a pair of ice skates in the sand! There are some good moments and Fields has some witty dialogue to work with.

The last two shorts that W.C. Fields made for Mack Sennett at Paramount were a kind of dress rehearsal for the film character he was to develop in his classic features for Paramount and Universal. The ever henpecked proprietor of The Pharmacy with his wife and two daughters would be his staple character for years.

Elsie Cavenna who played Mrs. Fields in this isn't quite as shrewish a character as Kathleen Howard later would be for Fields, but that was a change he'd make in his feature. The two daughters are oblivious to his plight, one is perpetually hungry and would eat the pet bird faster than if a cat caught it. The other is going out with a guy named Cuthbert played by Grady Sutton who also would appear in several features with Fields and Fields can't stand anyone named Cuthbert. He feels one has to be a sissy if you got a name like that, it's foreordained.

Homophobia of course it to be deplored, but in the case of Fields he didn't like anybody. Under the Code same gender sex was just something so taboo as not to be even acknowledged. And Fields just didn't like anybody. He was a beloved misanthrope.

A lot of beautiful gags are in The Pharmacist make this really a treat. I did so love the man who insisted on buying a 'clean' postage stamp from the middle of the sheet. In the end Cuthbert proves to be a welcome addition to the family.