The Pharmacist

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.

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 key difference between W.C. Fields and Charlie Chaplin in their respective approaches to comedy is demonstrated in this short film The Pharmacist, which Fields made for Chaplin's former boss Mack Sennett. For most of his career Chaplin was careful to orchestrate audience sympathy for his character, so that even when the Little Tramp does something underhanded or naughty, we still like him. But Fields frequently aimed for something very different, and chose to embody mean, petty, blustery characters whose behavior can be inexcusable. (Perhaps this explains why Fields could be so deeply moving when he did periodically play a likable guy, or when he made an especially noble gesture, as in the finale of Poppy and a few similar instances.) The Pharmacist marks one of those occasions when Fields practically defies us to like the character he portrays. I tend to enjoy the Great Man's movies no matter what, but for newcomers to the world of W.C. Fields viewer discretion is advised: this time around, our star comic is not a nice man.

Fields plays a man named Dilweg who runs a drug store in a small town. He makes his entrance sourly ordering some children who are playing in front of his store to get lost. Dilweg lives over the store with his wife and two daughters, and while his older daughter seems pleasant enough, the younger daughter is a brat, and Mrs. Dilweg is pompous and stuffy. When he's upstairs with his family Dilweg is loud and crude, constantly fuming at the little girl and grousing about his job, but when he's downstairs with the customers he turns ridiculously deferential and accommodating, practically groveling for business -- which, on this particular day, is lousy.

That, in essence, is The Pharmacist. The humor derives from Fields' hellish depictions of family life and his workday, and although there are plenty of laughs the tone is bitter. For me, the funniest bits come in the downstairs sequences in the store, as Dilweg deals with a procession of difficult, uncommunicative, and demanding customers, such as the man who wants a postage stamp but insists on getting a clean one from the middle of the sheet, or the two ladies who insist on speaking to a female attendant . . . and, ultimately, want only directions to the washroom. One of the best gags is a throwback to silent comedy days: when an unfamiliar gent comes in asking about the availability of some under-the-counter booze, Dilweg holds up an oscillating fan that blows back the man's lapel and reveals his badge, then righteously delivers a pious speech disavowing such illicit activity. Fields first used this gag in his silent feature It's the Old Army Game, back in 1926.

Somewhat surprisingly, the climax of this low-key short is a violent gun battle between bandits and police that spills into Dilweg's store: the End of a Perfect Day for the proprietor, whose stock gets riddled with bullets. Whether or not you find Mr. Dilweg a sympathetic figure will probably depend on whether you already liked W.C. Fields in the first place. For those of us who appreciate him, there is much here to enjoy. Mr. Dilweg the beleaguered pharmacist may not be an admirable guy, but The Pharmacist is a treat for Fields connoisseurs.

W.C. plays the lead role of the Pharmacist. He's got 2 daughters that are the trial of his life; he's trying to make an dishonest living by selling bathtub gin under the counter and has to come up with inventive ways to hide it from the federal agents; and the police have a running gun battle right outside his door.

This is a fairly routine Fields movie, and has a few really funny bits in it, but it doesn't stand out among his films. It's cute but not brilliant. Well worth a look, though.

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.