You Can't Cheat an Honest Man

W.C. Fields made several films that were essentially the same stories with a few variations. While I love Fields films, I am not a huge fan of these derivative tales. They are derivative but still mildly entertaining---and far from his best work. "Poppy", "The Old Fashioned Way" and "You Can't Cheat and Honest Man" all share many story elements--many. Each have Fields playing the leader of a two-bit circus or acting troop. Each has a grown daughter who Fields dotes upon. Each has Fields on the verge of bankruptcy. And, in each, the daughter faces a crisis. Because of this, even if this film is done well, it's still very familiar.

Fortunately for "You Can't Cheat and Honest Man", there is one major difference that sets it apart. Because of the success of Fields and Charlie McCarthy on the radio, the folks at Universal decided to add Edger Bergen and his dummies to the movie to give it a bit of punch. Bergan's humor was quite welcome and made this film less sentimental than the two previous incarnations...and a bit funnier.

Overall, it's worth seeing. However, if at all possible, try watching one of Fields' best films first to see just how good he can be with a more original story. "It's a Gift" is probably his best, though "The Bank Dick" and "You're Telling Me" are all wonderful Fields films. They are similar in that in each W.C. appears to fall on his face but by the end has become HUGELY successful, but otherwise each is very unique and better suited for his great personality.

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).

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.

For some reason, I've never cared much for Edgar Bergen. It wasn't the fact that he wasn't a very good ventriloquist. I think it was a kind of smugness in his personality. Still, as he plays associate comedian to W. C. Fields, his banter with Charlie McCarthy pretty much matches Fields' shtick. This involves a crummy circus with Fields as the proprietor, one step ahead of the creditors and another ahead of the law. Fields sometimes does the clueless thing, but he is usually in control, and he does have a kind of code. This isn't one of my favorites but just try to keep up with the one liners.

Lots of gags and double takes by W.C. Fields dot this comedy. Fields does his normal shtick regarding the mumbling, sometimes mean-spirited insults, double-takes when loud noises occur, which was frequent; scheming people out of money, running from the law, etc. Fields was anything but moral giant which I suppose made him a lovable rascal in the eyes of many. It didn't hurt to have funny names such as this one, either: "Larson E. Whipsnade."

I enjoyed Edgar Bergen's performance more than anyone in here, including W.C., because he gave his famous dummy, "Charlie McCarthy," some of the best lines in the movie. That, and I liked Charlie's laugh.

Like a Marx Brothers film, this didn't have much of storyline, just a bunch of comedy bits by Fields and Bergen, plus a love interest between Bergen and Constance Moore, who played "Whipsnade's" daughter.

Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, from the old Jack Benny television show, also is in here, and sometimes feels the sting of W.C.'s racist remarks, which he could never say today on film, and justifiably so.

It was very entertaining, fast-moving and the best of the Fields movies, I think, even though Edgar and Charlie steal the show. I also think getting a DVD with English subtitles would make it even better, to catch all of W.C.'s lines, some of which are too mumbled to understand.