Un comodo posto in banca

A classic comedy from the irreverent W. C. Fields who unapologetically dismantles as many of the Production Code's rules as he can as he frequents the Black Pussy, a bar managed by Shemp Howard, one-third of the Three Stooges. The plot is secondary to the gags, which come thick and fast; they don't always hit, but when they do they're smack bang in the centre of the bullseye.

This is the second best Fields film (after It's a Gift) and it's similar in that it casts Fields as the lovable drunk with an absolutely hateful family. From the almost surreal episode directing the movie to the eye-poppingly ridiculous chase scene, this one is pure comic entertainment. One side note: it's sad and not a little scary how bloated and tired the Great Man looks in this compared to just six years earlier when It's a Gift was released.

Affable drunk Egbert Sousé (W.C. Fields) is henpecked at home. He gets a job as a film director over the more drunk director. He accidentally thwarts a bank robbery during his lunch hour claiming it as a heroic action. He is given the job as a bank dick.

This is W.C. Fields at his comedic drunk best. His charisma is up on the screen. He's fun. He's a Forrest Gump of drunks. I'm not sure why he gets the director job other than to make fun of the movie business. The story doesn't need it. I'd rather have him start right away with the bank robbery. The character as a fool works very well. There are instances where his foolishness gets unlikeable like him talking Og into taking the money or claiming his heroic takedown. Egbert needs to be blameless in his random foolish chaos and isn't as loveable as a lying braggart. It would be more appealing for Og to be taken in by the bank robber rather than Egbert. In that situation, Og has limited option other than pleasing his future father-in-law. Overall, it's a fun performance.

a source of strange joy, even in its quiet and failed moments. great moments mostly mumbled and underplayed so that the film seems so humble and so unaggressive, unlike most comedies now which would wring your neck if they could...Fields' before-its-time irony and self-consciousness about moviemaking is revealed in a throwaway line during the car chase at the end...in the midst of all the obviously speeded-up film and projection effects, Egbert Souse deadpans "you're going to make me have an accident....." I'm almost ready to move into Lompoc, with its Spanish-Americo chili parlor, and, I hope, "rivers of beer flowing over your grandmother's paisley shawl...." and, apparently, absinthe is still available....

W.C. Fields uses his expert timing and his large collection of gags to make "The Bank Dick" a classic comedy that gets even better as it goes along. The amusing, tangled plot gives Fields plenty of material to work with, and the other characters also pitch in to keep you smiling.

After a few amusing introductory scenes that introduce Egbert Sousé, the kind of character Fields loved to play, things really start rolling once Egbert somehow manages to land a job as a bank detective. The wackier the plot gets, the more it shows just how effective Fields's dry style can be. His stoic character and the confusion going on around him often make a hilarious combination. It's very entertaining, goes by quickly, and is filled with comic detail that makes it just as funny when you watch it over again.