It's a Gift(1934): A Classic Comedy that Hasn't Lost Its Bite

It's sad that the great W.C. Fields is largely known today as a stock cultural image rather than a great film comedian. We all know that iconic snapshot of the grumpy, tippling old misanthrope in the tall hat who hated kids and dogs--but does anyone know that Fields made hilarious movies for almost thirty years, most of which are just as funny today?

Such is the case with "It's A Gift," a gem of a Fields comedy from 1934, in which the Great Man plays the off-type role of Everyman: a little guy with big dreams, and with both the Family and the Job From Hell.

It's a timeless situation to which anyone today, trapped in a McJob or a bumpy relationship or dysfunctional clan, can relate. And, one of the great delights of the film is that Fields plays this put-upon soul with utter believability, flawless comic skill, and surprisingly, touching pathos.

Fields plays Harold Bissonette, a small-town grocery store owner with a whip-cracking wife, bratty kids, obnoxious neighbors, and customers who seem bent on either annoying him to death or completely wrecking his store. Harold's only comfort is his dream of buying a California orange grove, and his only hope of raising funds is the estate of his rich Uncle Bean, who apparently has been hovering near death for several years.

However, the snooty Mrs. Bissonette (played with delicious disdain by Kathleen Howard) has other plans for the money--so, to make his dream come true, the ever-wimpy Harold will have to find the courage, at last, to 'man up' once the money comes through. This he does, selling his store and hauling the whole family out to the Coast, where the dreamed-of orange grove turns out to be a scrubby dump.

The ending's too good to spoil, and the brilliant comic set-pieces are too numerous to list. But, many are typical Fieldsian rants against humanity that have been worked seamlessly into the plot, such as Mrs. Bissonette turning a late-night wrong number into conclusive proof of Harold's infidelity, and the too-cute Baby Dunk (Baby LeRoy) unleashing a flood of molasses that shuts down Harold's store, and later, joyfully dropping numerous objects onto Harold's head as the poor man tries to sleep on an open porch.

Much of this humor has its roots Fields' vaudeville work, but, worked into the plot and skillfully played, the humor seems as fresh and modern and outrageously funny as anything seen on "The Simpsons" or "Family Guy." Witness the nasty blind man systematically destroying the stock in Fields' store, or Fields knocking down a statue with his car while driving across the lawn of an estate in search of a picnic spot ("Thing ran right in front of me," Fields snarls in his trademark rasp).

Yet, there are tender moments, too, such as between Fields and his self-absorbed but sweet teen daughter (who seems to be the only one in the family with any feeling for him) and in Fields' brilliant silent acting when he sees his dream house is nothing more than a collapsing shack.

In these moments, we feel a rare human value in Fields' comedy, a value lacking in later anything-for-a-laugh Fields films such as "The Bank Dick." Fields masterfully brings out this subtext of sadness in his acting, making us feel for this basically decent character and his hurts and longings. A man like Harold doesn't really deserve all the trouble he seems heir to, and this makes us care, and pull for, Fields' character throughout the goofy proceedings. This mix of comedy and pathos also serves to rank Fields with the greatest comic artists of his day, particularly Chaplin, who well recognized that comedy and tragedy are but different sides of the same coin.

This undercurrent of sadness might also have been drawn from the well of Fields' own life, for, contrary to his image, the real-life Fields wasn't a lifelong loner. His only marriage failed, his wife both refusing to grant him a divorce and turning Fields' only child, his namesake son, against him.

Thus Fields, for all his talent, spent much of his personal life in an emotional alcoholic limbo, relieved only by drinking buddies like John Barrymore and Fields' companion Carlotta Monti, whom, in return for her lifelong loyalty Fields showed only his stingiest and crankiest sides.

As Fields' contemporary, silent star Louise Brooks once stated, Fields, like Harold Bissonette, had reached out his hand time and again for love and fulfillment, only to have it thrust away by circumstance. But, the best of Fields' films, like "It's A Gift," show a proud soul fighting back and driving towards his dreams, with Fields, like many brilliant comics, using humor as both the best revenge against life's hard side, and as a means of successful escape.

"It's A Gift" was directed by Hollywood journeyman Norman McLeod, reportedly a quiet and gentle man who directed the Marx Brothers largely by keeping out of their way as they did their thing. McLeod does the same here for Fields, acting as effective traffic cop for all the ensuing lunacy, and providing a deft gentle touch in the serious scenes.

("It's A Gift" (1934) is available as part of "The W.C. Fields Comedy Collection" on DVD at Amazon.com, the Turner Classic Movies website, and on Sympatico.MSN.ca. Used VHS copies of the film, originally released by MCA Universal Home Video, can also be found at Amazon.com or on EBay.)