''My Little Chickadee'' is a 1940 American comedy-western film starring

Mae West Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...

and

W. C. Fields William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathe ...

, featuring

Joseph Calleia Joseph Calleia ( ; born Joseph Alexander Caesar Herstall Vincent Calleja, August 4, 1897 – October 31, 1975) was a Maltese-born American actor and singer on the stage and in films, radio and television. After serving in the British Transport ...

Ruth Donnelly Ruth Donnelly (May 17, 1896 – November 17, 1982) was an American film and stage actress. Early years and family Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Donnelly was the daughter of Harry Augustus and Bessie B. Donnelly. Her uncle, Freder ...

, Margaret Hamilton,

Donald Meek Thomas Donald Meek (14 July 1878 – 18 November 1946) was a Scottish-American actor. He first performed publicly at the age of eight and began appearing on Broadway in 1903. Meek is perhaps best known for his roles in the films '' You Can't T ...

Willard Robertson Willard Robertson (January 1, 1886 – April 5, 1948) was an American actor and writer. He appeared in more than 140 films between 1924 and 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas, and died in Hollywood, California. Biography Robertson first w ...

Dick Foran John Nicholas "Dick" Foran (June 18, 1910 – August 10, 1979) was an American actor, known for his performances in Western musicals and for playing supporting roles in dramatic pictures. Early years Foran was born in Flemington, New Jers ...

, William B. Davidson, and

Addison Richards Addison Whittaker Richards, Jr. (October 20, 1902 – March 22, 1964) was an American actor of film and television. Richards appeared in more than three hundred films between 1933 and his death. Biography A native of Zanesville, Ohio, Richa ...

, and released by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

. It was directed by Edward F. Cline and the music was written by

Ben Oakland Ben Oakland (September 24, 1907 – August 26, 1979) was an American composer, lyricist, and pianist, most active from the 1920s through the 1940s. He composed mainly for Broadway and vaudeville, though he also worked on several Hollywood scores ...

(song "Willie of the Valley") and Frank Skinner. West reportedly wrote the original screenplay, with Fields contributing one extended scene set in a bar. Universal decided to give the stars equal screenplay credit, perhaps to avoid the appearance of favoritism, but the move incensed West, who declined to team with Fields afterwards. The stars spoofed themselves and the Western genre, with West providing a series of her trademark

double entendres A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially a ...

Plot

In the

American Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

of the 1880s, Miss Flower Belle Lee (

), a singer from Chicago, is on her way to visit relatives. While she is traveling on a stagecoach with three men and a woman named Mrs. Gideon ( Margaret Hamilton), the town gossip and busybody, a masked bandit on horseback holds up the stage for its shipment of gold and orders the passengers to step out. The masked bandit immediately takes an interest in the saucy blonde. As he makes his getaway with the gold, he takes her with him. Upon reaching the town of Little Bend, the others report the robbery and kidnapping to the sheriff (William B. Davidson). Flower Belle then walks into town, unharmed, and explains, "I was in a tight spot but I managed to wiggle out of it." Later that evening, at the home of her Aunt Lou (

) and Uncle John (

), the masked bandit enters Flower Belle's second floor bedroom and they start kissing. However, his presence and departure is witnessed by Mrs. Gideon. She quickly reports what she has seen and Flower Belle is annoyed to find herself hauled up before the judge (

). Offended by her indifferent manner, the judge asks angrily "Young lady, are you trying to show contempt for this court?" She answers: "No, I'm doing my best to hide it!" Flower Belle is then run out of Little Bend. She boards a train to Greasewood City. It makes an unscheduled stop to pick up con-man Cuthbert J. Twillie (

). When hostile Indians attack, Flower Belle saunters to a window and mows them down with two pistols, while Twillie dodges flying arrows and fights off the Indians with a child's

slingshot A slingshot is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two natural rubber strips or tubes attached to the upper two ends. The other ends of the strips lead back to a pocket that holds the pro ...

. Flower Belle has little use for Twillie until she sees a stash of money in his bag. Believing him to be rich, she then plays up to him and they get acquainted. They have an impromptu wedding, officiated over by a passenger, Amos Budge (

), a gambler who looks like a minister. As she has only pretended to marry Twillie for "respectability", Flower Belle gets a separate hotel room in Greasewood City. Meanwhile, Twillie is made sheriff by the saloon owner and town boss Jeff Badger (

), who has an ulterior motive: he hopes the new sheriff, who is clearly incompetent, will be unable to interfere with Badger's crimes. Flower Belle attracts the attention of Badger, newspaper editor Wayne Carter (

), and every other man in town. While keeping her troublesome "husband" out of reach and out of trouble, Flower Belle encounters the masked bandit again. At one point, she kisses Badger, and recognizes that Badger is the masked bandit, musing: "A man's kiss is like his signature." Twillie attempts to consummate his "marriage" with Flower Belle, but she escapes and leaves a goat in their bed. Twillie, unaware of the substitution, attempts to make love to the goat, and is surprised when he discovers that it is not his wife. One night, Twillie again attempts to consummate his "marriage" by entering Flower Belle's room disguised as the masked bandit. He is caught, accused of being the masked bandit, and is about to be hanged. With the noose around his neck, he makes his last request to the lynching party. "I'd like to see Paris before I die. Philadelphia will do!" However, Flower Belle saves Twillie.

Cast

as Flower Belle Lee *

as Cuthbert J. Twillie *

as Jeff Badger / Masked Bandit *

as Wayne Carter * Margaret Hamilton as Mrs. Gideon *

as Amos Budge *

as Aunt Lou *

as Uncle John *

Fuzzy Knight John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight (May 9, 1901 – February 23, 1976) was an American film and television actor. He was also a singer, especially in his early career. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1928 and 1967, usually as a cowboy h ...

as Cousin Zeb * George Moran as Milton, a Native American *

Anne Nagel Anne Nagel (born Anna Marie Dolan; September 29, 1915 – July 6, 1966) was an American actress. She played in adventures, mysteries, and comedies for 25 years. She also appeared in television series in the 1950s. One book described her as "one ...

as Miss Foster, teacher * William B. Davidson as Sheriff *

as Judge *Fay Adler as Mrs. 'Pygmy' Allen * Jimmy Conlin as bartender *

William "Billy" Benedict William Benedict (April 16, 1917 – November 25, 1999), was an American actor, perhaps best known for playing "Whitey" in Monogram Pictures' The Bowery Boys series. Early years Benedict was born in Haskell, Oklahoma, After his father's dea ...

as Lem, pupil *

Gene Austin Lemeul Eugene Lucas (June 24, 1900 – January 24, 1972), better known by his stage name Gene Austin, was an American singer and songwriter, one of the early "crooners". His recording of " My Blue Heaven" sold over 5 million copies and was for a ...

as Saloon Musician *

Hank Bell Hank Bell (January 21, 1892 – February 4, 1950) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 370 films between 1920 and 1950. He was born in Los Angeles, California, and died in Hollywood, California, from a heart attack A myo ...

as Townsman (uncredited) *Bill Wolfe as Saloon Patron (uncredited)

Production notes

Shooting on ''My Little Chickadee'' was completed in January 1940. West and Fields received joint screenplay credit. However, West later claimed that she wrote most of the film and that Fields only wrote some of the scenes, such as the bar scene, and some dialogue and was given joint credit as an inducement to "straighten himself up and finish the picture". The film was heavily censored, with many scenes and lines of dialogue ordered to be cut or altered. It opened just one month later and became Fields' highest-grossing film for Universal. Reportedly, West and Fields did not like each other, and would not speak to each other except during filming. Reviews were mixed, but Fields performance was praised across the board, while West's was criticized. She was so furious that she refused to work with Fields ever again or even to talk to him or about him. Fields had starred in a series of comedies for Paramount in the 1930s. ''My Little Chickadee'' was West's first screen performance since '' Every Day's a Holiday'' (1937) for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. This was Fields' second film for Universal, and West's only film for Universal. It was also the last successful film of West's career; her three subsequent films all failed at the box office. ''My Little Chickadee'' was the third of five films starring Fields and directed by Edward F. Cline, an ex- Keystone Cop. The others were '' Million Dollar Legs'' (1932), ''

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man ''You Can't Cheat an Honest Man'' is a 1939 American comedy film directed by George Marshall and Edward F. Cline and starring W. C. Fields. Fields also wrote the story on which the film is based under the name Charles Bogle. Plot Circus propr ...

'' (1939), ''

The Bank Dick ''The Bank Dick'', released as ''The Bank Detective'' in the United Kingdom, is a 1940 American comedy film starring W. C. Fields. Set in Lompoc, California, Fields plays Egbert Sousé, a drunk who accidentally thwarts a bank robbery and ends up ...

'' (1940), and ''

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break ''Never Give a Sucker an Even Break'' (known in some international releases as ''What a Man!'') is a 1941 Universal Pictures comedy film starring W. C. Fields. Fields also wrote the original story, under the pseudonym "Otis Criblecoblis." Fields ...

'' (1941). The railroad scenes were filmed on the

Sierra Railroad The Sierra Railroad Corporation is a privately owned common carrier. Its Sierra Northern Railway freight division handles all freight operations for all branches owned by the Sierra Railroad. The company's Mendocino Railway group operates th ...

Tuolumne County, California Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora. Tuolumne County comprises the ...

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an aggregate score of 93% based on 13 positive and 1 negative review. Frank S. Nugent reviewed the film negatively for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', writing that "the film is at low tide most of the time in the quality of its humor, in the broad treatment its players and directors have given it, in the caliber of the audience it seems intended to please and in the generally bad odor it exudes." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that the film "has its sagging moments, and the slim basic story cannot be taken seriously at any point. But there's sufficient broad humor and elemental comedy to satisfy generally." ''

Harrison's Reports ''Harrison's Reports'' was a New York City-based motion picture trade journal published weekly from 1919 to 1962. The typical issue was four letter-size pages sent to subscribers under a second-class mail permit. Its founder, editor and publisher ...

'' wrote that West and Fields "play up to each other very well and make a good team. Due to their efforts the picture offers good mass entertainment, in spite of the fact that the story is thin." '' Film Daily'' wrote that it was "all lusty fun" with "some amusing gags and situations."

John Mosher John Mosher (1928–1998) was an American jazz bassist, classical bassist and composer who worked, recorded and toured with a wide range of primarily West Coast artists from the 1950s through the mid-1990s. Early years A native of Sioux City, I ...

of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' called West "as fresh and ebullient as ever" after her two-year absence from the screen. ''My Little Chickadee'' was a box office success, earning $2 million in gross receipts.

References

External links

* * * {{Edward F. Cline 1940 films 1940s Western (genre) comedy films American Western (genre) comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Edward F. Cline Universal Pictures films Catchphrases 1940s neologisms Quotations from film Films set in the 1880s Films with screenplays by Mae West Films with screenplays by W. C. Fields Films scored by Frank Skinner 1940 comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films