pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...
comedy
Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium.
Origins
Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
short film
A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...
starring
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American actor, comedian, juggler and writer. His career in show business began in vaudeville, where he attained international success as a ...
, produced by
Mack Sennett
Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American producer, director, actor, and studio head who was known as the "King of Comedy" during his career.
Born in Danville, Quebec, he started acting i ...
, and released theatrically by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
. Written by Fields and directed by
Clyde Bruckman
Clyde Adolf Bruckman (June 30, 1894January 4, 1955) was an American writer and director of comedy films during the late Silent film, silent era, who continued working into the 1950s. Bruckman collaborated with such comedians as Buster Keaton, Mo ...
, the film is a parody of rugged stage melodramas set in the
Yukon
Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
.
Plot
Ma and Pa Snavely live in a cabin in the
Yukon
Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...
. Many years before, their son Chester left for the big city and became involved in crime after "the fatal glass of beer".
Pa Snavely, as portrayed by Fields, serenades a
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...
officer with "The Fatal Glass of Beer", a mournful song detailing the evils of foul drink and bad companions in the big city. A
autoharp
An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of t ...
accompaniment recorded for the film seldom matches the vocal, because Fields subtly changes keys when the autoharp does not, resulting in a humorously
off-key
Off-key is musical content that is not at the expected frequency or pitch period, either with respect to some absolute reference frequency, or in a ratiometric sense (i.e. through removal of exactly one degree of freedom, such as the frequency of ...
effect.
Son Chester returns home after getting out of prison, and promises his father not to tell his Mother what he really did. He makes the same promise to his Mother. When Pa and Ma learn that Chester threw the bonds away, and intends to live off their savings, Pa and Ma hurl him out of the house.
Fields emphasizes the stagey satire by striking various poses and being overly theatrical with the dialogue. The most famous gag has Fields opening the cabin door periodically and exclaiming, "And it ain't a fit night out for man or beast!", with some obviously fake snow thrown into his face a moment later. He would reprise that gag during the "play-within-the-play" in '' The Old Fashioned Way'' (1934).
Cast
*
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American actor, comedian, juggler and writer. His career in show business began in vaudeville, where he attained international success as a ...
as Pa Snavely
*
Rosemary Theby
Rosemary Theresa Theby (born Rose Masing, April 8, 1892 – November 10, 1973) was an American film actress. She appeared in some 250 films between 1911 and 1940.
Early life and career
The daughter of George and Katherine Masing, Theby ...
as Ma Snavely
*
George Chandler
George Chandler (June 30, 1898 – June 10, 1985) was an American actor who starred in over 140 feature films, usually in smaller supporting roles, and he is perhaps best known for playing the character of Uncle Petrie Martin on the television ...
as Chester Snavely, their son
*
Richard Cramer
Richard Earl Cramer (July 3, 1889 – August 9, 1960) was an American actor in films from the late 1920s to the early 1950s.
Cramer specialized in villainous roles in many low-budget westerns, but is today best remembered for his several app ...
as Constable Posthlewhistle, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Notes
* ''The Fatal Glass of Beer'' is one of three W. C. Fields short films that fell into the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
after the copyright lapsed in the 1960s (the other two being ''
The Dentist
''The Dentist'' is a 1996 American slasher film directed by Brian Yuzna and written by Dennis Paoli, Stuart Gordon, and Charles Finch. It stars Corbin Bernsen, Linda Hoffman, Earl Boen and Ken Foree. It follows a successful but mentally unstabl ...
'' and ''
The Golf Specialist
''The Golf Specialist'' is a 1930 pre-Code comedy short subject from RKO Pictures, starring W. C. Fields. It was his first talkie. The film was shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey when many early film studios in America's first motion picture industry ...
''). As such, these three films frequently appear on inexpensive video or DVD compilations.
* This sketch was originally a
stage play
A play is a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than mere reading. The creator of a play is known as a playwright.
Plays are staged at various levels, ranging ...
and was not filmed until 1933. This is evidenced with a
wanted poster
A wanted poster (or wanted sign) is a poster distributed to let the public know of a person whom authorities wish to apprehend. They generally include a picture of the person, either a photograph when one is available or of a facial composite ...
of Fields in a Yukon prospector's outfit, as seen in ''The Golf Specialist''.
*
Clive James
Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'', collected in ''
The Crystal Bucket
Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.a 1978 British television production of ''Wuthering Heights'' (which he called "Wuthering Depths" and "The blithering pits") for its cheap production values.