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One of the oddest pairings in screen history is also one of the funniest. While their films helped Paramount rise out of the depths of the depression in the mid 1930's, they didn't work together until this one film. Legend has it that they didn't get along, but if that is true, they do not show it on screen. Sure, West's Flower Belle is out to con Fields into a bogus marriage to try and look respectable (if that is possible), and Fields is certainly no match in the looks department for her previous leading men like Cary Grant and Randolph Scott. But their comedy styles, while totally different, really suit each other, and both of them get opportunities to shine both on their own and together.
The basic plot line has West as the scourge of the west, being forced from her town when she is seen gallivanting with the mysterious masked bandit, a robber of the prairie coaches. Town busybody Margaret Hamilton (wearing her "Wizard of Oz" Miss Gulch outfit) escorts West out of town, then stands up for her at the fake wedding to Fields aboard a train. Fields is anxious to consummate the "marriage", but West keeps distracting him, first simply by locking him out, then planting a goat in her bed! Hamilton gets to repeat her "Wizard of Oz" scream as well, hysterically reacting to Fields stepping on her face while he makes the mistake of trying to imitate the masked bandit to get into Wests' boudoirs. Fields ends up becoming town sheriff which sets up all sorts of great comedy bits as well.
West has a great scene "teaching" class. ("I am a good boy. I am a good girl", she reads on the blackboard. "What is this, propaganda?") While this is far from a classic compared to the same year "The Bank Dick" (starring Fields), the presence of these two scene-stealer's is enough to keep the interest from waning. Ruth Donnelly, Donald Meek and Jimmy Conlin are among the many character actors who pop in and out of the action.
score 6/10
mark.waltz 3 December 2012
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2714451/ |
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22-2-2021 00:05:14