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| W.C. Fields Comedy Collection (The Bank Dick / My Little Chickadee / You Can't Cheat an Honest Man / It's a Gift / International House) | 
 enlarge | Director: Edward F. Cline
Actors: W.c. Fields, Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel, Evelyn Del Rio, Jessie Ralph
Studio: Universal Studios
Category: DVD
List Price: $59.98
Buy New: $39.95
You Save: $20.03 (33%)
New (40) Used (13) from $37.45
Avg. Customer Rating:  50 reviews
Sales Rank: 4472
Format: Box Set, Black & White, Dolby, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 5
Running Time: 373
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.7 x 1.4
MPN: MCAD25781D
ISBN: 1417015748
UPC: 025192578120
EAN: 9781417015740
ASIN: B0002MHDY2
Theatrical Release Date: November 17, 1934
Release Date: November 9, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
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Product Description
Contains these classics-my little chickadee its a gift you cant cheat an honest man the bank dick & international house. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 11/09/2004 Starring: W.c. Fields
Amazon.com
For anyone who loves classic comedy, the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection is absolutely essential. Film for film, this may be the best DVD showcase ever devoted to a single comedian, including all five of Fields's acknowledged classics in a sturdy, beautifully designed library-quality slipcase. One could easily lament the relative lack of bonus features (it would have been nice to have some vintage Fields radio shows and newsreel footage), but the inclusion of A&E's 1994 Biography documentary W.C. Fields: Behind the Laughter is sufficiently informative about Fields's life, career, irascible personality, and tragic alcoholism. That's all that's really needed when the films themselves are so timelessly entertaining, and they're all remarkably pristine in sound and image quality. The best way to appreciate Fields's evolving screen persona is to view these films in chronological order: In International House (1933), Fields was merely one of many Paramount stars of screen and radio (including Rudy Vallee, Burns & Allen, Bela Lugosi, Sterling Holloway, and manic bandleader Cab Calloway), but he handily steals the show, invading a Shanghai hotel in his airplane/helicopter and delivering the classic line (to Franklin Pangborn), "Don't let the posy fool ya!" It's one of Paramount's best all-star revues. It's a Gift (1934) is a remake of Fields's 1926 silent It's the Old Army Game, and was the first sound feature devoted to Fields's inimitable talent. As beleaguered husband and would-be orange farmer, Fields revives vintage routines from Vaudeville and Broadway, and his first encounter with Baby LeRoy is comedy gold. You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) features Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy and Fields's classic, still-hilarious ping-pong routine, while 1940's My Little Chickadee matches Fields (as "Guthbert J. Twillie") with Mae West, whose unforgettable on-screen banter with Fields shows no sign of their notorious off-screen animosity. In his raucous masterpiece The Bank Dick (also 1940), Fields is "Egbert Souse," lowly bank guard, unlikely hero, and manic driver in perhaps the greatest slapstick car-chase scene ever filmed. Despite the regrettable absence of Fields's final starring feature Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, this classy five-disc set is a veritable cornucopia of comedy, offering ample proof of Fields's comic genius through classic one-liners, physical routines, memorable costars, and perfect bits of business that never grow old. --Jeff Shannon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 Wonderful December 27, 2008
I've reviewed some of these movies in their VHS format. This and volume 2 are a great collection if you are a Fields fan, and I'm hoping there will be a vol. 3.
Classic Fields December 20, 2008
If you love the comedy of W.C. Fields, this is an essential DVD. The prints of all the films are flawless. "The Bank Dick" is comedy the way Fields always wanted it--the purest distillation of his style among the later Universal films. "It's a Gift," from his earlier Paramount period, is simply one of the top comedy films ever made. The back porch sequence, taken from a vaudeville-style stage revue called "The Comic Supplement," is pure brilliance. "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" costars Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy. "My Little Chickadee" is Fields' famous costarring feature with Mae West. Both films are very funny. "International House" is a loosely structured early film with great Fields scenes and some lesser bits by George Burns and Gracie Allen. Overall, this DVD is a fine collection of Fields' most famous works (well, four out of the five).
The Funniest Movie "It's a Gift" W.C. Fields, et al. September 9, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Funniest Movie Ever Made "It's a Gift" W.C. Fields, et al.
This is without the slightest doubt the funniest movie ever made. Every time I've watched it, which is about 8-10 times, I end up on the floor, barely able to breathe, and I don't drink, nor do I have any pulmonary problems. The scene with the coconut bouncing down the stairs in a perfectly timed rhythm is one of the funniest (I don't know how they did it), and one of my other favorite scenes involves the insurance peddler looking for Karl Lafong, not to mention the scene in which the man wants to buy cumquats, and Fields asks "How many quats?" There are too many funny bits in this film to mention, which means you may very well laugh yourself to death. There are lesser fates.
Fields, who wrote the script under the pseudonym of Charles Bogle (he has a genius for comic names almost equaling Dickens), plays greengrocer Harold Bissonette (pronounced Bissonay!), long-suffering henpecked husband and father. His wife nags him, his daughter treats him like a bathroom fixture to be moved out of the way, and his son, who nearly kills his father by leaving a stray roller skate lying around has the cheek to ask "What's the matter, Pop? Don't you love me anymore?" I leave it to you to imagine the reaction of the man who once said that one should never share a stage with children or animals. In this movie, there are two children, but no animals. What this poor man heroically deals with is quite enough for anyone's endurance, so when he decides to sell his business and move to a California "orange ranch" or grove, we've long since been on his side, cheering him along. Even the cumquat man says "More power to you" as the long-suffering Harold tries to crank start his Model A.
A masterpiece of comic timing, both in script and in acting and directing, "It's a Gift" is a gift to us all. Show it to your children, and it'll make better people of them. Perhaps not, but you can try, and by trying, you'll be enjoying the funniest movie of all time. In these trying times, the gift of laughter is the best of all, and that's the best reason to get this DVD as soon as possible. It's now part of a multi disc set of many other Fields masterpieces.
It really is a Gift! April 5, 2008
I just want to add that I am glad to see that so many reviewers like "It's a Gift." I don't know how many times I have told folks that this is the funniest movie ever made and drawn blank stares, even from folks like myself, born "at a more comfortable distance from the Apocalypse" (Thanks, Emo!).
I am just deducting a star because it annoys me that the movies are not available separately. All of these have their moments, but IH is not a very good film imho. Still, to get "It's a Gift," pay any price....
p.s. For a good laugh, look up Claude's Honest John routine on Youtube. It's from "Six of a Kind" and I believe that the pool table bit may be the most densely packed 4 minutes of comedy ever. Absolutely masterful!
William Claude Dukenfield's Movie Greats April 5, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
W C Fields (William Claude Dukenfield originally) Comedy Collection is a fantastic overview of his works. From the time I received the set, I was in love with the collection before even watching the first disc. The packaging is beautiful. Heavy cardboard unravels to display the five discs. As each section unfolds, the cover displays photo's, advertising for the shows and bits and pieces from the various movies. The discs themselves hold a novel value as well, for here was a person who was politically incorrect...and he's funny (and famous) because of that. My favorite disc is The Bank Dick. I can't explain why but I love it. There is also an extra on W C Fields' life which is also extremely interesting. The total package is fantastic and the episodes are strong. Well worth the money.
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