ArtsZipper

Presented by Webster University Film Series
With support from the Regional Arts Commission.
Film
Adult Audiences

Strange Brew: Cult Films at Schlafly Bottleworks -



(Norman Z. McLeod, 1934, USA, 68 min.)



Legendary comic/drunk W. C. Fields stars as hen-pecked New Jersey general store owner Harold Bisonette ("That's 'Bee-soh-nay'" and "I have no maid you know"). To get some sleep he goes out on the porch where he is tormented by a little boy from the floor above (Baby LeRoy), and an insurance salesman down below looking for Carl LaFong ("LaFong. Capital L, small a, capitol F..."). Eventually Bisonette uses an inheritance to get out of jersey. He buys an orange ranch through the mail, drives off with his family for California where hilarious tragedy ensues. A remake of Fields's 1926 silent It's the Old Army Game, and his first sound feature revives vintage routines from Vaudeville and Broadway. Still side-splitting after 75 years! … or, as the original tagline suggests: LOOK THIS GIFT IN THE FACE IF YOU WANT A BIG HORSE-LAUGH