Search - W.C. Fields Comedy Collection, Vol. 2 (The Man on the Flying Trapeze / Never Give A Sucker An Even Break / You're Telling Me! / The Old Fashioned Way / Poppy) on DVD


W.C. Fields Comedy Collection, Vol. 2 (The Man on the Flying Trapeze / Never Give A Sucker An Even Break / You're Telling Me! / The Old Fashioned Way / Poppy)
WC Fields Comedy Collection Vol 2
The Man on the Flying Trapeze / Never Give A Sucker An Even Break / You're Telling Me! / The Old Fashioned Way / Poppy
Actors: W.C. Fields, June Preston
Genres: Comedy, Musicals & Performing Arts
NR     2007     5hr 51min

Legendary actor and entertainer W.C. Fields is an American comedy treasure - a headliner who always left audiences laughing for more of his sharp-tongued one-liners, slapstick shenanigans and notoriously caustic wit. Now y...  more »

     
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Movie Details

Actors: W.C. Fields, June Preston
Genres: Comedy, Musicals & Performing Arts
Sub-Genres: Classic Comedies, Musicals
Studio: Universal Studios
Format: DVD - Black and White,Full Screen - Subtitled
DVD Release Date: 03/20/2007
Original Release Date: 10/10/1941
Theatrical Release Date: 10/10/1941
Release Year: 2007
Run Time: 5hr 51min
Screens: Black and White,Full Screen
Number of Discs: 5
SwapaDVD Credits: 5
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 2
Edition: Box set
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Languages: English
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

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Movie Reviews

YES YES YES!!!! Finally!
Greg Horn | waterford, wisconsin USA | 12/22/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's been a long wait for the second installment in the Field's collections but FINALLY we have another, the choices are superb,excellent and I'm like a kid in a candy shop just waiting for the release!

Man On The Flying Trapeze, Old Fashioned Way and Poppy have never been officially released in any format before so this is just GREAT! All of these movies are superb, this is a MUST BUY for anyone with an interest in old classics (as was the first Field's collection). Some folks questioned the contents of the first collection. I personally liked the choices and now this second collection starts to fill things out very nicely.

Now comes the problem...we absolutely need a third collection, chances are if it happens it would be the last, so how to fill that out? PLEASE don't repeat what's available already, 6 Of a Kind, The Big Broadcast of 1938 and David Copperfield ARE avalable on DVD.

What we desperately need is Mississippi, Tillie And Gus, Her Majesty Love, Million Dollar Legs. I also think Tales Of Manhattan should be included as the VHS is now out of print and Fields part in there is superb. Also, If I Had a Million would be nice.

What else besides those becomes problematic. perhaps a 4th collection of silents, The Old Army Game, Sally Of The Sawdust(uncut)& Running Wild.

Then there's the remaining bit parts movies, I don't think we'll see these in a Fields collection so you hardcore fans will have to watch and see if they come out alone. Alice In Wonderland(1933)(never released), Song Of The Open Road(never released), Sensations Of 1945(available on VHS), Follow The Boys(available on VHS).

Strong sales of this may help a 3rd collection to happen, so buy 1 for yourself, and a few as gifts!"
There is joy in Mudville! More of The Great Man, W.C.Fields,
Henry Gross | www.henrygross.com | 01/05/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's about time these films are available on DVD. They are long overdue!

"The Old Fashioned Way" is as good a picture of the bygone days of Vaudeville as exists anywhere, to say nothing of being the only available footage of the great man's cigar box juggling routine. "Poppy" is a comedy milestone with Fields portraying Larson E. Whipsnade, the quintessential carny. The ping pong scene is timeless! "Never Give a Sucker An Even break" is packed with laughs and a great example of how Field's mind went beyond the ordinary bounds of comedies of his era to open the door for later films like "Being John Malkovitch". "You're telling me" has many memorable scenes bringing us to the main event: "Man On The Flying Trapeze". This is quite frankly the most underrated film of his career. I'll never forget The synopsized New York Times review of this film that appeared in the TV pages when I was a kid: "A man besieged and a man to remember!" The older I get the more I relate to Ambrose Woolfinger! The parking ticket scene is the definition of perfect. It still brings tears to my eyes. When he takes a swing at his mother in law, Mrs. Nestlerode, it's not for the faint of heart. A person could literally die laughing! As fate would have it, I happened to watch that film tonight, before I made my weekly check of websites to see if any more Fields was on the way and Lo and Behold I learned that March 20th 2007 is to be a day of celebration.

For far too long, much of Field's greatest work has been conspicuous in it's absence from the marketplace. It's nice to know more of these gems are finally on the way! Now, if we live long enough, we may yet see "Missisippi", "Tillie and Gus", "If I had a Million", "Million Dollar legs", The Old Army Game and "Six Of a Kind" (Though available on Burns & Allen Collections) & "The Big Broadcast of 1938" (Bob Hope Collection) as well as Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch", "Sensations" & other missing Fields films, available on future DVD collections as well.

Saving the world will take more than reversing global warming. It will take reversing mediocrity In art as well as politics! A good start is making available entertainment where wit, physical dexterity and clever use of language rules, as opposed to the overhyped tripe Hollywood routinely serves up to a mass audience it perceives, perhaps correctly, (Though I choose not to believe it), as being thick, uneducated and disinterested in anything filmed in glorious Black and White!

I say: "A thing worth having is worth waiting for! Hope springs eternal! Build it and they will come!"
These films are national treasures. Watch often, laugh hard and live longer!

Sincerely, Henry Gross"
The Great Man Returns...
D. James | Melbourne, Australia | 12/12/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Great Man is back with Volume Two of the fantastic W.C. Fields Comedy Collection. Titles included are:


THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE (1935) -

Ambrose Wolfinger wants the afternoon off (his first in twenty-five years) to go to a wrestling match. He tells his boss that he must attend his mother-in-law's funeral. The afternoon is no joy. He tries to please a policeman, assist a chauffeur, chase a tire, and ends up getting hit by the body of a wrestler thrown from the ring. A series of mishaps leads his boss to send floral tributes to the house and notify the papers of the death (due to poisoned liquor). His shrewish wife, judgmental mother-in-law, and good-for-nothing brother-in-law add to his burdens. In the end he enjoys their fawning loyalty, a raise in pay, and his first vacation.



NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK (1941) -

Fields wants to sell a film story to Esoteric Studios. On the way he gets insulted by little boys, beat up for ogling a woman, and abused by a waitress. He becomes his niece's guardian when her mother is killed in a trapeze fall during the making of a circus movie. He and his niece, who he finds at a shooting gallery, fly to Mexico to sell wooden nutmegs in a Russian colony. Trying to catch his bottle as it falls from the plane, he lands on a mountain peak where lives the man- eating Mrs. Hemogloben. When he gets to the Russian colony he finds Leon Errol (father of the insulting boys and owner of the shooting gallery) already selling wooden nutmegs. He decides to woo the wealthy Mrs. Hemogloben but when he gets there Errol has preceded him. The Mexican adventure is the story that Esoteric Studios would not buy.



YOU'RE TELLING ME (1934) -

Sam Bisbee is an inventor whose works (e.g., a keyhole finder for drunks) have brought him only poverty. His daughter is in love with the son of the town snob. Events conspire to ruin his bullet-proof tire just as success seems near. Another of his inventions prohibits him from committing suicide, so Sam decides to go on living..



THE OLD FASHIONED WAY (1934) -

The Great McGonigle's traveling theatrical troupe are staying at a boarding house. They are preparing to put on a production of "The Drunkard" (and do so during this movie). Cleopatra Pepperday puts up money for the show provided she can have a part ("Here comes the prince!"). Little Albert Wendelschaffer torments McGonigle all through lunch ("How can you hurt a watch by dipping it in molasses?"). In spite of being pursued by several sheriffs, McGonigle is able to keep going and see his daughter Betty happily married.



POPPY (1936) -

Poppy, daughter of carnival medicine salesman Professor McGargle, falls in love with the Mayor's son. Countess Maggie Tubbs DePuizzi is claimant to the Putnam estates, but McGargle and lawyer Wiffen plot to make Poppy claim the fortune. Wiffen and the Countess double-cross the Professor, but kindly Sarah Tucker notices a resemble between Poppy and the deceased Mrs. Putnam. It turns out that McGargle adopted the girl, she is the rightful heir, the purported Countess is only a showgirl, and every one has a happy ending.

This set is shaping up to be every bit as fine as first one released in 2004. Not expecting it to be heavily laden with extras, this is Universal we're dealing with. Likely to be superb prints but even Volume One only had trailers and a documentary."
Yahoo!!!
Steven F. Reed | NY, NY | 02/14/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was delighted to find this today on my Recommended list, as I had not heard anything about it. I was so excited when volume 1 was announced, primarily because there hadn't been a decent dvd copy of "It's a Gift", but also because I was hoping beyond hope that there would some day be a volume 2 that included TMOTFTrapeze, and The Old Fashioned Way. Trapeze, especially, is on my must see list, and almost instantly alienates me from the uninitiated of my generation. It usually takes some cajoling, but when I finally get friends to take time out to drink in a Field's picture, they usually get turned in the right direction permanently.

The scene where Fields trips, crashes through the door and down the cellar stairs, shoots himself in the posterior, pulls from under him a piece of wood with a ridiculously long nail in it, and utters "Drat", is usually enough to get the job done for good. Just thinking about it, I am having a difficult time restraining my laughter as I type.

The movie was never one of his most popular, but it is riddled with small and incredibly funny gags. His constant "brushing his teeth", the dialog with his shrew of a wife (hideously played by Kathleen Howard, in a role that she more or less reprised a few times with Fields) regarding a late night wrong number, Fields's comment on hearing burglars singing in his cellar ("Oh, what rotten voices"), his subsequent joining in with the singing burglars (one of them played by a very young Walter Brennan), and his following appearance in court are incredibly well crafted. I think that this flick may be the best example of the Fields wit, but you have to pay close attention to the movie to really pick up on it. His expressions and under-the-breath comments are truly one-of-a-kind, and turn him into more than just a cliche.

"The Old Fashioned Way" is another great example of a Fields vehicle that never quite got the attention it deserved. Probably most famous for a kick that the Great Man delivers to Baby LeRoy, it is also filled with great little scenes that show off W.C.'s versatility. The play, his juggling, his throw away lines all make this a very entertaining entry. Keep an eye open for a truly great supporting role by Jan Duggan as "Cleopatra Pepperday".

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break and You're Telling Me are both amusing,
but were never at the very top of my Fields list (although the scene in YTM where he shoots the tires on the police car is pretty darned funny).

Poppy is one that, I have a hard time believing myself, I've never seen. I've read some pretty good things about it, so I'm looking forward to the viewing.

All in all, I am much, much happier this afternoon than I was this morning, thanks to finding this announcement!


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