Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (What A Man) (1941)

100% of critics liked it
(10 reviews)
81% of users liked it
(488 ratings)

W.C. Fields heads to Esoteric studios to pitch a story idea to producer Franklin Pangborn. The producer wants to make a conventional romantic musical starring Fields' niece, teen-aged soprano Gloria Jean, but "The Great Man" has other ideas. As Pangborn sits in dumbfounded silence, Fields unravels… More W.C. Fields heads to Esoteric studios to pitch a story idea to producer Franklin Pangborn. The producer wants to make a conventional romantic musical starring Fields' niece, teen-aged soprano Gloria Jean, but "The Great Man" has other ideas. As Pangborn sits in dumbfounded silence, Fields unravels an incoherent farrago which begins with him travelling to a Russian colony in Mexico--by way of an airliner with an open observation platform. Fields dives from the plane when his precious flask of gin falls overboard; he lands safely at the mountaintop mansion of the formidable Mrs. Hemoglobin (Margaret Dumont). Playing a kissing game with Hemoglobin's beauteous daughter (Susan Miller), who has never seen a man before, Fields decides to make a quick exit when Mama wants to get in on the game too. Reunited with Gloria Jean in the Russian colony, Fields learns that Mrs. Hemoglobin is worth millions, so he climbs back up the mountain, ignoring such obstacles as a displaced African gorilla. Disposing of his rival Leon Errol, Fields is about to wed Mrs. Hemoglobin, but is talked out of it at the last moment by Gloria Jean. At this point in the narrative, producer Pangborn can stand no more. He tells Fields to take his nonsensical screenplay and vacate the premises. After a brief episode at a soda fountain ("This scene was supposed to be in a saloon, but the censors made us cut it out"), Fields drives off to new adventures with his niece--but not before a zany slapstick car-chase finale, prompted by Fields' mistaken belief that he's rushing a corpulent middle-aged lady to the maternity hospital. W. C. Fields' original screenplay for Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (written under the fanciful pseudonym of Otis Criblecoblis) made a lot more sense than what ended up on screen, but Fields' extended absences from the studio, coupled with Universal's desire to reshape the film into a vehicle for their new star Gloria Jean, necessitated a complete restructuring of the plot. While hardly Fields' best or most representative film, Sucker is an excellent example of the sort of nonsensical "nut" humor in vogue in 1941 thanks to Olsen and Johnson's Hellzapoppin'. And, occasionally, the film stands still long enough to allow W. C. Fields to mutter a priceless aside or toss off a perfectly timed double-take. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 11 min.
Directed By: Edward Cline, Edward F. Cline
Written By: John T. Neville, Prescott Chaplin
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Oct 10, 1941 Wide
On DVD: Mar 20, 2007

Critic Reviews

Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Refreshingly bizarre.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Nearly brilliant, nearly surreal, mostly funny
Bob Bloom, Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)
Classic Fields! No story really, just a series of vignettes, but it has you rolling on the floor.
John Urbancich, Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
Just plain funny.
James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette
one of the many reasons Fields is still acclaimed as a comic genius
Tim Dirks, Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941) is a tour de force of W.C. Fields off-beat humor, double-takes, and priceless lines and sketches.

Read all 6 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Eric B

What an insane movie. Just feels like some leftover set pieces stitched together into something resembling a film -- but I enjoyed it anyway. And young Gloria Jean gives quite a performance in that scene where she's singing those ridiculously acrobatic songbird notes, while… More
What an insane movie. Just feels like some leftover set pieces stitched together into something resembling a film -- but I enjoyed it anyway. And young Gloria Jean gives quite a performance in that scene where she's singing those ridiculously acrobatic songbird notes, while simultaneously having to act as if she's dead bored!
Christopher B

One liners aplenty with the consistently drunk looking Fields. A great "Lovable Loser" film.

Cast

            W.C. Fields as The Great Man

            Gloria Jean as His Niece

            Margaret Dumont as Mrs. Hemoglobin

            Leon Errol as The Rival

            Susan Miller as Ouliotta Delight Hemogloben

            Franklin Pangborn as Producer Esoteric Studios

            Mona Barrie as The Producer's Wife

            Charles Lang as The Young Engineer

            Anne Nagel as Madame Gorgeous

            Nell O'Day as Salesgirl

            Irving Bacon as Tom soda jerk

            Jo Gilbert as Tiny the waitress

            Minerva Urecal as Mrs. Pastrami Cleaning Lady

            Emmett Vogan as Steve Roberts Engineer

            Carlotta Monti as Receptionist

            Bill Wolfe as Himself

            Claud Allister as Bitter Englishman

            Frank Austin as Diner

            Leon Belasco as Pianist

            Eddie Bruce as Cameraman

            Kay Deslys as Mrs. Wilson

            William Gould as Doorman

            Billy Lenhart as Heckler

            Jack Lipson as Huge Turk

            Charles McMurphy as Officer

            Frances Morris as Nurse

            Jean Porter as Passerby

            Victor Potel as Mr. Clines Russian Magistrate

            Marcia Ralston as Stewardess

            Jack Roper as Joe

            David Sharpe as Ubiquitous Stunt Double

            Kathrun Sheldon as Spinster Passenger

            Michael Visaroff as Coachman Russian Village

            Billy Wayne as Foreman Stage 6

            Dave Willock as Johnson Assistant Director

            Duke York as Tough Assailant

            Ken Brown as Heckler

            Charles Lane as Man

            Prince the Dog
            
            Irene Colman as Stewardess

            Harriette Haddon as Redhead

            Emma Tansey as Old Lady

            Emil VanHorn as Gargo Gorilla
See full cast