W.C. Fields Comedy Favorites Collection [DVD]

This set, WC Fields Comedy Favorites Collection (DVD), was inexpensive when I bought it (under nine bucks) and at this writing still is. This thrifty price makes the collection easy to recommend: if it were 4 times the price, I might be more critical, because a couple of films don't look all that great. But, as it stands, the collection is a bargain.I was surprised at how good some of these films looked! I've seen W.C. Fields on DVD before, and the films looked terrible. These are not 100% perfect by any means, but most of them look fine. They have clarity and not a lot of distracting imperfections. They also sound okay. Naturally, some are better than other, so see below. (This is subjective, of course. I've a 32" TV, so not a huge screen, and a regular old-fashioned BD player.)Disk 1• International House - This is what I bought the set for, and it looks very good except there are some white spots (film damage?). They look like white dust. Maybe film damage over the years? This movie didn't look great on Criterion Channel either, which is where I first saw it. In fact, the DVD looks better than streaming it at CC did.• It's a Gift - looks good• You're Telling Me! - looks good• The Old-Fashioned Way - looks goodDisk 2• Man on the Flying Trapeze - passable, not great• Poppy - okay but not great• You Can't Cheat an Honest Man - looks really good to meDisk 3• My Little Chickadee - looks really good to me• The Bank Dick - looks good to me, but not as good as the other two films on the disk• Never Give a Sucker an Even Break - looks really good

Bill Fields was an accomplished acrobat & musician-- attributes he adds to many of these great films. Film fans will wonder how he did all of this while drinking so much! In a late interview with Dick Cavette and Mae West-- she said she had to have Bill followed around while filming "My Little Chickadee" --and if he started drinking she would have him thrown off the set! She also said it was written into his contract-- "... no drinking on the set".

W. C. Fields was and is one of the all-time great comedians. He was not a great filmmaker like Chaplin, but he was a great comedian. He had a very unique persona unlike any other comedian. He usually played someone who was not likable and was a conman. Sometimes he played a hen-pecked husband who was trying to get away with some minor misdemeanor. The hen-pecked husband persona was sympathetic as opposed to his usual conman persona.This is a great collection at a great price. You will get ten films for under ten dollars.Some of the films are better than others in terms of plot and story, but Fields is always funny. A film titled "It's A Gift" is so very funny and is his best film. In this film he plays a hen-pecked husband. The collection is worth buying for this film alone.Other good films in this collection include "My Little Chickadee" with Mae West and a film with ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his puppet Charlie McCarthy.Fields often snuck off-color jokes and humor past the censors. His saying, "Godfrey Daniel" when upset or startled is one of them. There are many more.The collection includes a dated but worthwhile documentary about Fields and his films.Not included in this collection is a short film he made titled "The Dentist." It is so very funny. It is worth your taking the time to find and watch on the internet.

Looking at a collection of W.C. Fields' movies makes you start laughing even before you put the movies on.Fields was, in his youth, the greatest juggler and balancer in the world. He made appearances all the way to Australia and South Africa, and finished it off with a royal command performance in England; movies were his time of ease and relaxation from the rigors of his exacting act. The comedy he added beside the wonders of his craft got big laughs and he was able to perfect his special brand of comedy in film. Known to be a drinker and portrayed as such, he didn't actually drink at first. It was because of the loneliness of touring that he kept alcohol in his room to attract people to keep him company. He must have gotten a taste for it from these impromptu parties and it stayed with him for the rest of his life. His continuation of the portrayal of a scoundrel was the continuation of the role that gave him a big break in the Broadway play: Poppy, where he played a shameless miscreant to the delight of the audience. Fields enjoyed the compensation the equivalent of $96,000 a week for his good-natured villainy. The Poppy movie is part of this wondrous collection; a story unlike any you will ever encounter in any other films. The ridiculous scenarios and bad treatment to him that we are supposed to swallow are immensely enjoyable for the audience to be a part of. Fields always gains our sympathy and support through a script that was obviously written by a scoundrel itself. The exaggeration makes a great point for those who are hurt by others; at least it felt as if it were that bad, looking back. Fields never made a film that gave us a break, and we are forever thankful.

When I was a wee lad, on rainy days after school was "The Early Show" on TV... all older movies. The WC Fields movies were almost as funny as the Stooges shorts, & Godzilla or alien movies were kind of scary. Fast forward to today. The humor is all new & different, filled with word play that went right over a 6 yr. old's head as well as some pretty funny story lines & stunts. I'm enjoying these films all over again.The picture & sound are as good as the originals. There were often running vertical lines on movies of the time. The short Canadian made bio on disc 3 is pretty interesting too.For some reason we get to see the Universal Pictures globe intro, not once but, twice before each movie.

Die DVD geht nicht. Anzeige: Anderes Länderformat. Liegt jetzt stumm rum.

I have good memories of seeing WC Fields as a child; seeing the slapstick humour as hilarious and I was watching it on a B/W tv so it appeared natural. Recreating those moments with these films was difficult. I'm getting old so a lot of the mumbled dialogue escaped me. However, the film quality was good and some of the scenes are still anarchistic. The "Toulouse Lautrec" scene in the Dentist is brilliant and predates Monthy Python by decades. "Not fit for man nor beast" as a catchphrase is tremendous as is the ending.I'd like to obtain a copy of his short films but they seem to be geocoded so we in Australia missout.

it was not what I was looking for but returned no problems