W. C. Fields

The play takes us to Green Meadows in 1883, where traveling carnival performer and patent medicine salesman Professor Eustace P. McGargle arrives with his daughter, Poppy, and promptly disrupts the routines of the little town.

W.C. Fields returns to the role of McGargle, joined by Anne Shirley as Poppy and John Payne as Billy Farnsworth, the mayor's son.

Adapted from Paramount's 1936 film, itself drawn from Dorothy Donnelly's 1923 stage musical, the story brings carnival schemes, a claim connected with the Putnam estate and local society into the same affair.

We now take you back to the original broadcast.

From Hollywood, California, the Lux Radio Theater presents W.C. Fields and Ann Shirley in Poppy.

Lux presents Hollywood.

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And this would be, you know, Houdini would play as the headliner when he was doing vaudeville or rock.

you know, your big national star, WC Fields doing comedy, whatever it is.

And then your closer is another dumb act to let everyone sort of walk out because they don't need to see it necessarily.

And that sort of lets everyone down.

Lenny Bruce.

Stockhausen, WC Fields, Young, you said Edgar Allan Poe, Fred Astaire, Merkin, never heard of him, Hunts Hall from the Bowery Boys, Simon Rodia, you said Dylan, Audrey Beardsley, Robert Peel, Aldous Huxley, Dylan Thomas, Terry Southern, Dion, Tony Curtis, Wallace, Benham, Sorry, Wallace Berman, Tommy Hanley, Marilyn Monroe, William Rose, another Indian guru.

You said Laurel and Hardy, Richard Linder, Karl Marx, HG Wells, another Indian guru, Stuart Sutcliffe, ex-member of the band, Max Muller, Brando.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking of James Dean.

Well, then sit down, my well-coiffed foreign friend.

Sit down, Joey says, doing his WC Fields impression.

Later, Stavros smoking a cigar.

See, I'm just telling it.

All runs like a frightened fly.

WC Fields.

Still running.

I got to tell you, this is a nice place.

And this Schmidt Sting Pain Index describes a yellow jacket sting this way.

Imagine WC Fields extinguishing a cigar on your tongue.

That's how that feels.

I've been stung by a lot of yellow jackets, and I have to tell you, I never thought it, of course, I've never had WC Fields extinguish a cigar in my tongue, but that never came to mind.

A bald-faced hornet, their sting is similar to getting your hand mashed in a revolving door.

And again, man, I've been lucky in life.

Today, we're reviewing The Bank Dick.

The Bank Dick, a 1940 comedy directed by Edward F. Klein, is a delightful romp through the misadventures of Egbert Suze, played by the legendary W.C. Fields.

This film is a quintessential example of Fields' unique comedic style, characterised by his portrayal of a perpetually inebriated, henpecked husband who stumbles into a series of improbable situations.

The plot unfolds in the sleepy town of Lompoc, California, where Egbert, a man with a penchant for tall tales and alcohol, inadvertently becomes a hero.

While the narrative may seem disjointed at times, it is precisely this unpredictability that lends the film its charm.

Fields' refusal to conform to conventional storytelling allows for a series of vignettes that are as entertaining as they are unconventional.

In summary, The Bank Dick is a comedic gem that captures the essence of W.C. Field's unique brand of humour.

Its blend of slapstick, satire and absurdity ensures that it remains a beloved classic, offering a glimpse into the comedic genius of one of cinema's most distinctive figures.

Absolutely.

You know, you could combine the study of English and financial literacy by getting children to read David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, where the character McCorber, famously played by W.C. Fields, unbelievably, W.C. Fields, said the following, Nicole.

Annual income, 20 pounds.

Annual expenditure, 19, 19, and 6.