Stars: W.C. Fields, Rosemary Theby, George Chandler Director: Clyde Bruckman The prodigal son of a Yukon prospector comes home on a night that "ain't fit for man nor beast."
"When Fields would later appear on radio programs sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes, who would often talk about his son Chester, a gag the Lucky Strike company eventually figured out: Chester Fields (Chesterfields) was the name of a rival cigarette company!"
I’m 62 now and grew up very aware of WC Fields, but You Tube has allowed me to really understand his genius. There was so much of himself in every character he played.
My beloved father, a man resembling W.C. Fields in both form and temperament, often imitated him. I'd heard, "It's not a fit nigh out for man nor beast," and "Ma, I think I'll go out and milk the elk," often since I was little. It wasn't until after his passing that I discovered this delightfully hilarious short film, The Fatal Glass of beer, that was the source for both. Good memories of two great and funny men.
I like the dogs calmly walking at the speed of a passing train through the sound of a blizzard even though not all of them are carrying their own weight and in spite of the fact that it's not a fit night for man nor beast.
An absolute masterpiece. 20 years after first seeing it, my parents and I still shout "Don't forget to open your window a bit, Chester!" when saying goodnight.
My sons, after hearing it from me for many years, now say " T'aint a fit night out for man or beast" every time they walk out the door in winter...hahaha
I like how chester shows up in the same suit that he wore in the flashbacks--no coat, no hat, no mukluks. Nothing to indicate that he may have trudged miles to that cabin in the middle of a fierce blizzard. That's both intentional and hilarious.
Everything it looks like a mistake in this film is done intentionally... Field s is spoofing the old dramatic genre to the hilt... And it ain't a fit night out for man nor Beast... Poww!
Takes the time to pause and set up for the line and then the shot in the face with the snow. No hurry each time. Timing and the punch line is the most important part of a joke and Fields was a master. Completely enthralled watching his timing in each set up, perfect. Laurel and Hardy were also masters in timing. It is such a joy to see these repeatedly. They never grow old.
@@Ourladyrules As much as they actually wallowed in the fake (asbestos) snow and must have done repeat takes of scenes, it is a wonder they each did not have respiratory or cancer related illness. Laurel was a chain smoker, but even that did not affect his breathing. At least as far as their biographies or other personal accounts mention. Of course much has been written and there may be other evidence. Never knew asbestos was used to represent snow. Thanks for the info.
@Marcus Rosen l was about to disagree but your theory about bread is difficult to dedunk. Regardless, crackers are actually the healthier choice because they are often made from animals.
Back a million years ago when I attended a small Catholic HS, 300 in the whole school, I was what used to be refgered to as the AV geek, I ran the movies fixed the PJs etc, I used to be able to take the odd 16mm home to work on and our local library used to loan out films, one of them was this one, me and my friends, yes I had some, would watch all manners of films, they had star trek episodes on 16mm also, one of the other WC films they had was the bank dick, somewhere I still have the catalog of the film's they loaned out it cost a dollar and was updated yearly, they would also get them from other libraries in the county which was cool, this was one of our favorites, I even built a projection booth in my basement and ran a wire for a speaker under the screen, you couldn't hear the projector, it was a good setup, now I'm running a video PJ onto a 9ft wide 120 inch acoustically transparent screen I built and stream with Chromecast, it's not much but I enjoy it.
The English rhyme sometimes titled "The Wind and the Fisherman" was already old in 1850 when included in "The Mother Goose" anthology (ed. Dame Goslin). It begins: When the wind is in the east, 'Tis neither good for man nor beast;
Most of these guys got their training in Vaudeville, where they had to do just about everything to make the show run. Fields was also a really fine juggler.
The first 3 seconds with the wind blowing, i'm already laughing. Because I know that something hilarious is about to happen if W.C. Fields has anything to do with it!
Love the fact they can't move the cameras... the cameras are encased in large sound proof boxes because they made so much noise the actors would be drowned out... Beautifully done.. true talent Thank you for posting
Wow, this is so different from the in the your face style comedy of today. This skit requires you to really think and be engaged to notice all the funny moments. You could watch this over and over and still miss some.
7:30 The light gag cracked me up. It's the kind of Laurel/Stan would do with a dumbfounded look on his face while he scratched the top of his head, I'm talking of course about from the genius comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. This reminds of stories my mother used to tell me. The way she grew up with little food for her 14 other brothers and sisters and no electricity or running water in Connecticut. Seeing this old film is sort of like going back in time and observing what life was like 100 years ago.
We Boomers grew up with George Chandler playing all types of character roles in Tv Series and "late night" movies...and to see him here with a younger, thinner and smaller nosed WCF is a wonderful surprise, just 5-6 years after the first talkies hit the screens. LOL
I was surprised to see U M&M TV Corp. on the opening credits next to a date of 1936 as there was no television in 1936. Per Wikipedia UM& TV, Corp. in 1950 purchased 1600 cartoons and short subjects from Paramount pictures. And paramount pictures insisted that their logo not appear for some reason on any of the TV broadcasts. So evidently UM &M made new credits for the short subjects and that’s why we see their name in the opening credits. UM&M had a short life only existed from 1955 to 1957 when they were purchased by another corporation and went out of existence. So the title credits we see here replaced the originals for broadcast TV in the 1950s.
My theory is that he was trying to keep from being sick, as the Ivory soap flakes they were using for ''snow'' had fallen off his hat into his soup, and the soup was a ''practical'' [meaning he was supposed to eat it.] Ever the trooper, he swallowed it down and played thru for the ''take.''
@@HootOwl513 Dude, the scene clearly has them crying. That's what he was doing. Also, they were probably not using soap flakes for snow, but rather cornflakes, which Fields even makes an allusion to earlier while on the sled.
The film is a Kind of parody on now forgotten moralistic stage plays about alcohol, so I guess Fields played the crying deliberately "over the top" in a sentimental manner.
Officer Posthlewhistle is played by Richard Cramer. Cramer was in several Laurel and Hardy films and played one of the meanest characters the "Boys" would encounter. He plays the Judge in "Scram".
