The Bank Dick (1940) – Egbert Souse (pronounced “Soo-say”) is hen pecked, disrespected by his children and generally both lazy and a coward. He tries to get by with an angle and a scam. Along the way he’ll take a turn at both movie director, capture a bank robber and become the bank detective. He’ll try and bluster his way through life.
Generally regarded as the greatest of all W.C. Fields movies. It plays on his iconic character, the hen pecked, boozing, con man of an “everyman”. He’s not a particularly nice or trustworthy everyman but you can’t help feeling a certain affinity for him. All the touchstones of Fields’ comedy are here. The ambivalence toward children, the mangling of the language, including the outright invention of plenty of words. The comedy is decidely more physical and visual than intellectual but there are plenty of sly drop ins scattered through the script. The screenplay is credited to “Mahatma Kane Jeeves”, which is, of course, an alias for Fields himself.
William Claude Dukinfield (Fields’ birth name) was very much like his on screen character. Irascible, with an eye for the ladies and a general discomfort with the rest of society, especially children. At the same time he financially provided for both of his sons voluntarily for years after the relationships with their mothers (only one his wife) had ended. Drink would eventually destroy his body and he died just six years after making this movie. His career began in vaudeville as a juggler and you can see that continues on with the ongoing play with props that he flips and manipulates throughout the film. Fields was an international star as a juggler then re-established himself as an even bigger star once he began to add the sarcastic patter (often mumbled) that became his trademark.
The style of comedy is a little dated today and the script is largely a series of bits or situations for Fields to do his thing. But watching him do that thing he does is worth the time.
Rating – **** Recommended
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