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cantankerous, doesn't bully any imbecilic assistants, swindle anyone, or do a whole lot of bragging... But don't worry, as his nicest guy, Fields is still in peak form." Noting that
Ambrose Wolfinger is still "a rebel and nonconformist" despite his kindness, Peary adds, "It's a pleasure to watch Fields stumble through life and emerge, impossibly, unscathed." Peary concludes by awarding Fields his "alternate" 1935 Academy Award for Best Actor: "For playing a marvelous character no other comic could conceive, and making us laugh nonstop for 65 minutes, Fields deserves the Oscar."
258:
story is interrupted by Malloy, who misconstrues it as a case of death from poisoned liquor, and
Ambrose is too timid to contradict him. Malloy lets him go for the day. Ambrose's supervisor, Mr. Peabody (Lucien Littlefield), tells his department the tragic news so they can send condolences, and also notifies the newspaper.
38:
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Peabody has fired
Ambrose, but Malloy demands that Peabody rehire him because no one else can figure out Wolfinger's filing system. Hope answers the telephone call from Peabody, and says (falsely) that Ambrose has a better offer from another company. After some bargaining, Ambrose is rehired with a
261:
Ambrose has a series of misfortunes on his way to the wrestling match: He has encounters with ticket-writing policemen, he has a flat tire, and he is nearly hit by a train while chasing a runaway tire. Finally, while trying to get into the wrestling arena (Claude had stolen his ticket earlier), he
230:
Ambrose
Wolfinger works as a "memory expert" for a manufacturing company's president. He keeps track of details about the clients President Malloy (Oscar Apfel) meets with, so that Malloy will never be embarrassed about not remembering things when meeting with them. But Ambrose doesn't keep files;
269:
in the newspaper—under the headline "Aged Woman Victim of
Poisoned Alcohol"—they are furious, and quickly fix the blame on Ambrose. Ambrose returns home to a harsh reception. He confesses to deceiving his boss, but when Claude announces that he saw Ambrose and the secretary "drunk in the gutter",
257:
After Hope pays his bail, Ambrose returns home in time to have breakfast before reporting for work. He asks Malloy for the afternoon off, falsely claiming that
Cordelia has died and her funeral is that day. He begins explaining that she was taken with a "chill" and that he poured her a drink. His
465:
characterized the film as "a slow worthy comedy". The movie's reputation has grown over time. Waxing more enthusiastic than Greene, film critic Danny Peary declared in 1993 that this was nothing less than Fields's best performance. "In contrast to his other roles," Peary wrote, "Fields isn't
262:
gets knocked down by a wrestler who is thrown out of the building by his opponent. As spectators exit the arena, Claude sees
Ambrose sprawled on the sidewalk and sees Ambrose's secretary, who had attended the wrestling match separately, bent over him expressing concern over his injury.
217:
as a henpecked husband who experiences a series of misadventures while taking a day off from work to attend a wrestling match. As with his other roles of this nature, Fields is put-upon throughout the film, but triumphs in the end. This was the final film directed by
270:
Ambrose, who has been meek through the entire film, finally has had enough. He knocks Claude unconscious, and frightens his wife and mother-in-law into hiding. He and his daughter leave the house to go live elsewhere.
250:". Ambrose is forced to handle the situation, and he winds up being arrested for distilling liquor without a license. While on the way to the night court Ambrose talks about the big
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Meanwhile, a huge number of flowers, sympathy cards, and funeral wreaths are delivered to the
Wolfinger home. This puzzles Cordelia and Leona, and when they see Cordelia's
281:
The film ends with
Ambrose taking the family for a ride in his new car. Hope and Leona ride inside the car with him, while Claude and Cordelia ride in the open
235:), his loving daughter Hope (from a previous marriage; played by Mary Brian), his freeloading brother-in-law Claude (Grady Sutton), and his abusive, sternly
242:
At the start of the film, two burglars, played by
Tammany Young and Walter Brennan, break into Ambrose's cellar after midnight, get drunk on his homemade
485:
had been Fields' girlfriend/companion since 1932. The credits do not assign a name to her, but on-screen Fields called her "Carlotta" in an early scene.
20:
659:, Alternate Oscars: One Critic's Defiant Choice for Best Picture, Actor, and Actress - From 1927 to the Present (New York: Delta, 1993), 34-35.
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278:. Meanwhile, Leona realizes that she still loves Ambrose, scolds Claude for his laziness, and stands up to her disagreeable mother.
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all the documents are a huge mess of paper piled on his desk. Ambrose supports himself, his shrewish wife Leona (
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610:(August 9, 1935). "The Trunk Mystery/Hands of Orlac/Look Up and Laugh/The Memory Expert".
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match scheduled for that day, for which he has a front-row ticket.
542:, who had intended it for use in one of Fields' 1932 comedies for
512:
Man on the Flying Trapeze: The Life and Times of W.C. Fields
546:, but after Fields left Sennett Bruckman gave the gag to
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This article is about a film. For the popular song, see
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624:
538:This sequence was probably devised by co-director
21:The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (song)
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554:(1933). Bruckman and Fields then used it in
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373:Patrick H. O'Malley Jr. as Police Officer
316:as Mrs. Cordelia Neselrode, mother-in-law
16:1935 film by Clyde Bruckman, W. C. Fields
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415:as Tosoff, the 'Mad Russian', a wrestler
68:W. C. Fields (story, as "Charles Bogle")
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558:, and then Bruckman used it again with
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239:mother-in-law Cordelia (Vera Lewis).
248:On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away
421:as Hookalakah Meshobbab, a wrestler
358:as Mr. Malloy, President of Company
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274:huge raise in pay and four weeks'
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665:
328:as 'Willie' the Weasel, a burglar
936:Films directed by Clyde Bruckman
310:as Hope Wolfinger, his daughter
931:American black-and-white films
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568:(1940) and also an episode of
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517:
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364:as Mr. Peabody, Office Manager
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525:The Man on the Flying Trapeze
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391:as Italian Woman in Ambulance
571:The Abbott and Costello Show
514:, Faber & Faber, p. 508.
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334:as 'Legs' Garnett, a burglar
322:as Claude Neselrode, her son
304:as Leona Wolfinger, his wife
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352:as Homicidal Maniac in Cell
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967:
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893:Man on the Flying Trapeze
781:The Battle of the Century
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695:Man on the Flying Trapeze
684:Man on the Flying Trapeze
673:Man on the Flying Trapeze
588:Deschner, Donald (1966).
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946:Paramount Pictures films
590:The Films of W.C. Fields
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370:as "Ambrose's Secretary"
156:August 3, 1935
869:The Fatal Glass of Beer
773:Putting Pants on Philip
529:- "AKA section" at IMDb
397:as Motorcycle Policeman
288:
225:
821:Should Tall Men Marry?
60:Sam Hardy (uncredited)
941:Works by W. C. Fields
926:American comedy films
789:Love 'Em and Feed 'Em
285:during a heavy rain.
246:, and start singing "
209:) is a 1935 American
951:1930s American films
621:Taylor, John Russell
565:Nothing But Pleasure
346:as Night Court Judge
298:as Ambrose Wolfinger
829:A Perfect Gentleman
813:The Finishing Touch
445:as Helpful Passerby
385:as Ambulance Driver
379:as Henry, chauffeur
853:Everything's Rosie
805:Leave 'Em Laughing
797:Call of the Cuckoo
749:Cowboys Cry for It
735:Films directed by
678:TCM Movie Database
552:Too Many Highballs
362:Lucien Littlefield
142:Paramount Pictures
132:Richard C. Currier
921:1935 comedy films
903:
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627:The Pleasure Dome
344:Arthur Aylesworth
215:W. C. Fields
206:The Memory Expert
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70:Sam Hardy (story)
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403:as Patrolman #1
302:Kathleen Howard
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320:Grady Sutton
296:W. C. Fields
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172:Running time
149:Release date
122:Alfred Gilks
105:W. C. Fields
87:(uncredited)
85:Bobby Vernon
82:(uncredited)
77:(uncredited)
58:(uncredited)
56:W. C. Fields
25:
861:Movie Crazy
765:Horse Shoes
757:The General
576:Car Trouble
413:Tor Johnson
407:James Burke
356:Oscar Apfel
283:rumble seat
211:comedy film
203:(UK title:
92:Produced by
48:Directed by
916:1935 films
910:Categories
845:Feet First
642:0192812866
631:. p.
493:References
425:Sam Lufkin
383:Joe Sawyer
314:Vera Lewis
308:Mary Brian
176:65 minutes
160:1935-08-03
108:Mary Brian
72:Ray Harris
65:Written by
451:Reception
338:Lew Kelly
252:wrestling
244:applejack
213:starring
128:Edited by
700:AllMovie
510:(1999),
439:as Clerk
276:vacation
267:obituary
237:teetotal
189:Language
102:Starring
676:at the
578:(1954).
574:called
192:English
181:Country
158: (
896:(1935)
888:(1935)
880:(1935)
872:(1933)
864:(1932)
856:(1931)
848:(1930)
840:(1929)
832:(1928)
824:(1928)
816:(1928)
808:(1928)
800:(1927)
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784:(1927)
776:(1927)
768:(1927)
760:(1926)
752:(1925)
639:
527:(1935)
470:Notes
689:IMDb
637:ISBN
289:Cast
226:Plot
698:at
687:at
562:in
550:in
912::
635:.
633:12
500:^
461:,
222:.
728:e
721:t
714:v
647:)
645:.
616:.
162:)
23:.
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