Rent W.C. Fields: You Can't Cheat an Honest Man / Six of a Kind (1939)
2.8 of 5 from 7 ratings
2h 15min
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- Synopsis:
A double bill by the popular 1930s comedian...
Six of a Kind (1934)
Bank employee Mr. Whinney (Charles Ruggles) and his wife plan a second honeymoon in California. To share driving expenses, they are joined by a crazy couple who are unaware they are carrying $50000 in embezzled funds. When they stop at a small town hotel, Sheriff Honest John Hoxley (W.C. Fields) is soon on the trail of the thief.
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939)Though nearly bankrupt, and constantly pursued by Sheriffs, circus proprietor Larsen E. Whipsnade (W.C. Fields) has provided his children with an expensive education. His life consists of swindling customers, deputizing for absent performers and trading insults with a ventriloquist. When daughter Vicky (Constance Moore) forsakes her true love to marry for money and save Whipsnade's business, she doesn't foresee the imact her father will have on her prospective in-lows. - Actors:
- W.C. Fields, Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Mary Boland, Charles Ruggles, Charlie McCarthy, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Mortimer Snerd, Constance Moore, John Arledge, James Bush, Thurston Hall, Mary Forbes, Edward Brophy, Arthur Hohl, Princess Baba, Blacaman, Ernie Adams, Dorothy Arnold, Irving Bacon
- Directors:
- George Marshall, Leo McCarey, Edward F. Cline
- Producers:
- Lester Cowan
- Writers:
- George Marion Jr., Richard Mack, Everett Freeman, W.C. Fields, Henry Johnson, Lew Lipton, Manuel Seff, James Seymour, Keene Thompson, Douglas Maclean, Walter DeLeon, Harry Ruskin
- Studio:
- Universal Pictures
- Genres:
- Children & Family, Classics, Comedy
- Collections:
- Cinema's Most Memorable Comedy Double Acts, Films & TV by topic, Paramount's Laughing Thirties, A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Films By Year, Top 10 Films of 1939
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Reviews (1) of W.C. Fields: You Can't Cheat an Honest Man / Six of a Kind
On Six of a Kind. - W.C. Fields: You Can't Cheat an Honest Man / Six of a Kind review by Steve
Crazy Paramount comedy with a title that suggests another of their many precode anthologies, but actually refers to the cast; there are three of the studio's frequently matched double acts. Charles Ruggles and Mary Boland are a nice middle class/aged couple driving to California on a second honeymoon, who advertise for similar to share the cost.
And are unfortunately lumbered with George Burns and Gracie Allen... and their astonishingly huge Great Dane, who insists on the front seat! They make a fine comic quartet, especially Gracie as the screen's ultimate airhead. And just for bonus fun, a bankrobber has swapped one of their suitcases for a duplicate full of money...
But there are six, no? WC Fields turns up on halfway as a sheriff, with occasional sidekick Alison Skipworth. And he lifts an amusing road comedy with some genuine laughs. This is mainly a few of his old vaudeville routines. The standout is his explanation- while playing pool, intoxicated- of how he got the nickname 'Honest John'.
It sometimes gets labelled screwball, maybe because it is directed by genre superstar Leo McCarey. Though there is no romance. Which is a bonus as the fun is with the stalwart stars. It's another minor Paramount programmer which the unique comic talent of WC Fields makes a little bit special.
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