Pluskylang
Great Film overall
Sexyloutak
Absolutely the worst movie.
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
dimplet
It's hard to rate an old movie like this because they don't make 'em like this anymore. And while Fields does a fine job, most of the rest of the acting is pretty bad; I did like the old blind guy, though. For today's audiences, I'm afraid the rating is not so high as it would have been if I were watching this back in 1934. But then, it might have looked better in a big, dark movie theater with an audience and a bucket of popcorn on a Saturday afternoon, than alone on my laptop. It's easier to laugh when there are other people laughing around you. And in 1934, people needed all the excuses for laughter they could get. There's not much of a script or plot here; It's a Gift probably has about the fewest words for a movie since the silent days. There aren't many of the trademark clever comebacks and double entendres from Fields. What it does have is a long-suffering, hen pecked W.C. Fields. This time around he is the normal human being in the story, while everyone else around him is obnoxious. Normal? Any other (modern) normal person would slug this wife, or at least divorce her. I couldn't help but think about how divorce was nearly as illegal as abortion back then. Yet, Fields doesn't lose his temper. And what makes It's a Gift funny, or at least interesting, is the way Fields conveys his suppressed desire to strangle everyone in his family wordlessly through what would today be called body language. He moves slowly, but every part of his motion conveys emotion. And you know what he's going through. The scenes of suffering drag on and on, masochistically, and without any music soundtrack, such as Fields trying to shave with a cut throat razor while his daughter preens and gargles at the sink, or Fields trying to sleep on the porch, as a coconut slowly rattles and bangs down every step of the stairs. It is the very slowness of these scenes that makes them so deliciously tormenting. Fields is conveying humor by manipulating time, slowing it down to a painful crawl. I can't imagine anyone standing for that in a modern hyperkinetic movie, which is a shame. Of all the W.C. Fields films, in this one his humor most resembles the slow and sad Buster Keaton. I could easily see Keaton playing this role. Too bad Keaton self-destructed with the advent of talkies, though he did eventually make a comeback around 1960 with an appearance on a time- travel episode of The Twilight Zone. As to Fields, I do not think this is his funniest or most characteristic film. My favorite Fields movie, by far, is International House, which I've seen many times. Many of his funniest works are shorts. And some wonderful excerpts can be viewed on youtube, among them, Fields playing his unique style of ping pong. And then there's David Copperfield (1935) with Fields playing Micawber. The great Charles Laughton turned down this role, saying he could not do it justice, and recommended Fields, instead. It's astonishing to think that there are people who have never heard of W.C. Fields. But if this were his only movie, it would be understandable.
fenian2153
There are enough sight gags and brilliant lines of dialog to keep your average college film class busy all year. While it's true that "It's a Gift" has many classic comedy moments, the scene that makes this film special to me is a poignant one. It's late in the story: Harold (Fields) realizes that his dream of owning an orange grove in California has literally crumbled in front of him. His wife and kids have left him. His one lifeline, the family car, has fallen to pieces. With his world in ruins, Fields sits on the front stoop of his "ranch house". And the last friend he has in this world, a dog, comes up and licks his face. It's been fifty years since I first saw this film and that scene still brings tears to my eyes.
Neil Doyle
There are so many funny sequences in IT'S A GIFT that it's no wonder W.C. FIELDS became a legend among screen comics with his gift for physical comedy.KATHERINE HOWARD as his nagging wife with a penchant for non-stop talking, is a great foil for his brand of comedy. And the bathroom scene at the start, is a standout of comic timing by all concerned, as Fields attempts to shave by a mirror over the sink as all sorts of interferences from his family leads to hilarious hi-jinks.CHARLES SELLON does a wacky and wonderful job as the blind man who almost single-handedly destroys Fields' grocery store. And once Fields and his family get on the road to California to buy an orange grove, the sight gags continue in fast and furious fashion.On the negative side, BABY SANDY has so little to do that you have to wonder why he became so popular at the time. Undoubtedly one of Fields' best films of the '30s, a bundle of laughs from start to finish.
davidm-14
there isn't much to add here that hasn't already been commented on. this is an absolute spot-on perfect comedy. from the acting to the writing, there isn't one scene that isn't tailored to him perfectly, from fields having breakfast with his family, going to work ("where are my kumquats?") or trying to sleep on the porch with a baby dropping grapes on his head ("shades of Bacchus!"), among other annoyances. those who say fields was at his best here are absolutely correct. no one, absolutely no one says "i hate you" better than fields to his assistant in the store after he allows baby leroy to spill molasses all over the floor.
