The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933 film)

The Fatal Glass of Beer
Directed by Clyde Bruckman
Produced by Mack Sennett
Written by W.C. Fields
Starring W.C. Fields
Production
company
Mack Sennett Productions
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release dates
  • March 3, 1933 (1933-03-03)
Running time
21 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933) is an American Pre-Code short film starring W. C. Fields, produced by Mack Sennett, and released theatrically by Paramount Pictures.

Story

Written by Fields and directed by Clyde Bruckman, the film is a parody of rugged stage melodramas set in the Yukon. Fields serenades a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer with "The Fatal Glass of Beer", a mournful song detailing the evils of foul drink and bad companions in the big city. A zither accompaniment recorded for the film seldom matches the vocal, because Fields subtly changes keys when the zither does not, resulting in a humorously off-key effect.

Fields emphasizes the stagey satire by striking various poses and being overly theatrical with the dialogue. The most famous gag has Fields opening the cabin door periodically and exclaiming, "And it ain't a fit night out for man or beast!", with some obviously fake snow thrown into his face a moment later. He would reprise that gag during the "play-within-the-play" in The Old Fashioned Way (1934).

Cast

Notes

Purporting to be in Alaska, Fields continually goes to the door, declaring 'it ain't a fit night out for man or beast', only to be hit with a bucket of snow.

Heathcliff: "It ain't a fit night out for man nor beast, Kathy." Phwoosh!

References

  1. DVD writeup
  2. Middlemiss, Perry (200002). "THE CRYSTAL BUCKET by Clive James". middlemiss.org. Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved 22 February 2014. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. James, Clive (1981). "Wuthering Depths". The Crystal Bucket (1st ed.). Jonathan Cape. ISBN 978-0224018906.

External links


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