EDWARD F. CLINE

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBBB. 

USA, 1940.  Universal Pictures.  Screenplay by Mae West, W.C. Fields.  Cinematography by Joseph A. Valentine.  Produced by Lester Cowan.  Music by Frank Skinner.  Production Design by Russell A. Gausman.  Costume Design by Eugene Joseff.  Film Editing by Edward Curtiss.

Two comedic giants are teamed up in this hilarious comedy. Mae West stars as a woman of spotty reputation who is driven out of her tiny little western town for her affair with the masked bandit who’s been robbing stagecoaches. On the train to her new destination she meets drunken lout W.C. Fields and, mistakenly thinking him wealthy, tricks him into a sham marriage to save her hide from the pious women waiting to lynch her at the upcoming station. When she arrives, however, Fields is made the new sheriff in town and West keeps up her liaison with the bandit while also charming the rest of the men in her new town. West’s wiggle and Fields’ delivery are entertainment enough, but this one also includes a fun musical number and some very hilarious slapstick. A bonafide classic.