I'm so interested in the life and art of W.C. Fields that I try to see as many of his movies as are available to me... WHATEVER the reputation of that movie or Fields contribution to it.
I wasn't expecting too much from 'Big Broadcast of 1938' I knew that Fields had prepared a lot of material for his scenes in the movie... but I ALSO knew that whole scenes of his did not survive as far as the final cut, and his scenes that did remain had been well-trimmed. Fields was a BIG movie star by this time, and certainly the BIGGEST in this movie... so WHY was he treated this way? Well... He should never have been in this movie at all. He was a replacement when other lead players withdrew from the project, and he was too big for the gap he was to fill. There were too many other celebrated performers still to be given their own portion of this movie.
Radio and Broadway star Bob Hope was making his film debut. Popular supporting novelty act Martha Raye was to be in her 11th movie in less than three years. Also in the mix were Dorothy Lamour and another novelty act, the comedian and dancer Ben Blue. AND THAT'S NOT ALL! As the movie progressed, I was to find it also showcased formation dancing, opera singers, and even an animated cartoon.
What sort of plot can accommodate all that, you might wonder. Well... All the players are on board a giant liner, the SS Gigantic, which is taking part in a cross-Atlantic race with another giant liner, the SS Collossus. The presence and actions of Fields causes problems and the SS Gigantic falls well behind in the race. But what do you know??? Everything comes good in the end, and the SS Gigantic wins by a nose. "THE END" comes on the screen, and we're done.
And is this movie as disappointing as I'd been led to expect? In a word - YES! There's probably about 30 minutes of good stuff in it, comprising of the Fields scenes - including his regular golf business, and a return to the pool table - and one surreal confrontation between Bob Hope and Martha Raye. The other hour or so of the movie I could do without.
I like Bob Hope, but he is not yet the great comedy character on film that he quickly came to be. All he has to do here is visually replicate what he did on the radio, and sing "Thanks for the memory" for the first time. He never gets to share a scene with Fields. Martha Raye shows off her big mouth and her flair for horsing around. Dorothy Lamour does a little singing and too much talking. AND Ben Blue... He just keeps popping up, but it would have been better if he hadn't!
I wasn't expecting too much from 'Big Broadcast of 1938' I knew that Fields had prepared a lot of material for his scenes in the movie... but I ALSO knew that whole scenes of his did not survive as far as the final cut, and his scenes that did remain had been well-trimmed. Fields was a BIG movie star by this time, and certainly the BIGGEST in this movie... so WHY was he treated this way? Well... He should never have been in this movie at all. He was a replacement when other lead players withdrew from the project, and he was too big for the gap he was to fill. There were too many other celebrated performers still to be given their own portion of this movie.
Radio and Broadway star Bob Hope was making his film debut. Popular supporting novelty act Martha Raye was to be in her 11th movie in less than three years. Also in the mix were Dorothy Lamour and another novelty act, the comedian and dancer Ben Blue. AND THAT'S NOT ALL! As the movie progressed, I was to find it also showcased formation dancing, opera singers, and even an animated cartoon.
What sort of plot can accommodate all that, you might wonder. Well... All the players are on board a giant liner, the SS Gigantic, which is taking part in a cross-Atlantic race with another giant liner, the SS Collossus. The presence and actions of Fields causes problems and the SS Gigantic falls well behind in the race. But what do you know??? Everything comes good in the end, and the SS Gigantic wins by a nose. "THE END" comes on the screen, and we're done.
And is this movie as disappointing as I'd been led to expect? In a word - YES! There's probably about 30 minutes of good stuff in it, comprising of the Fields scenes - including his regular golf business, and a return to the pool table - and one surreal confrontation between Bob Hope and Martha Raye. The other hour or so of the movie I could do without.
I like Bob Hope, but he is not yet the great comedy character on film that he quickly came to be. All he has to do here is visually replicate what he did on the radio, and sing "Thanks for the memory" for the first time. He never gets to share a scene with Fields. Martha Raye shows off her big mouth and her flair for horsing around. Dorothy Lamour does a little singing and too much talking. AND Ben Blue... He just keeps popping up, but it would have been better if he hadn't!