Mae West and W.C. Fields working below their abilities. She's a sassy singer run out of her community for consorting with a masked stagecoach bandit; he's a novelty salesman (with a satchel of phony money) who becomes sheriff in a troubled Old West town after falsely boasting of his shooting abilities. Mae "marries" W.C. via a gambler dressed like a preacher, only to spend most of her on-screen time with a handsome newspaper man. Fields plays bartender, trades barbs with busy-body Margaret Hamilton, and gets into bed with a goat he thinks is Mae. His quick retorts and sideline witticisms get some laughs, but this script (written by the two stars) never allows for any big, memorable moments. Mae has a song number in the saloon that seems rather lax (the Hays Code was breathing down her neck at the time), and her personality appears to have been zapped of vivaciousness. The movie doesn't look too bad, and it is certainly watchable, but one waits in vain for it to get off the ground and that sadly does not happen. ** from ****
Review of My Little Chickadee
