"You Can't Cheat.." was a return vehicle for W. C. Fields after he spent a few years rehabbing from various ailments like back trouble and depression. Watching this today, it feels like he didn't miss a beat.
Funny Factor: This film is a comedy so the most important question to be answered is: is it funny? I am happy to report that it passes the grade for me. There is not much of a plot here, but the film really doesn't need it. One should not be looking for intricate plots and character development when the main purpose is to be amused. There is a minor romance angle between Fields's on-screen daughter and the ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, but it's wisely kept to a minimum.
The film centers on Fields, who plays a cheapskate circus owner trying to put two kids through college. To pay their tuition he avoids paying anyone else, making him most unpopular with pretty much everyone in the picture. Two of those are Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy. Fields and McCarthy trade quips and insults throughout the film and it's some pretty witty stuff. This was apparently a continuation of a skit Bergen and Fields had begun on radio programs. This film was made to capitalize on the following they had begun to engender in that medium.
Why I rated it an '8': It had me amused throughout, and some skits were lol funny. Look for the ping pong match, probably the film's highlight. Fields also resorts to an ancient Egyptian-style chariot for transportation at one point, good for some laughs. I thought Bergen's ventriloquism was a tad weak, you can see his lips moving frequently, but I didn't let it bother me much.
Interestingly, fellow 1930s comedy legends The Marx Brothers also made a circus-themed film in 1939, "At The Circus." That film gets a little more bogged down in uninteresting plots than this one does.
8/10. Would I watch again (Y/N)?: Yes.
Funny Factor: This film is a comedy so the most important question to be answered is: is it funny? I am happy to report that it passes the grade for me. There is not much of a plot here, but the film really doesn't need it. One should not be looking for intricate plots and character development when the main purpose is to be amused. There is a minor romance angle between Fields's on-screen daughter and the ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, but it's wisely kept to a minimum.
The film centers on Fields, who plays a cheapskate circus owner trying to put two kids through college. To pay their tuition he avoids paying anyone else, making him most unpopular with pretty much everyone in the picture. Two of those are Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy. Fields and McCarthy trade quips and insults throughout the film and it's some pretty witty stuff. This was apparently a continuation of a skit Bergen and Fields had begun on radio programs. This film was made to capitalize on the following they had begun to engender in that medium.
Why I rated it an '8': It had me amused throughout, and some skits were lol funny. Look for the ping pong match, probably the film's highlight. Fields also resorts to an ancient Egyptian-style chariot for transportation at one point, good for some laughs. I thought Bergen's ventriloquism was a tad weak, you can see his lips moving frequently, but I didn't let it bother me much.
Interestingly, fellow 1930s comedy legends The Marx Brothers also made a circus-themed film in 1939, "At The Circus." That film gets a little more bogged down in uninteresting plots than this one does.
8/10. Would I watch again (Y/N)?: Yes.