''W. C. Fields and Me'' is a 1976 American biographical film directed by

Arthur Hiller Arthur Hiller, (November 22, 1923 – August 17, 2016) was a Canadian television and film director with over 33 films to his credit during a 50-year career. He began his career directing television in Canada and later in the U.S. By the late ...

and starring

Rod Steiger Rodney Stephen Steiger ( ; April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associ ...

and

Valerie Perrine Valerie Ritchie Perrine (born September 3, 1943) is a retired American actress. For her role as Honey Bruce in the 1974 film '' Lenny'', she won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles, the Cannes Film Festival Awar ...

. The screenplay by

Bob Merrill Henry Robert Merrill Levan (May 17, 1921 – February 17, 1998) was an American songwriter, theatrical composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. Merrill was one of the most successful songwriters of the 1950s on the US and UK single charts. His ...

is based on a memoir by Carlotta Monti, mistress of actor W. C. Fields during the last 14 years of his life. The film was released by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

Plot

The story begins in 1924 in New York City, where W. C. Fields is a

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...

headliner, and ends with his 1946 death in California at age 66. In between, it dramatizes his life and career with emphasis on the latter part of both, when the "Me" of the title, Carlotta Monti, played a prominent role, with a number of fictionalized events added for dramatic impact. Having lost his girlfriend Melody to another man and most of his life savings due to careless investments by his broker, Fields heads west to Santa Monica, where he operates a

wax museum A wax museum or waxworks usually consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses, wearing real clothes. Some wax museums have a special section dubbe ...

until he's offered a film role. He quickly becomes a major screen presence and a notorious drinker. While at a party with his friends

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen, and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly a ...

, Gene Fowler and restaurant owner Dave Chasen, Fields is introduced to starlet Carlotta Monti, whom he hires as a live-in secretary. In order to stifle her theatrical aspirations, he arranges a screen test. The studio boss Harry Bannerman decides she has some talent, but Fields threatens to quit

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

unless she is discouraged from pursuing a career in films. When she learns the truth, Carlotta leaves him and goes to New York. When Barrymore passes away, she returns to Hollywood to comfort Fields. On the set of '' My Little Chickadee'', she learns why her efforts to get him to marry her have routinely been rebuffed: His first marriage never had been dissolved legally. Although hurt by the revelation, Carlotta resigns herself to a life of unwedded bliss that often crumbles into sorrow and frustration as the relentlessly mean-spirited Fields continues to drink heavily and as his health steadily declines. The comic is hospitalized, and after enduring great physical pain, dies on Christmas Day, a holiday he had despised with a passion.

Principal cast

as W.C. Fields *

as Carlotta Monti * Jack Cassidy as

* John Marley as Bannerman * Bernadette Peters as Melody *

Dana Elcar Ibsen Dana Elcar (October 10, 1927 – June 6, 2005) was an American television and film character actor. He appeared in about 40 films as well as in the 1960s television series ''Dark Shadows'' as Sheriff George Patterson and the 1980s and 1 ...

as Dockstedter * Paul Stewart as

Florenz Ziegfeld Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the '' Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He al ...

Billy Barty Billy Barty (born William John Bertanzetti; October 25, 1924 – December 23, 2000) was an American actor and activist. In adult life, he stood tall, due to cartilage–hair hypoplasia dwarfism. Because of his short stature, he was often cast i ...

as Ludwig * Allan Arbus as Gregory LaCava * Milt Kamen as Dave Chasen * Louis Zorich as Gene Fowler * Andrew Parks as Claude Fields * Dennis Alwood as

Edgar Bergen Edgar John Bergen (né Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio performer. He was best known for his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Bergen ...

Production notes

Karen Black Karen Blanche Black (née Ziegler; July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013) was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in various studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portr ...

was offered the role of Carlotta. However, she turned it down in order to work with

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

on his final feature-film ''

Family Plot ''Family Plot'' is a 1976 American black comedy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in his final directing role. It was based on Victor Canning's 1972 novel '' The Rainbird Pattern'', which Ernest Lehman adapted for the screen. The f ...

''. Rod Steiger's makeup was an early assignment for makeup artist

Stan Winston Stanley Winston (April 7, 1946 – June 15, 2008) was an American television and film special make-up effects artist, best known for his work in the ''Terminator'' series, the first three '' Jurassic Park'' films, '' Aliens'', '' The Thing'', ...

. The Pacific Electric Railway car used in the film had been saved from the scrap heap, refitted with an

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal comb ...

, rubber tires, and a steering mechanism, and used in several period films set in Los Angeles before its appearance in this film. In 2001, it was refurbished to operate on a rail line serving San Pedro, California. The mansion used for this film was located at 700 Berkshire Avenue, LaCanada Flintridge, Los Angeles County, and it previously was owned by William Joseph Connery, a silent-movie era independent movie producer. He called the home Villa Ardaree, and it was known before that as Dryborough, named after the original owners.

Critical reception

In his review in ''The New York Times'',

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...

called the film "dreadful" and added "It holds up a wax dummy of a character intended to represent the great misanthropic comedian and expects us to feel compassion but only traps us in embarrassment...the movie needn't have been quite as brainless as it is. That took work. First off, Bob Merrill...has supplied a screenplay that originally may have been meant as the outline for a musical. It exhibits a tell-tale disregard for facts and the compulsion to make a dramatically shapeless life fit into a two-act form...Then there's Arthur Hiller, a director who makes intelligent films when the material is right... and terrible ones when the writers fail. Most prominent in the mess is Rod Steiger, who...reads all of his lines with the monotonous sing-song manner used by third-rate nightclub comics doing Fields imitations. He also speaks most of them out of the corner of his mouth as if he'd had a stroke."

Judith Crist Judith Crist (; Klein; May 22, 1922 – August 7, 2012) was an American film critic and academic. She appeared regularly on the '' Today'' show from 1964 to 1973 Martin, Douglas (August 8, 2012)"Judith Crist, Zinging and Influential Film ...

in her ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' review wrote that Steiger as Fields looked "like Van Johnson with a clown nose". ''Time Out London'' calls it a "witless biopic

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

leaps through pseudo-history with cretinous inaccuracy. Sloppily slung together, hell-bent on wringing hearts with the drama of the last, lonely, drink-sodden years, it can't get even the simplest facts straight, and doesn't do much of a job on the tear-jerking either...Steiger makes a brave stab at the part, but the reality and genius of Fields never get a look in." However, ''TV Guide'' awarded it three out of a possible four stars with the comment: "Though the great comedian would have hated this film nd Fields purists undoubtedly will be outraged with the many inaccuracies in it this movie biography...has a certain appeal thanks to Steiger's handling of the lead role...Rather than ape Fields, ecreates his own interpretation of the man, capturing subtle nuances that create a better-rounded character." As of 2021, the film is available on digital video.

References

External links

* * * {{Arthur Hiller 1976 films American biographical drama films 1970s biographical drama films Drama films based on actual events Films set in California Films set in New York City Films set in Mexico Films set in the 1930s Films set in the 1940s Films about filmmaking Films about actors Universal Pictures films Films directed by Arthur Hiller Films scored by Henry Mancini Cultural depictions of W. C. Fields 1976 drama films Biographical films about entertainers 1970s English-language films 1970s American films English-language biographical drama films