The Inspired, Sketchy Anarchy of W.C. Field's "The Bank Dick"

W.C. Fields seems to be aware at times that he's starring in a movie throughout The Bank Dick. He's so mannered that he stands in stark contrast to every actor around him. While everyone is a prim and proper 1940's, Leave It To Beaver type, Field's Egbert Sousé makes good on his name (well the mispronounced version of it anyway) by constantly getting himself good and drunk. He mumbles nearly every line and makes quips that seem to be solely for the enjoyment of himself (and the audience). Fields, who got his start during the silent era, (and the film in general) is taking so many cues from vaudeville (In this way, he's part of the same generation as the Marx brothers). He bumbles his way through one loosely sketched scene and sight gag after another with the hope of making us laugh as much as possible. At times the film feels like a live-action cartoon (complete with a sound track that has heightened sound effects that could have appeared in an old Looney Tunes short).

It's not really worth getting into the plot into much detail as it falls apart if you think too much on it. Field's accidentally lands himself a job as a bank guard (a "bank dick"). He proceeds to get drunk and well-intentioned-ly embezzles money for an outside investment. The bank inspector, of course, appears to make this simple plan become a complicated mess of slapstick and desperate acts of cover up and misdirect.

It's a thinly put together thing that would be a curio if it weren't for Field's outstanding performance -- one that recalls many earlier, well-established performances of Field's as a drunken, henpecked husband. Field's would never be able to get away with his anarchic caricature in a later era of film, but that's what makes it so entertaining. It's not a film so much as every idea floating around Field's head at that time. It's a mess, but a very fun one. 

Grade: B