Admirable film.

Absolutely Fantastic

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

W.C. Fields may not be as well-known today as his peers Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton but he was an original American comedic icon and genius. In this film, he plays an aspiring screenwriter with a crazy idea for a film. The screenplay is far more imaginative and zany than anything I've ever seen on film. Anyway, there is the car chase when he takes a woman to the maternity hospital in Hollywood. This film is worth watching just to see Hollywood in 1941. It's totally different than today and that's what makes it's incredible to watch is how the city has changed over 7 decades. Anyway, the car chase is one of the best I've ever seen. Even though it's crazy to watch and you can't help laughing. You know it would never happen today but the car chase at the end is just worth watching especially in 1941. Anyway, this was his last film according to his film biography and it's a shame. W.C. Fields was a genius comedian, juggler, performer, whether on stage, radio or in film. He is still missed. There will never be another like him again.

Your response to "Never Give A Sucker An Even Break" will largely depend on your taste for W. C. Fields and / or surrealism. If you like at least one (or both) of the above, you'll probably be in heaven; if you don't, you probably won't even finish it. The film is both self-deprecating and self-serving; Fields is not afraid to make fun of himself, but it seems like he felt that, at this stage of his career, he didn't even need a script anymore: he could just show up in front of the camera, say some funny lines (his delivery is slower than usual, probably due to health problems), place himself (and others) in a series of inexplicable situations, and the audience would have no choice but to roll around on the floor laughing. This stream-of-consciousness, breaking-of-the-fourth-wall style may seem revolutionary, until you remember that the Marx Brothers had already done that sort of thing 10 years earlier (Groucho talking to the audience in "Horse Feathers", as Chico is about to start playing the piano: "I have to stay here, but there is no reason YOU folks shouldn't go out into the lobby until this thing blows over!"). Speaking of the Marx Brothers, their frequent co-star Margaret Dumont also appears here, but her role is disappointingly small; and the young Gloria Jean, who has a terrific voice but her songs have about as much to do with anything else as....anything else, co-starred with Groucho in his later vehicle "Copacabana". The film does end with a (literal) bang, though: a car chase that features some incredibly dangerous and accomplished stunt driving. **1/2 out of 4.

This was my first view of NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK--and although one can quibble with the long, long title for a breezy comedy of this sort--you can't say the film doesn't provide a number of well-deserved laughs.W.C. FIELDS brings his insanely constructed script to director FRANKLIN PANGBORN who, despite his protestations over the silliness of many of the scenes, keeps reading it. We see the movie-within-the-movie taking shape on the screen and can well understand Pangborn's protests. However, it's insanely funny, especially since the story is peppered with talent like LEON ERROL, MARGARET DUMONT, IRVING BACON and others.GLORIA JEAN is featured prominently as Fields' niece and given plenty of opportunity to show that she had a talented way with operatic ditties. The rehearsal scene with Pangborn as workers continue construction on a set being readied for the next day, leads to some of the funniest moments in the whole story.The film ends with a mad car chase to get what Fields supposes is a pregnant woman to a nearby hospital--hilariously staged with split second timing and some truly dangerous stunts. The chase and various other set pieces, along with all the witty one-liners from Fields delivered in his usual dry manner, are enough to keep you highly amused throughout.

One of the most refreshingly silly films that ever came out of Hollywood. It's just a bit sad to note that it's W.C.'s last, but his acerbic wit and inventiveness is always on display. Note that very funny exchange with him and the over-sized waitress (Jody Gilbert), his foil in timing and delivery. "There's something very big about you." "Why, thank you, my dear". Her retort: "It's your nose!". His sotto voce response, when she turns around and starts cleaning the counter: "There's something very big about YOU, too!" Gloria Jean is sweet as his niece who takes him, foibles and all. Her style is much like Deanna Durbin's (another teen actress/singer of the time), and perhaps she was being groomed to be her rival. Her scenes with the prissy producer (portrayed by prissy actor), Franklin Pangborn, show some normalcy in the midst of the chaos on the set. And anyone who ever thought that the regal Margaret Dumont, the Marx Brothers' favorite comic target, never had a sense of humor, need only see her as Mrs. Hemoglobin, living in a mythical country without men. Made up with a severe hairstyle and Groucho-esquire eyebrows, she allows herself to look and act silly with the best of them, and has fun doing so. If you enjoy Fields (and I always have), as a one-of-a-kind talent - as versatile in drama (ie: "David Copperfield"), as in comedic mayhem, then you're bound to enjoy this film for its sheer silliness as a much-needed stress breaker.