Review of The Bank Dick (1940) by Nikolus Z — 10 Nov 2009

This is the only Fields film I've seen, and I won't be rushing for more. The gags are not amusing, let alone funny; Fields' delivery is awkward in the extreme; the pacing is bizarre; and the film is but a string of non-sequiturs seemingly without purpose.

Worse than all that is the utterly unforgivable black stereotype, an oafish man in the bank portrayed as dull-witted for the sake of white laughter. Similarly, the "penny-pincher" bankers are referred to as "Shylocks;" I don't know if they were meant to be Jewish (I don't believe the actors themselves were), but that's quite offensive as well.

I cannot understand why this is a film that has maintained its popularity over time. I would be content with relegating it to history. It has nothing to offer that I can see, and certainly nothing so great to convince us to overlook the aforementioned regrettable anecdotes.

My understanding is that Fields was thinner and less of a drunk in his younger years. Perhaps he was also a more vital artist, justifying his sometimes-association with the likes of Chaplin and Keaton, two filmmakers I adore. Yet if this is the film that is canonically considered his defining statement, somehow I doubt that.