“When I was in college, the great W.C. Fields was venerated as a comedian equal to the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy. His puncturing of pomposity and love of intoxicants endeared him to the anti-establishment youth culture. In the intervening years, like all early twentieth-century celebrities, Fields has fallen into not so much disrepute as irrelevance. Nonetheless, many of his early talkies are among the most hilarious films ever made. It's a Gift, a semi-remake of the silent It's the Old Army Game outfitted with memorable re-creations of numerous classic vaudeville routines, may be the best of them. It is savagely, and sadly, funny.”
– Joe Dante
Considered by critics and fans to be one of W.C. Fields's finest films (if not his best), It's a Gift showcases his adroitness as a physical comedian in the laugh-out-loud story of a henpecked New Jersey grocer with plans to use his inheritance to buy an orange grove in California.
Presented as a series of set pieces, the film follows Fields as an Everyman who is hilariously thwarted in his attempts to simply get through the day. A morning shave becomes a cleverly choreographed routine when his daughter uses the bathroom to freshen up. At the grocery store, he is pulled between a man demanding kumquats, a mischievous toddler and a blind customer whose cane wreaks havoc. And an attempt to get a little shut-eye on the porch is beset by a side-splitting array of interruptions, including falling objects, squeaky clotheslines and an overly eager insurance salesman. Then there's the trip to California! Throughout it all, he is harangued by his wife (brilliantly played by Kathleen Howard), with each of her complaints funnier than the last.
It's a Gift combines Fields's top-notch physical humour with his numerous zingy retorts and asides. Director Norman McLeod wisely allows the comedian's talents to take centre stage, resulting in an uproariously funny film from start to finish that ranks as one of the great classic American comedies.
Allen Braude
Joe Dante attended the Philadelphia College of Art and worked as a film reviewer before starting an apprenticeship as a trailer editor for Roger Corman's New World Pictures. He made his directorial debut in 1976 with
Hollywood Boulevard, which he co-directed with Allan Arkush. His extensive filmography includes
Piranha (78),
Gremlins (84),
Innerspace (87),
Matinee (93),
Small Soldiers (98) and
The Hole (09).