That’s a gift
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | That’s a gift |
| Original title | It's a poison |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1934 |
| length | 73 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Norman Z. McLeod |
| script |
Jack Cunningham , WC Fields |
| production | William LeBaron |
| music | John Leipold |
| camera | Henry Sharp |
| occupation | |
| |
This is a gift is an American comedy film from 1934 by Norman Z. McLeod . The script was based on a story by the main actor WC Fields and the play The Comic Supplement by JP McEvoy. The film premiered on November 30, 1934. In Germany, the film was broadcast on December 31, 1971 in the original version with German subtitles in the third program of the NDR .
action
Harold Bissonette is a shop owner in New Jersey . He suffers from his family: his contentious wife Amelia is the ruler of the house, his son Norman is an unbearable disgust and the teenage daughter Mildred is madly in love. With the help of Mildred's friend John Durston, Harold buys an orange plantation in California for $ 5,000 . However, he does not tell his wife about it.
Harold is getting more and more frustrated because he is really unsuitable as a business owner. In addition to the various small accidents that happen in the shop, his wife is always nagging at night. So Harold seeks his rest on the balcony. But noisy neighbors, annoying children, greasy insurance agents and the milkman keep him awake. Meanwhile, John finds out that the plantation he bought is a failure, as no oranges can grow there. But Harold doesn't want to believe him. He and his family, including the family dog, set off for California, where the journey is repeatedly interrupted by minor disasters.
The new property turns out to be a shabby shack in the middle of a wasteland full of dust and weeds. Angry Amelia leaves Harold on foot with her children. At this moment, neighbor Charles Abernathy drives up. He tells Harold that two railroad owners are planning to buy the land for $ 25,000. Amelia urges Harold to accept the offer, but her husband holds up the two businessmen for $ 44,000 plus a good orange plantation. Finally, Harold is the owner of the bluebird plantation. Now he can enjoy a quiet life while his wife and children work for the church.
Reviews
Andre Sennwald of the New York Times wrote when the film was released that the “best comedy film on Broadway” was a “journeyman piece” that “adequately satisfies” its audience. The criticism in the Variety , however, was cautious. The film has "no plot, no tension". The load of jokes below the belt is for people who like that kind of humor.
The film is recognized by today's critics as one of Fields' best works. For the TimeOut film guide , the film is a "masterpiece". The "relentless pace" makes the film "effortlessly the most destructive comedy of the 1930s". Richard Schickel wrote that the film was worth seeing despite the weaknesses in the staging, as it offered a sequence of the best gags of WC Fields in his unmistakably minimalist comic style. The lexicon of international films describes the film as a comedy "with many satirical swipes at petty bourgeois life."
background
The musical group Avalon Boys appearing in the film was a real band. The band included Chill Wills , who made his film debut here, Don Brookins, Art Green and Walter Trask.
Born in Germany, Hans Dreier was the production designer for the film together with John B. Goodman. The final scene of the film on the new orange plantation was filmed on the WC Fields property in Encino .
The play on which the film is based was filmed in 1924 by A. Edward Sutherland under the title It's the Old Army Game . Again, WC Fields played the main role. Fields wrote the story under the pen name Charles Bogle. Some scenes in the film include skits that Fields played back in his days as a vaudeville actor.
The film is one of 700 Paramount Pictures productions shot between 1929 and 1949, the television rights of which were sold to Universal Pictures in 1958 .
Awards
In 2010, Das ist vorschlag was already the third comedy with WC Fields to be included in the National Film Registry as a particularly well-preserved American film . In the same year, the film was also voted one of the top 100 films of all time by Time magazine . Will also This is given at the American Film Institute ranked 58 of the 100 best American comedies of all time listed.
Web links
- This is given in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E05E7DF113EE53ABC4D53DFB766838E629EDE
- ↑ It's a Gift. In: Variety . Retrieved July 28, 2019 .
- ↑ https://www.timeout.com/london/film/its-a-gift
- ↑ a b This is a gift from Time Magazine
- ↑ It's a gift. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed July 28, 2019 .
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025318/trivia
- ↑ Jeff Stafford: It's a Gift (1934) - Articles. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved July 28, 2019 .
- ↑ Library of Congress press release , December 28, 2010 (accessed January 1, 2011).