Man on the Flying Trapeze

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Movie
Original title Man on the Flying Trapeze
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1935
length 65 minutes
Rod
Director Clyde Bruckman ,
WC Fields (anonymous)
script Sam Hardy ,
Ray Harris ,
WC Fields (pseudonym Charles Bogle )
production William LeBaron for
Paramount Pictures
camera Alfred Gilks
cut Richard C. Currier
occupation

Man on the Flying Trapeze is an American comedy film directed by Clyde Bruckman from 1935. The main role is played by WC Fields , who also co-designed the plot of the film with Sam Hardy. The film title alludes to the popular song The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, which is well known in England .

action

Ambrose Wolfinger is a “memory expert” who helps his boss Malloy to know details and anecdotes about his clients. In private life, Wolfinger remarried a few years ago after the death of his first wife so that his daughter Hope could grow up with a mother. His second wife Leona, however, also brought her nasty mother Cordelia and her work-shy brother Claude with them to the family home, who have relied financially for years on Ambrose's income, but who criticize Ambrose at every opportunity.

One night the thieves Willie and Legs break into Ambrose's basement. They get drunk with Ambroses Applejack and in a sentimental mood sing the popular Tin Pan Alley song On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away from 1897. After his wife becomes hysterical, Ambrose takes care of the situation and sings with the intruders and the arrested Policeman Adolph repeated the song. In the end, however, Ambrose himself was briefly imprisoned because he made the Applejack himself without a license. His daughter Hope, who is the only member of his family, pays the bail.

The main plot of the film revolves around the following day when Ambrose wants to visit a wrestling match . Wolfinger would like to have this afternoon off for this, so he explains to Mr. Malloy that his mother-in-law - who is actually a strict abstainer - died as a result of alcohol poisoning. Ambrose's work colleagues learn of the tragic death of his mother-in-law, they send wreaths and devotional cards to his house, and the newspaper also publishes an article about Cordelia's alleged death from alcohol poisoning. The lively Cordelia is at first surprised and finally outraged that her death is reported - especially from alcohol.

Meanwhile, Ambrose makes his way to wrestling, but arrives late due to problems with his outdated car and overzealous traffic cops. In addition, Claude stole Ambrose's first row ticket from his pocket and has long been sitting in the arena. As Ambrose stands in front of the entrance, he is accidentally hit by a wrestler who has just been thrown out of the arena by his opponent. Ambrose's secretary, who happened to be also there, took care of her injured superior. Claude observes this and suspects that Ambrose is having an affair. He runs to his sister and mother and reports that Ambrose was "drunk in the dirt" with his secretary. This and the false news of her mother's death ensure that Leona separates from Ambrose. The always patient and hesitant Claude takes revenge on his impudent brother-in-law and throws him into one of the death wreaths.

Ambrose and Hope move into another apartment. An overzealous office manager made him lose his job after 25 years because of his funeral lie. For Mr. Malloy, however, Ambrose is indispensable, as nobody understands the chaotic and complex sorting system in which he wrote down the information about the clients. Malloy reaches Hope on the phone, who claims her father has an offer from a competing company. Hope negotiates a big raise and four weeks of paid vacation for her father. In the end, Leona also prevails over her insolent relatives and returns to her husband. The film ends with Ambrose driving around in his new car with his daughter and wife, while his brother-in-law and mother-in-law have to stay in the back of the car's emergency seat in the rain .

background

Man on the Flying Trapeze became the final directorial work of longtime Buster Keaton employee and filmmaker Clyde Bruckman . In the middle of the filming, Bruckman was fired because his alcoholism made itself felt during the filming. Fields directed the rest of the filming. Fields had advised on directing decisions on other films, but Man on the Flying Trapeze became his first and only film in which he was an actual director. In the opening credits, however, only Bruckman is named as the director. Fields was also one of the authors of the film under the pseudonym Charles Bogle .

Carlotta Monti (1907–1993), who was Fields' partner for the last 14 years of his life, plays Ambrose's secretary.

Reviews

Andre Sennwald wrote in the New York Times on August 3, 1935 , that Man on the Flying Trapeze was the funniest film for him in recent months and one of the best comedies by Fields to date. You can see the film's favorable production conditions and sometimes funny scenes are played out for too long, but overall Man on the Flying Trapeze is "regularly hilarious". The humor is close to everyday life and "has these overtones of pathos and futility that we Fields lovers recognize as his cynical comments about the world around him."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935) - IMDb. Retrieved April 29, 2020 .
  2. ^ Carlotta Monti at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved April 29, 2020 .
  3. Andre Sennwald: 'The Man on the Flying Trapeze,' With WC Fields, at the Capitol - 'Every Night at Eight.' In: The New York Times . August 3, 1935, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed April 29, 2020]).