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The Fatal Glass of Beer

  • 1933
  • Passed
  • 18m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
2K
YOUR RATING
W.C. Fields in The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933)
Classical WesternParodyComedyShortWestern

The prodigal son of a Yukon prospector comes home on a night that "ain't fit for man nor beast."The prodigal son of a Yukon prospector comes home on a night that "ain't fit for man nor beast."The prodigal son of a Yukon prospector comes home on a night that "ain't fit for man nor beast."

  • Director
    • Clyde Bruckman
  • Writer
    • W.C. Fields
  • Stars
    • W.C. Fields
    • Rosemary Theby
    • George Chandler
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Clyde Bruckman
    • Writer
      • W.C. Fields
    • Stars
      • W.C. Fields
      • Rosemary Theby
      • George Chandler
    • 31User reviews
    • 11Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos15

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    Top cast13

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    W.C. Fields
    W.C. Fields
    • Pa Snavely
    Rosemary Theby
    Rosemary Theby
    • Ma Snavely
    George Chandler
    George Chandler
    • Chester Snavely - Their Son
    Richard Cramer
    Richard Cramer
    • Officer Posthlewhistle
    • (as Rychard Cramer)
    Ernie Alexander
    • Student Drinker
    • (uncredited)
    Balto
    • Siberian Husky
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Cooper
    • Officer
    • (uncredited)
    Gordon Douglas
    Gordon Douglas
    • Student Drinker
    • (uncredited)
    Junior Fuller
    • Student Drinker
    • (uncredited)
    Marvin Loback
    • Bartender
    • (uncredited)
    George Moran
    George Moran
    • Indian Chief
    • (uncredited)
    Artie Ortego
    Artie Ortego
    • Indian Chief
    • (uncredited)
    Ted Stroback
    • Student Drinker
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Clyde Bruckman
    • Writer
      • W.C. Fields
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews31

    6.61.9K
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    Featured reviews

    6ackstasis

    "I think I'll go milk the elk"

    They say that W.C. Fields was unique among comedians, and I'm not going to argue. 'The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933),' generally ranked among his best efforts, wasn't as consistently hilarious as I'd been hoping, but one does certainly recognise that Fields had a style that was all his own. The film opens in the frozen Yukon goldfields, where a prospector sits huddled in the primitive shelter of a wooden hut – I immediately thought of Chaplin in 'The Gold Rush (1925),' but then the characters started speaking and the spell was broken. The loose plot concerns a simpleton prospector whose son travelled to the city and was consumed by the bottle, eventually winding up in prison for three years. It all unfolds in mock seriousness, with every character shamelessly hamming their lines to the camera in broad, ridiculous accents. From Fields' apparent contempt for his own storyline, I'd say he was satirising a type of film that was relatively common in the early sound era, the sort of sombre morality tale about the corruption of the Big City on impressionable rural minds.

    Perhaps Fields' type of comedy takes some getting used to, and his absurdist style of wit might easily be misconstrued as sloppy or stilted. Are those rear projections supposed to look so ridiculously fake? I'd like to think so, but, then again, I've seen many movies where obviously-bogus backgrounds have been used with a completely straight face. A lot of the time, Fields' lack of subtlety works perfectly. There's absolutely no reason why getting hit in the face with snow after saying "and it ain't a fit night out for man nor beast" should be funny the sixth time around, but I laughed every time it happened. There's also a droll self-referential moment when Fields chokes on the artificial snow and declares, "tastes more like cornflakes." Even so, while good for the occasional chuckle, 'The Fatal Glass of Beer' feels oddly sparse in terms of laugh-out-loud jokes, and I certainly wasn't rolling in the aisles. Straight afterwards, I watched Buster Keaton's 'Cops (1922),' and that actually did have me laughing my head off – but that'd be opening a whole new can of worms, wouldn't it?
    9onepotato2

    I think I'll go out and milk the elk...

    I first saw this send-up of "the prodigal son" in a film course. I think my teacher and I were the only 2 people laughing. I was astonished that a film that looks like it was filmed in a garage could make my face hurt. It has a wonderfully screwy story arc, and corny gags. It's all over the place and ends abruptly, but I love it.

    The Vaudeville origins of some corny bits (the snow gag) amuse. Other motifs of the period are not worthy of inclusion, but what little writing there is makes me laugh as hard as anything recent. Fields' hogwash title ditty is pretty terrific. I especially love a few of the sight gags, including a runt of a dog on a sled team, a leggy salvation army gal, and W.C. calling for Lena the elk. The sound quality is heinous, but the arbitrary scene changes relieve some of the tedium and claustrophobia of other Fields shorts (The Golf Specialist).

    It mocks everything in sight; staginess, melodrama, piety, propriety, actors who mispronounce words. I don't know that there any other 18 minutes of film make me smile as much as this ridiculous little movie.
    10Rambler

    A misunderstood classic

    When this film was released in 1933, the majority of reviews were negative and even hostile. The film was hated and vilified; audiences and theatre owners found it tacky and cheap. They missed the whole point. The film is a sharp satire of both the Mellerdrammers of the early twentieth century and of studio filmmaking. Fields and Bruckman were too incisive as comics not to have done everything in this film very deliberately. From the overly obvious sets to the absolute WORST background projection ever seen, the film is a sly poke in Hollywood's eye and that's where its humor comes from. I just about wet myself the first time I saw Fields go out to "milk the elk". He stands in front of a background projection of elk in the snow and begins calling to them. When they start to run, they grow larger and larger, dwarfing the non-plussed Fields. Sadly, since this is a public domain title, it's hard to find a good copy of it. About the best I've seen is on the "6 Films by W.C. Fields" LD or DVD
    10bobl-2

    Fields at his best

    I grew up during the '60s, when Fields was in vogue as a rebel along the lines of Bogart or Brando. Nevertheless, I didn't find myself laughing nearly as much at his feature films "The Bank Dick", "My Little Chickadee", or "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" as at those of Keaton or the Marx Brothers. It wasn't until the '90s that I happened across this short, which finally convinced me that Fields was a comic genius.

    With its absurd juxtaposition of dulcimer, Mountie, Salvation Army girl, wayward son, snow, tambourine, dachshund, bonds, the Yukon, student quarrymen, and unfit nights, this short has more laughs in it than any of Fields's features.

    I'd say more, but I have to go milk the elk.
    10llltdesq

    An absolute gem and delightful to watch

    This is quite possibly the crown jewel in the long and illustrious career of an extremely troubled and very funny man. Fields has a field day sending up a style of melodrama popular at the time. At one and the same time, this is atypical of Fields' work generally, but still has his fingerprints all over it as well. Highlights are far too numerous to list, but Fields's rendition of the song, "The Fatal Glass of Beer" (you can't really accurately call it singing), the running gag, "It ain't a fit night out for man or beast" and the ending are hilariously perfect, with a sense of timing of which Chaplin would have been proud. Most joyously recommended

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Here are the lyrics to the song:

      There was once a poor boy And he left his country home And he came to the city to look for work

      He promised his ma and pa He would lead a civilized life And always shun the fatal curse of drink

      Once in the city He got a situation in a quarry And there he made the acquaintance of some college students

      He little thought they were demons For they wore the best of clothes But the clothes do not always make the gentleman

      So they tempted him to drink And they said he was a cow'rd Until at last he took the fatal glass of beer

      When he found what he'd done He dashed the glass upon the floor And he staggered through the door with delirium tremens

      Once upon the sidewalk He met a Salvation Army girl And wickedly he broke her tambourine

      All she said was, "Heaven bless you" And placed a mark upon his brow With a kick she'd learned before she had been saved

      Now, as a moral to young men Who come down to the city Don't go 'round breaking people's tambourines.
    • Quotes

      [repeated line]

      Pa Snavely: And it ain't a fit night out for man or beast.

      [a gust of wind blows a blast of snow into his face]

    • Connections
      Edited into W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films (2000)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 3, 1933 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • It Ain't a Fit Night Out for Man or Beast
    • Production company
      • Mack Sennett Comedies
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      18 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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