Poppy (1936 film)

Poppy is a 1936 comedy film starring W. C. Fields and Rochelle Hudson. The film was based on a 1923 stage revue of the same name starring Fields and Madge Kennedy. This was the second film version of the revue, following Sally of the Sawdust in 1925 with Carol Dempster in the title role and which also starred Fields.[1][2]

Poppy
Directed byA. Edward Sutherland
Produced byPaul Jones
William LeBaron
Written byWaldemar Young
Virginia Van Upp
Based onPoppy
by Dorothy Donnelly
StarringW. C. Fields
Rochelle Hudson
Richard Cromwell
Catherine Doucet
Music byFriedrich Hollaender
CinematographyWilliam C. Mellor
Edited byStuart Heisler
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
June 17, 1936
Running time
73 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Eustace McGargle (Fields), a con artist, snake oil salesman and exponent of the shell game, tries to escape the sheriff while taking care of his beloved adopted daughter, Poppy (Hudson), who after pretending to be an heiress to win an inheritance, turns out to really be an heiress.[3]

Cast

Production

At the time of filming, Fields was suffering the effects of his heavy drinking, together with attempts to stop drinking. He injured his back during the making of the film. These factors mean that Fields was not able to give his best performance.[4] Fields was ill during the production, and a fairly obvious double was used in several scenes requiring physical exertion. He still managed a memorable performance, including these well-known lines spoken to his daughter Poppy (Hudson):

  • "What a gorgeous day... what effulgent sunshine... effulgent sunshine, yes... 'twas a day of this sort, the McGillicuddy brothers murdered their mother with an axe!"
  • "And if we should ever separate, my little plum, I want to give you just one bit of fatherly advice: Never give a sucker an even break!"

Critical reaction

On its release, The New York Times called it a "glorious victory" for Fields and comedy, while conceding that the scenes without Fields were "painfully frail" and would provoke some squirming and eye-rolling.[5] Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene gave the film a good review commenting that for this film "Mr Fields has never acted better." Comparing Fields' characterization to that of Charlie Chaplin's characterizations in his own films, Greene notes that Fields "wins our hearts not by a display of Chaplin sentiment, not by class solidarity (he robs the poor as promptly as the rich), but simply by the completeness of his dishonesty".[6]

More recently, The Age of Comedy was unimpressed, finding the film uninteresting and over-serious apart from Fields' presence, and Fields not at his best.[4]

Accolades

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

References
  1. Slide, Anthony (2012). The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 178.
  2. Menefee, David W. The First Female Stars: Women of the Silent Era.
  3. Bordman, Gerald (2001). American Musical Theater:A Chronicle. Oxford UP. p. 428.
  4. "Poppy". The Age of Comedy. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  5. Nugent, Frank S (June 18, 1936). "Movie Review: Poppy (1936)". New York Times.
  6. Greene, Graham (17 July 1936). "Poppy/Living Dangerously/Charlie Chan at the Circus". The Spectator. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. pp. 87–88. ISBN 0192812866.)
  7. "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-07-30.
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