W.C. Fields: Volume 1 and 2

Starring: Elise Cavanna, WC Fields Director: Arthur Ripley, Clyde Bruckman, Leslie Pearce, Monte Brice Dvd Release: 1st February, 2000 Number Of Discs: 2 Format: Box set, Black & White, Dolby, NTSC, Region 0 Encoding

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W C Fields was an American comedian & actor. Fields created one of the great American comic personas of the first half of the 20th century - a misanthrope who teetered on the edge of buffoonery but never quite fell in, an egotist blind to his own failings, a charming drunk & a man who hated children, dogs & women, unless they were the wrong sort of women. Born William Claude Dukenfield, Fields ran away from home at age 11 & entered vaudeville. By age 21 he was traveling as a comedy juggling act, becoming a headliner in both North America & Europe. In 1906 he made his Broadway debut in the musical comedy The Ham Tree, signing with impresario Flo Ziegfeld. Like many vaudevillians, Fields worked in silent films & one-reelers, but he first hit big theatrical fame in 1923 in the Broadway musical Poppy, where he perfected his persona as an oily, failed confidence man.

Arthur Ripley was a film screenwriter, editor, producer & director. In 1923, he joined the Mack Sennett studio as a comedy writer. In the 1920s he worked closly with Frank Capra churning out screenplays for many movies. After breaking with Capra & the Mack Sennett studio, Ripley again returned to being a gag writer, screenwriter & occasional director. His directorial work in the 1940s, Voice in the Wind & The Chase, were both critical successes, but neither film were box office hits. Ripley entered the world of academia, helping to establish the Film Center at UCLA. Ripley returned to directing one more time, at the request of Robert Mitchum, for Thunder Road before returning to UCLA. & working until his death in 1961. Arthur Ripley at the Internet Movie Database

Editors Choice: The Chase, Wc Fields, View DVDology

Clyde A Bruckman, was an American writer & director of comedy films during the late silent era as well as the early sound era of cinema. Bruckman collaborated with such legendary comedians as Buster Keaton, W,C. Fields, Laurel & Hardy, The Three Stooges & Harold Lloyd. Bruckman may be best known for his collaborations with Buster Keaton, as Bruckman co-wrote several of Keatons most popular films, including The General, which Bruckman also co-directed. After years of severe alcoholism & very little work due to having been blackballed from the business, Bruckman took his own life in Hollywood, California with a pistol he had borrowed from Buster Keaton. Some reports claim he ended his life in the bathroom of a cafe on Santa Monica Boulevard after failing to pay for a meal, while others claim he was in a nearby phone booth.

Editors Choice: Wc Fields, View DVDology

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