It's a Gift

1934 comedy

Rating: 16/20

Plot: A hen-pecked grocery store owner with a bulbous proboscis decides it's prudent to sell it all and move his wife and two kids to California to become orange orchardaires.

Add Tommy Bupp to the list of terrible child acting performances. Did directors tell all 1930s child actors, "Hey, in this scene, I want you to scrunch up your face and scream your lines," or did all children in the 1930s just act that way naturally, something to do with the Great Depression or something? I enjoyed this movie, but it suffers a bit from the same problem that every W.C. Fields movie--there's a flimsy plot, less a plot actually and more of an excuse to just string together some very funny scenes. Ultimately, it doesn't matter a bit because those scenes are very funny. The film's in ten-or-so minute chunks where a situation is set up so that funny stuff happens. Fields' Bissonette has difficulty shaving, locating kumquats and controlling a blind man, sleeping peacefully, getting his car started, and having a picnic. The genius of Fields in this is that the funny comes without overdoing things. It's a stark contrast to the supporting cast (although to be fair, the wife's hamminess is a necessity), Fields subtlety, comic timing, and delivery shining naturally. The one-liners sparkle and the visual gags surprise. It's a Gift is a joke movie, a written comedy, but there is a lot of visual humor, some, I'm positive, that I missed. This is definitely the type of comedy you have to watch and listen to closely. You won't want to miss anything. My favorite moment: "She walked right in front of the car."

Cory's recommendation.