classicsoncall At the risk of offending W.C. Fields' many fans, I just didn't care very much for this film or find it all that funny. I guess that's because of the repetition involved in many of the scenes like the shaving bit, the kumquat guy, the blind man knocking stuff over and that slow, stair-descending coconut that managed to extend a quick gag into an eight minute routine. After 'getting it' the first time I find the repeats a time waster and start to lose concentration. The character of wife Amelia (Kathleen Howard) was also a downer with her incessant nagging, although I could identify with Harold's (Fields) reaction because I wind up doing that myself when I can no longer take it. I haven't seen many of Fields' films, in fact this is the first in a long time so I have to get back up to speed on his comedy. I don't mind the curmudgeon aspect to his character if the situation frames it in a comical way, so I guess I'll just have to move on to the next flick.Does anyone buy kumquats anymore?

LeonLouisRicci Considered One of the Best, If Not The Best of Fields Films. It is a Comedy of Annoyance and W.C. Never Really Gets Aggravated Despite the World Conspiring Against Him. It is a Lesson in Tolerance and Restraint. Fields Never Lets the Situation or the Onslaught of Circumstance Get to Him. He Maintains Self-Respect While Never Achieving Any of That from the People in His Life.A Blind Man Who Shows No Regard for Anything but Himself (he orders a pack of gum and can't be bothered to take it with him, he wants it delivered, Fields delivers), a Nagging Wife Who Never Stops Insulting Him, Calling Him an idiot and Berating His Very Being ("you've gotten mighty familiar with the upstairs neighbor."), or His Self-Involved children (the daughter commandeering the bathroom mirror, or the son leaving his roller skate at the top of the stairs).None of This Phases W.C. in the Slightest. He Continues to Pursue His Dream of an Orange Orchard. The Movie is a Non-Stop Set-Piece for Fields to Showcase His Athletic and Acrobatic Gracefulness and His Dry Wit While it Continues to Rain On Top of Him. There is Some Subtle Underlying Commentary. With WWI and its Onslaught on Humanity Still Very Much in the Public Mind, Fields Opening a Can of Tomatoes with an Axe, "I'll show you how we did it in the Army.", and the can of tomatoes explodes all over his white shirt. Many Famous W.C. Comedy Bits are Present Here, Carl LaFong, the Back Porch Swing, and the Aforementioned Blind Man Sequence. It's Truly a Comedy Masterpiece and Holds Up Very Well Today. The Ending is Unexpectedly Poignant. After the Old Car that traveled across country collapses, Fields Mutters Under His Breath. "Well at least it got us here."That Sums Up the Likability of W.C. Fields, Forever Forgiving in the Era of the Depression. He Survives and is Grateful for His Gin and Orange Juice as the Family Goes Off to do Some Shopping. He Waves and Smiles.

mark.waltz If you put yourself in W.C. Fields' shoes, you'll find many of the predicaments he goes through more believable seeing them through his eyes. He starts his day with his obnoxiously selfish family, continues it with a bad day at work, and concludes it at home with more frustration than the first two parts of his day put together. The film then moves on as the family finds adventure on the road that would drive a tea totaler to drink.The premise of the film surrounds a dead relative's bequest to Fields who buys an orange grove in California. Unfortunately, these oranges end up being the size of grapes. Sour grapes for Field's harpy wife Katherine Howard who spends the entire film nagging Fields into an early alcoholic grave. Obnoxious neighbors, customers and assorted others help annoy Fields in hysterically funny ways that remain identifiable with audiences today and are among film comedy's classic moments.Try not to laugh as Fields deals with an irate customer demanding 10 pounds of cumquat's and a blind man in the store near a display of light bulbs. Baby LeRoy is also on hand in a top-billed but basically minor role as the child of one of the neighbors. The scene where Fields tries to avoid his nagging wife by sleeping outside on a swing is also classic. This is the type of film that will make you attempt to be less obtrusive to people around you lest you become like the man annoying Fields looking for someone named Carl LaFong. (Big L-Small A, Big F...you get my drift....)

Petri Pelkonen Harold Bissonette (pronounced bis-on-ay) is a grocery owner who battles with a shrewish wife, and incompetent assistant and assorted annoying children, customers and salesmen.Then he decides to drive off to California and run an orange grove.It's a Gift from 1934 is directed by Norman Z. McLeod.It represents W.C. Fields at his best.He has a great supporting cast as well.Kathleen Howard plays his wife Amelia.Once blacklisted, now 94 year old Jean Rouverol plays his daughter Mildred.Tom Bupp is Norman.Julian Madison plays John Durston.Fields' regular Tammany Young portrays his inept grocery store helper Everett Ricks.Morgan Wallace is Jasper Fitchmueller, who wants to buy cumquats.Charles Sellon is the blind, hard-of-hearing Mr. Muckle.Chill Wills is Campfire Singer.Jane Withers is Little Girl Playing Hopscotch.This is a great example of how a good comedy should look like.This movie is a slapstick feast from the beginning till the end.And it really takes off when Fields takes a trip to California.Everything goes wrong during their drive.They go to a park to have a picnic, which happens to be a private area.Fields knocks off a statue and he fights with the dog over a pillow.The feathers go all over the place, the feathers that belonged to Mrs. Fields' mother.And then follows one of the funniest lines in this movie, which goes; "Never knew your mother had feathers".When they finally get to the "orange grove" it turns out to contain only a tumbledown shack and a tumbleweed.Maybe a grandstand for a racetrack could safe the situation.Also some hilarious stuff in this movie is when the blind man causes damage in the store.And when Fields tries to get some sleep on the porch but finds it impossible to do.It's a Gift is a real treat for comedy fans.