Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)

Passed   |    |  Comedy

Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935) Poster

Hard-working, henpecked Ambrose Wolfinger takes off from work to go to a wrestling match with catastrophic consequences.

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  • W.C. Fields, Mary Brian, and Kathleen Howard in Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)
  • Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)
  • Walter Brennan, W.C. Fields, Lew Kelly, and Tammany Young in Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)
  • W.C. Fields and Kathleen Howard in Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)
  • W.C. Fields, Mary Brian, Kathleen Howard, and Grady Sutton in Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)
  • W.C. Fields in Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)

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Reviews & Commentary

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User Reviews
7 June 2001 | rsyung
The Best of Fields
I consider this title, along with "It's A Gift", to be the best work of W.C. Fields entire career. He isn't a carnival huckster or a flim-flam man here...no top hat and double breasted suit. He's just a lower middle-class husband dealing with a lazy brother-in-law, shrewish wife and meddlesome mother-in-law. He's a classic case of what we would call today "passive-aggressive", a brow-beaten man who appears to have given up on asserting himself with his family, deferring to everyone around him, but still managing to do what he wants. I only wish he and Kathleen Howard(playing his wife) had done more than two movies together. They play off of each other wonderfully. So many hilarious set-pieces, but the breakfast table scene, with that "delightful verse by Gertrude Smotten," still ranks as my favorite.

Critic Reviews

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since. Its earliest documented telecast took place in Seattle Monday 13 April 1959 on KIRO (Channel 7); in Grand Rapids it first aired 23 November 1959 on WOOD (Channel 8), in St. Louis 31 December 1959 on KMOX (Channel 4), in Detroit 8 February 1960 on WJBK (Channel 2), in San Francisco 5 March 1960 on KPIX (Channel 5), and in Cleveland 17 September 1960 on WJW (Channel 8). It was released on DVD 20 March 2007 as one of 5 titles in Universal's W.C. Fields Comedy Collection Volume 2 and again 4 June 2013 as one of 10 titles in Universal's W.C. Fields Comedy Favorites Collection; it has also enjoyed an occasional airing on cable TV on Turner Classic Movies.

Quotes

Ambrose Wolfinger: My poor mother-in-law died three days ago. I'm attending her funeral this afternoon.
Ambrose's Secretary: Isn't that terrible, Mr. Wolfinger!
Ambrose Wolfinger: Yes, it's terrible. It's awful. Horrible tragedy.
Ambrose's Secretary: It must be hard to lose your mother-in-law.
Ambrose Wolfinger: Yes it is, very hard. It's almost ...

Goofs

At breakfast, Fields takes several bites from a piece of burnt toast. In the next shot the toast is shown in its original uneaten condition.

Soundtracks

On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away
(1897) (uncredited)
Music and lyrics by Paul Dresser
Sung a cappella by W.C. Fields, Walter Brennan, Tammany Young and Lew Kelly

Storyline

Plot Summary

Genres

Comedy

Details

Release Date:

3 August 1935

Language

English

Country of Origin

USA

Filming Locations

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

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