My Little Chickadee (1940)

Director:

Edward F. Cline

Writers:

Mae West (screenplay) and
W.C. Fields (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 March 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Western

Tagline:

It's the lafftime of a lifetime ! . . as "Wild Bill" Fields tries to tame the West!

Plot:

Rightly suspected of illicit relations with the Masked Bandit, Flower Belle Lee is run out of Little Bend...

Plot Keywords:

Bar | Train | Bandit | Masked Bandit | Sheriff

Cast

Mae West	...	Flower Belle Lee
W.C. Fields	...	Cuthbert J. Twillie
Joseph Calleia	...	Jeff Badger
Dick Foran	...	Wayne Carter
Ruth Donnelly	...	Aunt Lou
Margaret Hamilton	...	Mrs. Gideon
Donald Meek	...	Amos Budge
Fuzzy Knight	...	Cousin Zeb
Willard Robertson	...	Uncle John
George Moran	...	Milton, Twillie's Indian confederate
Jackie Searl	...	Schoolboy (as Jack Searl)
Fay Adler	...	Mrs. 'Pygmy' Allen
Gene Austin	...	Saloon musician
Russell Hall	...	Candy
Otto Heimel	...	Coco
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Coco and Candy	...	Themselves
Mark Anthony	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Hank Bell	...	Townsman (uncredited)
William 'Billy' Benedict	...	Lem (uncredited)
Georgie Billings	...	Boy (uncredited)
Wade Boteler	...	Leading citizen (uncredited)
Al Bridge	...	Barfly drinking straight whiskey (uncredited)
Harlan Briggs	...	Hotel clerk (uncredited)
Bob Burns	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Eddie Butler	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Lane Chandler	...	Porter (uncredited)
Lita Chevret	...	Indian squaw (uncredited)
Bing Conley	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Jimmy Conlin	...	Squawk Mulligan, bartender (uncredited)
Jeff Conlon	...	Man (uncredited)
William B. Davidson	...	Sheriff of Little Bend (uncredited)
Clyde Dembeck	...	Boy on train (uncredited)
Jan Duggan	...	Uppity Little Bend woman (uncredited)
Frank Ellis	...	Townsman wanting to form posse (uncredited)
Al Ferguson	...	Train passenger (uncredited)
Chester Gan	...	Chinese train passenger (uncredited)
Slim Gaut	...	Bowlegged man (uncredited)
Ben Hall	...	Schoolboy (uncredited)
Buddy Harris	...	Porter (uncredited)
Charles Hart	...	Schoolboy (uncredited)
Edward Hearn	...	Barfly drinking Panther (uncredited)
Otto Hoffman	...	Pete, printer (uncredited)
Lloyd Ingraham	...	Townsman wanting to form posse (uncredited)
Danny Jackson	...	Schoolboy (uncredited)
Si Jenks	...	Deputy (uncredited)
John Kelly	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Walter McGrail	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Robert McKenzie	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Charles McMurphy	...	Townsman (uncredited)
George Melford	...	Greasewood sheriff-elect on train (uncredited)
James C. Morton	...	Train conductor (uncredited)
Anne Nagel	...	Miss Foster, schoolteacher (uncredited)
Vester Pegg	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Bob Reeves	...	Barfly (uncredited)
Addison Richards	...	Judge (uncredited)
Betty Roche	...	Salvation Army girl (uncredited)
Jack Roper	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Dick Rush	...	Man (uncredited)
Buster Slaven	...	Schoolboy (uncredited)
Dorothy Vernon	...	Diner (uncredited)
Morgan Wallace	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Blackie Whiteford	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Joe Whitehead	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Bill Wolfe	...	Barfly in trance (uncredited)

Directed by
Edward F. Cline

Writing credits
Mae West		(screenplay) and
W.C. Fields		(screenplay)

Produced by
Lester Cowan	....	producer
Jack J. Gross	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Frank Skinner

Cinematography by
Joseph A. Valentine		(as Joseph Valentine)

Film Editing by
Edward Curtiss

Art Direction by
Martin Obzina
Jack Otterson

Set Decoration by
Russell A. Gausman		(as R.A. Gausman)

Costume Design by
Vera West		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Joseph A. McDonough	....	assistant director
Ray Taylor	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Martin Obzina	....	associate art director

Sound Department
Bernard B. Brown	....	sound supervisor
Joe Lapis	....	sound technician (as Joseph Lapis)

Special Effects by
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)
James V. King	....	special photographic effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
James V. King	....	special process cameraman (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Paul Landres	....	consulting editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Charles Previn	....	musical director

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1940) (USA) (theatrical)
• Realart Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)

Also Known As:

The Lady and the Bandit (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2005) | USA:Approved (certificate #6029)

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Dick Foran, who was being paid by the week, would go to Mae West and tell her that W.C. Fields was rewriting his lines to give himself more screen time and to try to steal the film from her. Then he would go to Fields and tell him the same thing about West. In this manner he was able to extend his employment from a few weeks to several months, as both Fields and West - who didn't like each other - would hold up production while they would rewrite their scenes.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the end, Flower Belle is going up the stairs and her wedding ring is visible on her hand underneath her gloves. Then at the top of the stairs, she goes to give Cuthbert the ring back and it is in her purse.

Quotes:

[last lines - each saying a line associated with the other]
Cuthbert J. Twillie: If you get up around the Grampian Hills - why don't you come up and see me sometime?
Flower Belle Lee: Ah, yeah, yeah, I'll do that, my little chickadee.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Trading Partners (1984)

Soundtrack:

Willie of the Valley

Fun Fields and West Comedy Pairing

I love this little gem of a movie. It has two of the great stars of the early cinema, W.C. Fields and Mae West.

Fields is hilarious in his role as con man/card shark Cuthbert J. Twillie, who meets Flower Belle Lee (Miss West's character) on a train bound for Greasewood, a town that is ran by corrupt saloon owner Jeff Badger (Joseph Calleia). Flower Belle was ran out of her previous town and cannot return until she is married and a respectful woman, i.e., not promiscuous. She marries Cuthbert just to give her some respectability and it's hilarious to watch Fields pathetic attempts to try to be with his unwilling bride.

Of course, since this a Mae West film (both she and Fields wrote the screenplay) there are several funny double entendres in the film and Mae gets to sing a song, Willie of the Valley. I love both Mae West and W.C. Fields...they were both legends and I really wish they would have made another film together. The Hollywood rumor mill had it that they actually couldn't stand each other off screen, but if this is true, and I tend to believe that their feud was exaggerated for publicity purposes, you could not tell it by their performances. They had terrific on screen chemistry together.

"My Little Chickadee" is a fun film all the way around.