My Little Chickadee (4 Stars)

"My Little Chickadee" is an amusing little comedy, more enjoyable than most of the Mae West films I’ve seen. It’s also my first experience of W. C. Fields in a film, although I already knew something about his comic persona. The story is really just an excuse to throw the two stars together and let them do their respective routines, but that’s quite enough for a film this lightweight.

Mae West is particularly good. She plays Flower Belle Lee as a woman who seems completely untroubled by anything that happens around her. My favourite scene is the attack by the Indians on the train. Flower Belle picks up a couple of guns and starts shooting with astonishing accuracy, while everybody else is in a panic. It’s played completely straight, which makes her effortless marksmanship even funnier. The fact that she’s apparently kissing a masked bandit later in the film is another wonderfully silly touch. How exactly are you supposed to kiss somebody through a mask?

Fields provides a nice contrast to West. His blustering, pompous, slightly disreputable character is very different from her cool self-confidence, and putting the two together gives the film much more variety than a typical Mae West vehicle. I particularly enjoyed watching them bounce off each other, even though I wouldn’t say the film gives either of them a particularly memorable story.

Overall, "My Little Chickadee" is a pleasant, old-fashioned comedy that kept me amused for 90 minutes. I doubt I’ll watch it again, but I don't regret watching it. I’m glad I finally saw a W. C. Fields film, and Mae West and Fields make an entertaining team.

Did someone say lobby cards?