You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
(1939, 1h 16min, NR)
7.1
(1939, 1h 16min, NR)7.1

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man

(1939, 1h 16min, NR)

(1939, 1h 16min, NR)
7.1

7.1

WHERE TO WATCH

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WHERE TO WATCH

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Add this title to your Watchlist and we will let you know when it is available on one of your preferred services.

Genre

Comedy, Family, Old movies

Synopsis

In his starring film for Universal Pictures, W.C. Fields plays circus manager and all-around flim flam man Larson E. Whipsnade. When he's not trying to fleece the customers or elude the sheriff, Whipsnade busys himself trying to break up the romance between his daughter Vicky (Constance Moore) and carnival ventriloquist Edgar Bergen (playing himself). He also carries on a running feud with Bergen's nattily attired dummy Charlie McCarthy ("I'll slash you into venetian blinds!"). Bergen's other dummy is Mortimer Snerd, who occasionally comments upon the action in his own thickheaded fashion. Anxious to arrange a marriage between Vicki and the wealthy Roger Bel-Goodie III (James Bush), Whipsnade disposes of Bergen and his dummies by sending them aloft in a hot-air baloon. Attending a party at the Bel-Goodie mansion, Whipsnade makes a pest of himself by constantly referring to snakes, a subject that invariably causes Mrs. Bel-Goodie (Mary Forbes) to swoon. He also engages in a zany ping-pong tournament with socialite Ronnie (Ivan Lebedeff). But it is Vicki, and not Whipsnade, who breaks up the engagement by telling off her pompous fiance. At that very instant, Bergen, having escaped from the balloon, arrives to claim Vicki and to help Whipsnade escape the sheriff once more. A partial remake of the W.C. Fields silent Two Flaming Youths, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man was scripted by Fields under the pseudonym "Charles Bogle." As published in the 1973 compendium W.C. Fields by Himself, the original screenplay was to have had dramatic overtones, including the death of Fields' trapeze-artist wife and a climactic soul-baring scene wherein Fields expresses his genuine love for his daughter. All this was jettisoned when it was decided to capitalize on the Fields-Charlie McCarthy "feud" then blazing on radio's Chase and Sanborn Show. While nowhere near as funny as Fields' subsequent Universal feature The Bank Dick, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man still contains a generous supply of laughs. Our favorite line: "Somebody's taken the cork out of my lunch."

Cast

Larson E. Whipsnade

W.C. Fields

The Great Edgar

Edgar Bergen

Victoria Whipsnade

Constance Moore

Cheerful

Eddie Anderson

Phineas Whipsnade

John Arledge

Mrs. Bel-Goodie

Mary Forbes

Roger Bel-Goodie

James Bush

Mr. Archibald Bel-Goodie

Thurston Hall

Phineas Whipsnade

John Arledge

Corbett

Edward Brophy

Burr

Arthur Hohl

Chester Dalrymple

Grady Sutton

Deputy Sheriff

Ferris Taylor

Blacaman - The Lion Tamer

Blacaman

By Himself

Mortimer Snerd

Ronnie

Ivan Lebedeff

Jailer

Irving Bacon

Eddie - Circus Attendant

Ernie Adams

Cop

Eddie Dunn

1st Debutante

Dorothy Arnold

Cop

Frank O'Connor

Wedding Guest

Lulu Mae Bohrman

Mrs. Sludge

Jan Duggan

Wedding Guest

Ralph Brooks

Judge

James C. Morton

Highway Patrol Officer

Eddy Chandler

Boy with Candy Cane

Walter Tetley

Woman

Dora Clement

Little Girl Who Cries

Evelyn Del Rio

Boy in Bleachers

Delmar Watson

Riding Master

Jack Rube Clifford

Mayor

Lloyd Ingraham

Little Boy

Richard Clucas

Man at Window

David Oliver

Robinson - Bel-Goodie's Butler

Charles Coleman

Thin Man

Edward Woolf

Sheriff

Lee Phelps

Barker

Drew Demorest

Blonde at Party

Ethelreda Leopold

Contortionist

Dick Dickinson

Jerry

Frank Jenks

Ping Pong Player

Don Terry

Circus Attendant

Billy Engle

Ping Pong Player

Byron Munson

Butler With Phone

Ed Thomas

Ticket Seller

Jack Gardner

Screaming Spinster / Wedding Guest

Grace Goodall

Lon

Charles Murphy

Russian Circus Performer

Ted Hardy

3rd Debutante

Jennifer Gray

Circus Attendant

Bobby Hale

Hillbilly

Si Jenks

Wedding Guest

Sam Harris

Policeman

Joseph King

Yokel

Frank Melton

Butler

Leyland Hodgson

Truck Driver

Ralph Sanford

Mayor

Otto Hoffman

Society Woman

Lelah Tyler

Riding Master

Jack Clifford

Spectator

Tiny Jones

Barker

Jack Kenney

Fire Eater

Ray Mayer

Western Union Messenger

George Offerman Jr.

Barker

Jimmie Lucas

Spinster

Minerva Urecal

2nd Debutante

Kathryn Marlowe

Wedding Guest

Eric Mayne

Hillbilly Twin

Bill Wolfe

Hillbilly Twin

Bill Worth

Party Guest

Harold Miller

Deb

Kay Marlowe

Deb

Jenifer Gray

Circus Attendant

George Ovey

Circus Attendant

Lewis H. Morphy

Circus Attendant

Bobby Hare

Girl

Beryl Wallace

Man

Duke York

Barker

Art Yeoman

Barker

Drew Demarest

Wedding Guest

Major Sam Harris

Wedding Guest

Russell Wade

Wedding Guest

Dale Van Sickel

Himself

Dummy: Charlie McCarthy

Western Union Messenger

Ted Offenbecker

Chester

David Ward

Princess Baba

Director

Edward F. Cline

Director

Edward F. Cline

Director

George Marshall

COMPANY

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You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939, 1h 16min, NR)7.1 (1939, 1h 16min, NR)7.1

(1939, 1h 16min, NR)7.1

(1939, 1h 16min, NR)7.1

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man

(1939, 1h 16min, NR)

(1939, 1h 16min, NR)7.1

WHERE TO WATCH

THIS TITLE IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR RENT OR PURCHASE

WHERE TO WATCH

THIS TITLE IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR RENT OR PURCHASE

Genre

Synopsis

Cast

Director

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
(1939, 1h 16min, NR)
7.1
(1939, 1h 16min, NR)7.1

(1939, 1h 16min, NR)
7.1

(1939, 1h 16min, NR)
7.1