MovieChat Forums > The Bank Dick (1940) Discussion > I didn't understand the very last scene....

I didn't understand the very last scene. ((SOLVED!))


Egbert Souse (W.C. Fields) is walking away from his mansion and kicks away an unknown, dark rectangular object. A man in a white jacket and dark pants (face not seen well) then appears in the distance down the road. Egbert Souse shouts and runs after the man but the man keeps on walking and doesn't look back. The film ends. Anyone have any idea what was supposed to be going on?

EDIT/ANSWER: The answer is that the man is the bartender from the Black Pussy Cat Café (actor Shemp Howard from the Three Stooges). I had no idea it was him and I think most people wouldn't if we go by the mechanics of the shot.

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Thanks for asking the question ... and answering it! I didn't understand the last scene either.

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Joe (Howard) was heading to the bar to open it and Souse (Fields) did not want to lose any drinking time, so he was hurrying to keep up.

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The scene is a repeat. The same thing happens earlier when the bartender walks through the movie set scene. Egbert gets up and leaves the set to follow the bartender.

I'm not sure what is the purpose of that item he kicks.

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It looks like a cardboard box he kicked. I don't think there was anything important in that itself, other than showing he was bored. It would be like a kid walking down a street and kicking a can. He is no longer bored and gets excited when he sees the bartender going to work.

Nobody gets to be a cowboy forever.

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The cardboard kick is a reference to WC Fields juggling days. Go to youtube and type in "WC Fields juggling". You will see a 5 min clip of his routine from The Old Fashioned Way.

Watch that clip.

Also, right before he leaves the house, he juggles his can onto the floor and catches it again. The same reference is in that clip.

Hope this helps.

-Derek

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In his day, W. C. Fields was literally the greatest juggler in the world. He practiced by juggling empty cigar boxes with their lids unsecured, meaning that their balance and trajectory were constantly changing as they spun through the air and the lids flipped open and closed. That is HARD! He practiced so hard that his hands bled. At this time in his life, he was working at Coney Island. His gimmick was that he'd go swimming in the ocean and pretend to be drowning. A lifeguard would save him and drag him onto the beach. A crowd would of course gather. The miraculously-revived Fields would stand up and juggle the cigar boxes, then invite the crowd to come see his show at the carnival. When he juggled, he would crack jokes, which is how he moved into comedy.

I think that he may be the funniest person who has ever lived, and, yes, I think very highly of Groucho Marx, George Carlin and Albert Einstein.

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The scene I don't understand is at the bar, when the Pinkerton guy is served some beverage that makes him sick - I mean, Souse clearly wants him incapacitated for a few days and the bartender puts something in his drink, but how does he know to do that since Souse never says anything about it? There is some talk about someone named Michael Finn when he orders the drinks, but I don't see the relevance...



"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

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Michael Finn is code for a Mickey Finn or Mickey for short. An incapacitating addition to a cocktail.

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