MovieChat Forums > My Little Chickadee (1940) Discussion > Underrated!!

Underrated!!

posted 15 years ago by HarlowMGM
11 replies | jump to latest

I'm so tired of hearing that MY LITTLE CHICKADEE is a bad movie. It's a very good movie!! Now, I did not say a brillant movie or a great movie, but it's very good in that it is highly entertaining. I think the problem with it is so many West or Fields fans don't like it because their idol/hero has to share the screen and storyline rather than dominate the film as is usually the case for each of them. I am a fan of Fields, but a bigger one of Mae West's, and I think they both are a lot of fun in this film.

[–] xdayton 15 years ago

The reason it's a bad, or mediocre, movie is that the scenes with Mae's "other men" (the masked bandit, the newspaper man) are tedious and unfunny. She has a nice scene in the classroom, and she's gret with Fields, but the stupid storyline about the bandit pretty much sinks the movie.

[–] ThereWillBeBeer 15 years ago

I agree 100%. It was a very enjoyable farce, if only for all the great lines by W.C. and Mae.

'couple o' house dicks.'

[–] SnorrSm1989 15 years ago

Some parts of this movie definitely drags and appear rather "forced," which may be why people often have such low opinions on the film. That being said, the film also provides some of Fields's best lines and moments, including the immortal "If a thing's worth having, it's worth cheating for." Mae West also has her moments.

[–] bigwave916 14 years ago

I'm more a Fields fan than a Mae West fan, but to me, they both had their fair share of on screen time and witty lines. I agree with the OP that this movie is underrated but the way it goes on IMDB is that it doesn't matter what one person thinks of a movie, it's what the majority think.

I haven't seen this one in a while (even though I own it) I think I'll watch it again tonight. I love the line from Mae West when the judge asks "Are you trying to show contempt for this court?" and she replies "I'm tryin'not to."

[–] SirFrancisBeaverhausen 14 years ago

I enjoy this movie quite a bit and love the great lines both Mae and W.C. have. The thing that keeps it from being truly great, though, is that they spend too much time apart! It's like watching two starring vehicles spliced together. Had they put their differences aside and interacted more this could have been one of the funniest films of all time! As it is it's still a hoot.

It'd make a good headline--"PLAYBOY KILLS WIFE WITH CHAMPAGNE CORK!"

[–] HarlowMGM 14 years ago

I love the line from Mae West when the judge asks "Are you trying to show contempt for this court?" and she replies "I'm tryin'not to."

I love that line too but my favorite in the movie is when Mae reads what is written on the blackboard as school "I am a good boy. I am a good girl" and snaps "What is this? Propaganda?"

[–] slaphappy5000 10 years ago

i have to say, this movie is pretty lame

i am a HUGE wc fields fan

i kept waiting for it (him) to get funny. apart from a small handful of good lines, his bits were just not even close to the caliber of his bits in his better movies

i won't even comment on the lame plot and wooden scenes w/the various male suitors (oops, i just did) ; )

sorry, but that's the way i seeze it!

[–] slokes 8 years ago

It's not a good film, but it is fairly funny in parts. Alas, that's the problem - the film is written more as a series of bits to amuse fans of the two stars than as anything that holds together on its own power. Add to that a story that doesn't really go anywhere and takes a long time getting there, and you have what I call in my review here "a minor misfire."

I suspect West did better work. I know Fields did.

[–] richspenc 7 years ago

This film wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Its just an old fashion version of spoof films.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 5 years ago

A great MOVIE? No. A priceless ENTERTAINMENT? Yowza! This is an ad-lib scenario, created by two stars who hated each other. It’s a collection of sketches, not a coherent narrative. As for the masked bandit love story bringing everything to a screeching, bottling halt: that’s how they made comedies in the old days. The studios insisted that a love story be jammed into the narrative. The Marx Brothers’ A Night At The Opera is rightly considered a comic tour de force but it, too, has a Wonder Bread romance between two tapioca lovers that freezes the funny in its tracks.

Let’s put it this way: I’m not crazy about the Chorale fifth movement in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, but it is still my favorite symphony. Chickadee is similar in that respect.

[–] greenbudgie (2355) 5 years ago

I agree. It's amazing how W. C. Fields and Mae West shared the screen. But they manage to do so in this film. I notice they didn't pair up again. So perhaps they were under strain working with each other.

It's very entertaining as you say. I've rated it 7/10.