tavm This is the only film comedy legends W.C. Fields and Mae West made together. They're both larger-than-life characters who usually dominate their movies by themselves with only occasional help from talented supporting players to guide them through their classic shtick. They only share few scenes together but there's some gold in those few scenes though it's even better when they do separate and interact with the usual character types both have been known to associate with. One player here who does well with both is Margaret Hamilton, fresh from her Wicked Witch of the West role in The Wizard of Oz, who scowls her best scowl and acts suitably flustered whenever she encounters these two either together or separately. In summary, My Little Chickadee is worthy of these two legendary comedians despite some unevenness on the part of the screenplay they both wrote.

bkoganbing Although My Little Chickadee did not turn out to be the comedy smash of all time, both W.C. Fields and Mae West got in enough of their own shtick to make it worthwhile to see. What I can't figure out is when both were under contract at Paramount earlier in the decade why Adolph Zukor never thought of teaming them.Probably because both of them were highly individualized and highly specialized performers. Both wrote their own material, but Mae believed her words were golden as she wrote them and Bill Fields was notorious with the ad-libs, even with a script he wrote. Like Dallas in Stagecoach, Mae West as Flower Belle gets kicked out of one town and heads for another town accompanied by one of the Lady's League in the person of Margaret Hamilton. She's been spotted by Hamilton entertaining the mysterious masked bandit as only Mae entertains. On the train she meets up with small time con man Cuthbert J. Twillie, a Fields pseudonym if there ever was one. She's convinced she's got a bankroll and she needs a husband to maintain a respectable front. Her gambler friend Donald Meek who looks like a clergyman and remember in Stagecoach Thomas Mitchell originally thought he was one, marries them on the train.As a husband Fields is as ardent as Bob Hope was in The Paleface with Jane Russell who also needed to get married out of necessity to a stooge. He's sure willing enough, but Mae's to smart for him as she's got town editor Dick Foran and saloon owner Joseph Calleia panting hot and heavy for her as well.My favorite moment is when Mae slips a goat into her bed and Fields gets a big surprise when he thinks he's finally going to score.I'd have to say the film's a tie in terms of these two icons trying to top the other. There's plenty enough here to satisfy fans of both Mae and Bill and the many like myself who love both of them.

Holdjerhorses The publicity surrounding Mae West and W.C. Fields "loathing" each other seems to be largely that: publicity.Yes, they each wrote their own lines, as they had for years. Yes, they only had one scene together on camera. Their other scenes were shot separately, consisting of closeups and reaction shots -- then intercut. But that was standard procedure -- especially for West.In her utterly delightful interview with Dick Cavett in 1976 (on YouTube), at the age of 83, West is asked if Fields' drinking was a problem. She says, "Not really. I'd heard about him. So I had it written into my contract that if he was drinking on the set he would be removed. He was fine for the first three weeks. Then I came on set at one o'clock one day and was told he had been drinking. I took a look at him and said, 'Get him outta here.' After that, we didn't have any problems with him."

kga58 It's a shame that West and Fields had such a dislike for each other. In their few scenes together you can see how incredible this film could've been. Their introduction on the train is a delight, with him slurping all over her "symmetrical digits" and she crooning "you're compromisin' me". Field's disguising himself as her lover the Masked Bandit and getting some lip action under false pretenses is hilarious. If only they could've spent so much more screen time with each other instead of focusing on their separate routines, this would be a major classic. As it is it is still great fun. And Fields' asides to Margaret Hamilton are priceless! "I hope she don't get too violent--I haven't strength enough to knock her down!"