W. C. Fields : his follies and fortunes (1949)

grounds one day, Fields decided that the three men were among the princes of humanity; he was emotionally affected by their loyalty, their support, their comradely ways. He repaired to his study, summoned a young lawyer with whom he had struck a deal, providing that the man relieve Fields of certain legal responsibilities for the sum of eight dollars per day (eight hours), and announced an important change in the will. "I want those boys to share in this thing," he told the lawyer. "There aren't three finer men in America." He then added hastily that the will was entirely speculative; the sums mentioned had not yet been made. "To tell you the truth," he said, "I haven't got a dime to my name." Notwithstanding, he and the lawyer altered the will to include substantial bequests to Grady, La Cava, and Fowler, all of whom were living close by and were lucratively employed by the movies. Some time afterward, when they all got together, Fields movingly announced his charities; then he shook hands all around. The beneficiaries thanked him politely and changed the subject as fast as possible. In the weeks that followed, Fields referred with satisfaction to the bequests and got a lot of enjoyment out of his kindness. Then he finished a movie and sat around for two or three months, growing fidgety. All his old hallucinations were revived by his idleness. His face settled into suspicious lines; he began to receive intimations of a monster conspiracy. Presently he got in touch with a cheap detective agency and gave certain furtive, whispered instructions after a somewhat louder harangue about the pay. "He had us investigated," Fowler says. "He found out that, at the time, we were all making more than he was. He was furious, and called us on the telephone to bawl us out. He took the attitude that we were plotting to defraud him." The beneficiaries told him substantially the same thing. 207