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

W. C. Fields For the last parliamentary session, Fields appeared with a heavy list of hand-drawn objections. He would refuse to sign a contract, he said, unless he were given carte blanche in the preparation, direction, and production of his movies. As before with Paramount, his negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse ; however, after hours of argument and recrimination, from which he withdrew frequently to meditate and refuel, a compromise was reached. He was to be given immense liberties in the presentation of his work, though he was not yet in complete charge of the studio. Fields' friend and former employer, William Le Baron, had now returned to Paramount from RKO and Fields, because of the company's natural reluctance to decentralize its powers, forever afterward referred to him as "Santa Claus with a stiletto." The comedian was able to work for Le Baron, though, as he worked for nobody previously or later, and he turned out a series of films which contain some of the most worth while of America's humor. Altogether, Fields made, for Paramount, counting his movies on Long Island, Sally of the Sawdust, So's Your Old Man, The Old Army Game, That Royal Girl, The Potters, Running Wild, Two Flaming Youths, Tillie and Gus, Fools for Luck, Her Majesty, Love, Million-Dollar Legs, If I Had a Million, International House, Six of a Kind, You're Telling Me, The OldFashioned Way, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, It's a Gift, Mississippi, and Man on the Flying Trapeze. His roles were widely different, but his demeanor — revolving around the pricked balloon of pomposity — became part of the national scene. His nasal mutter was imitated by laymen, his favorite endearments, such as "My dove," "My little chickadee," and "My glowworm," which first appeared in // / Had a Million (being addressed to the un-dove-like Alison Skipworth), were repeated ad nauseum, and his mannerisms and snouty appear 232