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

"How does it tie up, Mr. Fields?" asked one of the Universal heads. "Ha!" exclaimed the comedian with a meaning glance. "Which character did you have in mind, Mr. Fields?" The answer, as obscure as the connection, was a ringing shout of wild, private laughter. The studio officials decided at length that maybe it would be better all around if they let the title's significance remain clouded. "I don't even want to know," one of them said. The role of Larson E. Whipsnade, the shoestring circus owner of You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, pleased Fields. By browbeating the production unit, he was able to insert many scenes that jibed harmoniously with his views. He later spoke feelingly of the scene in which his daughter, played by Constance Moore, introduced him at the upper-class party of the Bel-Goodie family, whose son she hoped to marry. Fields made a big impression. He had a colored roustabout drive him to the party in one of the circus chariots. He was wearing full dress, except for a button-up, sleeveless sweater and an opera cape whose white silk underside proclaimed in large letters "Larson E. Whipsnade's Circus Giganticus." His lordly air, as he rapped on the family's majestic door with a gold-headed cane, was typically synthetic. His expression was hollow, tired; he was a little bored with the wealthy circle in which he moved. When a butler opened the door and presented a salver, Fields started and gave a forgetful smile, then dug in his pocket and came up with a dime, which he sportingly dropped on the plate. He followed the butler in, removed the odious cape, and tried to spread it blatantly over a chair, "to get a little break on the advertisement," he explained, with precious enunciation of the rolling word, and accenting its second syllable. Amid an embarrassing hush, the Bel-Goodies and their guests, 321