Customer Reviews

Million Dollar Legs [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ah yes, the Old Klopstokian Song of Love!

Million Dollar Legs begins by placing Fields on the throne of an improbable country where goats and nuts reign supreme, the economy is in shambles, political hierarchy is determined by physical strength, and all the women are named Angela. From there, it weird. But the whole movie is ankle deep and head first in good clean fun, political intrigue, slapstick comedy, love, sexual innuendo, and athletic improbabilities.

"Oh father, they won't hurt him will they?"
"Only for about two hours. Then they'll shoot him"

This movie is a masterpiece of comedy!! When will it be available on DVD?

This film is so strange--from the fact that everyone in the country of Klopstokia seems to be descended from goats, to the way cabinet meetings are conducted (the President arm wrestles every one of the cabinet members to make sure he hasn't lost any power) this film is a bizarre delight from start to finish. There are so many scenes in this film that are visually striking and have stayed with me long after I watched the film. From seeing Andy Clyde, disguised as a goat, running at about 100 miles per hour to the scene where Lyda Roberti sings a seductive song to the cabinet of Klopstokia, this film is a delight to watch.

This is one of the wackiest comedies ever made. A non-stop, star-studded orgy of inspired lunacy that was the hallmark of the greatest comedies of the 1930's/early 40's (and a thoroughly extinct species in the 1990's). Every Hollywood funny man and funny woman of the day seems to have wormed their way into this one. An absolute gem. Total, cathartic laugh therapy.

fields at his best see it buy it and love i

First off, a hearty hello to Mr Kringle below who has also reviewed this movie, greetings from Wisconsin to my longtime friend!

On to the movie...This is another one of those great, rarely seen WC Fields movies that is simply a blast to watch, the criteria of arm wrestling to try and win Fields political position from him is always a hoot to watch. One could argue Field's gets too little screen time, but hey, take what you can get, he fills the role perfectly. Anyone who enjoys classic comedy is sure to like this.

If you never seen it you OWE it to yourself to watch it!

This movie NEEDS to be included in a future Vol 3 WC Fields Collection!!!!

Fields plays leader of tiny, ficticious country Klopstokia, a bizarre land of goats and nuts, who has his heart set on entering the Olympics. A brilliant, inventive classic with a wonderful comic cast; thoroughly inspired direction. Fields truly shows his mastery for timing and characterization in this zany masterpiece of a gem. Timeless, and somewhat, unforgettable. Jack Oakie is hilarious and charming as usual.

Pauline Kael thought this was the single funniest film comedy she had ever seen, and she may be right. The film's plot is so insane that it makes most screwball comedies of the period look tame by comparison: the country of Klopstockia (whose president is WC Fields, and whose citizenry is mostly descended from goats) decides to enter the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, and sends its greatest athlete (Jack Oakie). The jokes are so insane and fast you can barely keep up--it's like getting a Marx brothers movie that's all Groucho with no tedious business from Harpo or Chico (and DUCK SOUP is the only film that seems indeed even remotely similar). Watch for the song jack Oakie is asked to sing--and what it's printed on!

Aside from the other wacky aspects of Million Dollar Legs": WC Fields, Jack Oakie, the lovely Lyda Roberti (who died way too young at 31). You also mix into this the main song, which sounded very much like one that Bing Crosby was singing on the radio at the time. This was also the year of the first Los Angeles Olympic games: the ones that gave the City the Coliseum. Lots of other good bits just add to the hilarity of this movie. Pair it with Eddie Cantor's "Kid From Spain" and you won't have a dry eye by the end from all of the laughter.

"Million Dollar Legs" is a classic W. C. Fields comedy. Set in a mythical foreign country were all the men are called "George" and all the women have the same name, too: Angela. It's a good old fashioned romp of merriment from the word "GO!" Fields portrays the President of Klopstokia, who rules by strength, being able to beat his cabinet at arm wrestling and other feats of strength. Jack Oakie plays a traveling brush salesmen (Remember those?) who falls head over heels in love with the President's daughter (Susan Fleming). The plot revolves around the fact that Klopstokia is going broke, but if they can win in the Olympics, they can get the prize money and stay solvent.
"Million Dollar Legs" is a classic black and white comedy, and I have loved it since I first saw it. Today's audience would consider it "corny," but it is classic W. C. Fields and Jack Oakie. If you like good old fashioned comedy with a light touch of slapstick, then this film gets "Five Stars." It's well worth the money, but I do wish it were on DVD.

fields was perhaps one of the first comics to prove you don't have to be a sympathetic character to be funny. here he's the curmudgeonly president of a tiny country that is on the verge of bankruptcy, constantly on his guard against revolutionary schemes and assassination attempts. all the standard fields stuff is here, of course, since fields is always fields: the hat placed on the cane instead of the head, the wisecracks, the innuendos, the sight gags; everything except the drinking, which came later. that fields is as cold and brassy as he was in "the dentist" and "you can't cheat an honest man" takes nothing from the laughs. as is too often the case with fields films, though, you wish there were more of him and less of just about everyone else.