Comedy legend W.C. Fields (My Little Chickadee) is Ambrose Wolfinger, a henpecked husband who wants the afternoon off (his first in twenty-five years) to go to a wrestling match, so he tells his boss he must attend his mother-in-law’s funeral. The afternoon soon turns catastrophic. He tries to please a policeman, assist a chauffeur, chase a tire, and ends up getting hit by the body of a wrestler thrown from the ring. Directed by Buster Keaton cohort Clyde Bruckman (The General) with Fields’ uncredited help, Man on the Flying Trapeze is a high-flying act of comedic brilliance. The marvelous cast includes Mary Brian (Running Wild), Kathleen Howard (It’s a Gift), Grady Sutton (The Bank Dick) and Walter Brennan (Rio Bravo).
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Video Quality
Man On The Flying Trapeze makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Kino Classics with a brand new 1080p master from a 2K scan. You might expect a film of this vintage to have some issues, but this presentation is honestly quite striking. There is a pleasing amount of detail present with nice textures on the clothing and within the production design. The new transfer shows off a great amount of depth and enhanced detail within the film’s composition. The sparkling black-and-white photography shot by Alfred Gilks shines in high definition with natural grain intact. The contrast is well defined, and the track only experiences a minor amount of flicker and density fluctuation in the print. Black levels are deep with no overwhelming occurrence of black crush or compression artifacts. There is still a discrete layer of minor nicks and scratches, but it is apparent that it has been cleaned up immensely. Kino Classics has continued to do terrific work with their W.C. Fields pictures
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray comes with a pretty solid DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track that serves this movie well considering how long ago it was produced. Dialogue and background noises are represented in harmony with all competing elements. Music does not overpower the dialogue or other important information throughout the duration. This track only presents with a subtle amount of age related wear and tear and some light hissing and crackles. As is typical of this time, the track can sound a bit thin when it comes to the music, which almost assuredly dates back to the source elements. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles included for the feature film. Kino Classics has done some solid work to make this sound as pleasant as the material will allow.
Special Features
- Wayne and Shuster Take An Affectionate Look At W.C Fields: A terrific 52-minute vintage documentary hosted by Wayne and Shuster in which they take a look at the career of W.C. Fields, his gift for physical comedy, the unlikely way he got audiences to root for “unlikable” characters, his exaggerated takes, his poverty-stricken childhood, his rough family life, the hilarious names he gave his characters, his penchant for drinking and more. This is a fun one for old-school fans and newcomers alike.
- Trailers: There are trailers provided for The Old Fashioned Way, You Can’t Cheat An Honest Man, The Bank Dick, My Little Chickadee and Alice In Wonderland.
Final Thoughts
Man On The Flying Trapeze is another deeply funny comedy from the brilliant mind of W.C. Fields. It lacks just a bit of the sting of the pre-Code material, but the impeccable timing and clever routines really withstand the test of time. Once again, this film does not overstay its welcome at just over an hour in length, which feels just right for this narrative. Kino Classics has delivered a Blu-Ray release that sports both a fetching A/V presentation and an informative documentary piece. This is still W.C. Fields working near the top of his game, and it should be appreciated by comedy fans new and old. Recommended
Man On The Flying Trapeze is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.