THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE (1935) B/W 65m dir: Clyde Bruckman

w/W.C. Fields, Mary Brian, Kathleen Howard, Grady Sutton, Vera Lewis, Lucien Littlefield, Oscar Apfel, Lew Kelly, Tammany Young, Walter Brennan

Comedian Fields is in fine form as a cynical, downtrodden husband who fights back. Remake of his "silent" film, RUNNING WILD.

From The Movie Guide: "There's no circus, no flying trapeze, but lots of laughs generated by the myriad frustrations and barely controlled rage of 'the man' in this great W.C. Fields vehicle. A deft sketch of the potentially nightmarish qualities of small town America, it still has an edge. ...

"One of Fields's most entertaining movies, THE MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE features a series of ordinary mishaps that escalate into hilarious physical disasters. Directed by Clyde Bruckman (who worked on Buster Keaton's classic THE GENERAL), the film is more than a showcase for its star. Kathleen Howard, a former Metropolitan Opera singer and fashion writer, was Fields's favorite on-screen wife, and he never tired of telling reporters what an accomplished actress she was. Brian, Fields's neighbor, was no longer a star, but she was still charming. Less well known than IT'S A GIFT and THE BANK DICK, this is still an excellent comic outing. Check out that filing system."