There is considerable fun to be had in watching this fine old comedy; such expert timing, with Fields proving master of the slow-burning visual gag and also the offhand, unremittingly sour retort.
Raymond Durgnat wrote extensively on Fields in his book on early Hollywood comedy, "The Crazy Mirror", as has David Thomson in his Biographical Dictionary of Film. These critics rightfully see Fields as embodying a certain isolationism in the American soul, a reluctance to go along with the cosy family values often proffered by Hollywood. As Geoff Brown argues in his Time Out review, "It's a Gift" is 'Fields' definitive study in the horrors of small town family life.' Few comedies of this era match it in terms of avoiding easy sentiment and padding: perhaps only "Duck Soup" comes to mind. It was still a few years before the screwball comedies fully found their feet, with the magnificent likes of "My Man Godfrey" (1936) and "Bringing Up Baby" (1938).
"It's a Gift" is as gloriously chaotic as the best of the Marx Brothers, as precisely measured as the best Jacques Tati, but it is imbued with an irascible philosophy all of its own. There are some truly wonderful set-pieces: the kumquats scene and the slow build of WCF's time on his makeshift bed on the outer landing, to name two examples.
Raymond Durgnat wrote extensively on Fields in his book on early Hollywood comedy, "The Crazy Mirror", as has David Thomson in his Biographical Dictionary of Film. These critics rightfully see Fields as embodying a certain isolationism in the American soul, a reluctance to go along with the cosy family values often proffered by Hollywood. As Geoff Brown argues in his Time Out review, "It's a Gift" is 'Fields' definitive study in the horrors of small town family life.' Few comedies of this era match it in terms of avoiding easy sentiment and padding: perhaps only "Duck Soup" comes to mind. It was still a few years before the screwball comedies fully found their feet, with the magnificent likes of "My Man Godfrey" (1936) and "Bringing Up Baby" (1938).
"It's a Gift" is as gloriously chaotic as the best of the Marx Brothers, as precisely measured as the best Jacques Tati, but it is imbued with an irascible philosophy all of its own. There are some truly wonderful set-pieces: the kumquats scene and the slow build of WCF's time on his makeshift bed on the outer landing, to name two examples.