Poppy (1936 film)

Poppy is a 1936 comedy film starring W. C. Fields and Rochelle Hudson. The film was based on a 1923 stage revue of the same name starring Fields and Madge Kennedy. This was the second film version of the revue featuring Fields, following Sally of the Sawdust in 1925 with Carol Dempster in the title role.^[1][2]

Poppy
Directed by	A. Edward Sutherland
Written by	Waldemar Young Virginia Van Upp
Based on	Poppy by Dorothy Donnelly
Produced by	Paul Jones William LeBaron
Starring	W. C. Fields Rochelle Hudson Richard Cromwell Catherine Doucet
Cinematography	William C. Mellor
Edited by	Stuart Heisler
Music by	Friedrich Hollaender
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	June 17, 1936 (1936-06-17)
Running time	73 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Plot

Eustace McGargle, a con artist, snake oil salesman and shell game trickster, tries to escape the sheriff while taking care of his beloved adopted daughter Poppy, who, after pretending to be an heiress to win an inheritance, is found to be an actual heiress.^[3]

Cast

• W. C. Fields as Professor Eustace McGargle
• Rochelle Hudson as Poppy
• Richard Cromwell as Billy Farnsworth
• Catherine Doucet as Countess Maggi Tubbs DePuizzi
• Lynne Overman as Attorney Whiffen
• Granville Bates as Mayor Farnsworth
• Maude Eburne as Sarah Tucker
• Bill Wolfe as Egmont
• Adrian Morris as Constable Bowman
• Rosalind Keith as Frances Parker
• Ralph Remley as Carnival Manager

Production

Fields was suffering the effects of his heavy drinking and he injured his back during the making of the film. As a result, his performance may have suffered.^[4] Fields was ill during the production, and a fairly obvious double was used in several scenes requiring physical exertion.

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Frank Nugent called Poppy a "glorious victory" for Fields and for comedy while conceding that the scenes without Fields were "painfully frail" and would provoke some squirming and eye-rolling.^[5]

Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene offered a positive review, commenting that "Mr. Fields has never acted better." Comparing Fields' characterization to those of Charlie Chaplin, Greene noted that Fields "wins our hearts not by a display of Chaplin sentiment, not by class solidarity (he robs the poor as promptly as the rich), but simply by the completeness of his dishonesty."^[6]

Awards

"Never give a sucker an even break" was nominated for the American Film Institute's 2005 list AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.^[7]