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It’s a Gift Movie Review

It’s a Gift is a 1934 comedy film directed by Norman Z. McLeod and starring W.C. Fields. It’s a flawed, but very enjoyable comedy.

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“Wake up and go to sleep!“

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The film concerns the trials and tribulations of a man who wants to quit the grocery business and move to California to grow oranges. That is the main storyline that is only the through line of the movie, which otherwise devotes most of the runtime through many gags where he battles a shrewish wife, an incompetent assistant, and assorted annoying children, customers, and salesmen. 

Yes, there’s not a lot of plot here, but that did not bother me as I expect comedies to be funny first and foremost, and this movie is definitely quite funny at times. In any structurally episodic flick, you are bound to get some standout gags and others that are just okay. Here, the third act is my least favorite as it was the least funny, but the second act is where the best gags arrive.

I liked the routines in the house. The bathroom scene is quite amusing. The highlight, though, is that prolonged sequence where the protagonist just could not get any sleep. The various annoyances that the neighbors and the family produce loudly are quite funny, especially that overly loud speech through different floors.

I just loved the look of this movie and this setting with this very closely connected, very crowded building was gorgeously utilized into the action itself. Some camera angles also were fantastic, especially the pans away and into this building. The movie looks surprisingly professional and appealing for such an early comedy.

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It’s a Gift has one major problem, though, and that is the overacting from some of the cast members, the worst offender being Kathleen Howard. Her line delivery is so over-the-top and so theatrical that she ruined the central dynamic. The two simply did not fit in with their vastly different acting chops and styles as Fields is quite the contrary – he is subtle, competent, and as a result very funny throughout.

It’s a Gift is an early 30s comedy that basically has no plot as it consists of a variety of gags, some better than others, but the highlight was that excellent second act in that building that was superbly utilized into the humorous situations. The movie looks good and it is quite charming and amusing, but the wildly uneven acting from its cast was a big problem as Kathleen Howard’s extreme overacting clashed heavily against the more subtle and competent performance from W. C. Fields himself.

My Rating – 4