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The Bank Dick Overview:

The Bank Dick (1940) was a Comedy - Black-and-white Film directed by Edward F. Cline and produced by Jack J. Gross and Cliff Work.

SYNOPSIS

Fields, crediting himself as "Mahatma Kane Jeeves," wrote this comedy classic in which he portrays Souse (pronounced Soo-zay), a lush who inadvertently trips a bank robber and ends up becoming a bank detective. He takes full advantage of his new job and embezzles bank funds to finance a fly-by-night mining operation. Notable for being Fields's last major role and for what many consider to be the funniest chase sequence in cinematic history.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

The Bank Dick was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1992.

The Bank Dick BlogHub Articles:

The Bank Dick (1940)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Jan 9, 2024 From 4 Star Films

When W.C. Fields goes and names his protagonist Egbert Sousé it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to get the joke, although he does spend much of the movie explaining the correct pronunciation. The other half he spends drinking at his favorite bar: The Black Pussy Cat Cafe. His hometown is none ot... Read full article

The Bank Dick (1940)

By Beatrice on May 1, 2013 From Flickers in Time

The Bank Dick Directed by Edward F. Cline 1940/USA Universal Pictures Repeat viewing #140 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Elsie Mae Adele Brunch Sousé: Shall I bounce a rock off his head? Agatha Sousé: Respect your father, darling. What kind of a rock? Well, it’s time for anothe... Read full article

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The Bank Dick Quotes:

Myrtle Sousé: [doing a crossword puzzle] What's a six-letter word meaning "embezzlement"?
Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch: Prison.
J. Frothingham Waterbury: Gosh!... Oh, pardon my language.
Egbert Sousé: That's okay. I swear sometimes myself.
Egbert Sousé: My uncle, a balloon ascensionist, Effingham Hoofnagle, took a chance. He was three miles and a half up in the air. He jumped out of the basket of the balloon and took a chance of alighting on a load of hay.
Og Oggilby: Golly! Did he make it?
Egbert Sousé: Uh... no. He didn't. Had he been a younger man, he probably would have made it. That's the point. Don't wait too long in life.
Egbert Sousé: Og Oggilby... sounds like a bubble in a bathtub!
Elsie Mae Adele Brunch Sousé: What's the matter, Pop? Don't you love me?
Egbert Sousé: [raising his hand in anger] Certainly I love you!
Agatha Sousé: Don't you dare strike that child!
Egbert Sousé: She's not gonna tell ME I don't love her.
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The Bank Dick Facts
Universal's censors initially objected to W.C. Fields' script and demanded many changes. Director Edward F. Cline suggested that Fields should go ahead and film it their way, and that the front office wouldn't notice the difference. They didn't.
At one point, W.C. Fields's character falsely brags, "In the old Sennett days, I used to direct Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and the rest of 'em." This movie's director Edward F. Cline' did co-direct several of Buster Keaton's early short subjects.
Near the beginning of the movie, Egbert Sousé is whistling "Listen to the Mockingbird" as he & Joe the Bartender enter the bar. Joe is played by Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges fame, and "Listen to the Mockingbird" was the Three Stooges' theme music.
In 1992, this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Lompoc is properly pronounced "Lompoke". It was also founded as a Temperance town, probably another reason Fields picked it as his hometown in this film, and the towns people of the day disliked Fields for these two reasons.
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