I found this film listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and I recognised the name of the leading legendary comedy actor, so I was looking forward to what it had to offer, directed by Norman Z. McLeod (Monkey Business, Pennies from Heaven, The Paleface). Basically Harold Bissonette (W.C. Fields) ("pronounced biss-on-ay") is the owner of a general grocery store, he decides to give up his business after he inherits some money, and to move to California and run an orange grove. Bissonette packs up and drives out to California, despite the objections of his family, nagging wife Amelia (Kathleen Howard), self-involved daughter Mildred (Jean Rouverol) and bothersome son Norman (Tommy Bupp), he also gets the news that the land he has purchased is worthless. Bissonette's wife softens and figures he made a good purchase after they have passed several prosperous orange groves, it is confirmed his barren plot contains only a tumbledown shack, and a tumbleweed, his disgusted wife and children walk out on him, his car collapses under his weight as he sits on it. There is a point when Harold is forced by Amelia to sleep on the porch, he spends a length amount of time trying to get comfortable on the hanging bench, and distracted by various loud noises and calamities around him, until finally the bench collapses. However Harold's luck changes when a neighbour informs him that a developer is desperate to acquire his land to build a race track grandstand, Harold stands up for himself, and up to his nagging wife, he holds out for a large sum of money. The film ends with Harold squeezing an orange for juice into a glass, his family are happy are family and take off in their new car, the now content Harold pours a flask of booze into the small amount of orange juice. Also starring Julian Madison as John Durston, Baby LeRoy as Baby Dunk, Tammany Young as Everett Ricks, Morgan Wallace as James Fitchmueller, Charles Sellon as Mr. Muckle, Josephine Whittell as Mrs. Dunk and T. Roy Barnes as Insurance Salesman. Fields became popular for his comic persona as a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist, he is certainly likable despite snarling a lot of the time, I will be honest and say I had to concentrate to get the story, but the long sustained porch sequence is a great sketch, and there is a fabulously funny sequence with a blind man walking across a busy road, all in all a worthwhile classic comedy. Good!

W. C. Fields specialized in two kinds of characters, tricksters and henpecked husbands. "It's A Gift" works as a showcase of Fields in the latter department.Fields is Harold Bissonette, pronounced "bis-son-ay," a store clerk who dreams of an orange grove to call his own. His nagging wife Amelia (Kathleen Howard) just can't wait to tick off all the ways Harold ticks her off in as loud a voice as possible. Harold puts up with this as he plots to buy his orange grove despite her persistent objections."What did I say last?" she demands at the end of one tirade."Yes, yes, every word of it," a distracted Harold meekly replies.If you are a die-hard W. C. fan, it's not hard to recommend "It's A Gift." It's a series of quintessential setpieces of Fieldsian slow burns and double-speak. There's not much to be said for the plot, as you shouldn't have to pay more attention to it than Fields and his team of writers did. The point is to get Fields in various messes, and this "It's A Gift" does with brisk efficiency.Plenty of famous bits make their way on screen. The infamous Carl LaFong is name-dropped and name-spelled for eternity, and there's of course the biggest cinematic nod in the direction of the kumquat industry, though unlike Mr. LaFong they get the name spelled wrong. Everyone remembers that scene where Harold tries to whack his son ("Well, he's not going to tell me I don't love him!") and when he comes up with a Churchillian reply when accused of being drunk.The question of enjoying "It's A Gift" boils down to how much you embrace "aggravation comedy," where the humor is built into annoying situations made more so through sheer repetition. I can only take so much of Harold dodging customers in his store, or wrestling with a deck chair. A long sequence showcases Harold trying to sleep on a porch while a milkman, a coconut, a salesman, and a squeaky clothesline all conspire against him. I can't help but chuckle a few times, but am always happy when the scene ends.Harold is a fascinating character, a beaten man who is the author of his own destruction. He bought an orange ranch even after knowing it was a lemon, lets a blind man smash everything in his store, and of course married Amelia. But he's still Fields, and manages to work his way through his self-created turmoil to a surprisingly upbeat, if left-field, conclusion.That's my favorite part of the film, but you can't say enough for the able support of Kathleen Howard. Her Amelia is a wonderful shrew, kind of likable in her querulous way. She nags Harold even in her sleep, and her line readings are deliriously skewed in the way they seem to fall heavy on nearly every other syllable. "Don't be kicking Norman's skates around!" she huffs after Harold does a header slipping on one of his son's roller-skates, as if Harold did it just to annoy her. Considering this is Fields, maybe he did.Director Norman Z. McLeod isn't much talked about even among film students, though he may be the only man who directed major vehicles for Fields, the Marx Brothers, Harold Lloyd, and Danny Kaye. He knew how to work with comedy stars, and here keeps Fields at the center of the action.Watching "It's A Gift" can be hard on the nerves, but it's also a treat for the funny bone with a good heart discernible amid the mayhem.

A New Jersey store owner receives an inheritance that allows him to pursue his dream of owning an orange grove in California. Enjoyable comedy has Fields in top form as a henpecked husband, with Howard well cast as his nagging wife. Highlights include early scenes of Fields getting ready to go work while dealing with his crazy family and a later scene where he is catering to a blind customer in his store. While not always laugh out loud funny, this is one of those films that one watches with a smile on his face throughout. Fields doesn't go for overly broad comedy, instead staying within character as a simple man reaching for his dreams.

I think only in The Bank Dick was W.C. Fields more henpecked than he is in It's A Gift. He also has a perfect foil for his brand of humor in Kathleen Howard as his wife in the second of three films she did with the man from Philadelphia.In this film more than most of Fields's films I think the real secret of his comedy comes out. I can't think of a single funny line from It's A Gift worth remembering. But what does stick with you are all the gestures and expressions with his body and face that Fields gives us to show the hellhole of his married state.Kathleen Howard in fact doesn't let the poor guy get a word in edgewise. What a motormouth that woman had, constantly finding fault and running him down from the first to the last minute of the movie. Right at the beginning of the film the poor guy can't even have the bathroom to himself as kids and wife just barge in on him with their problems and complaints. In that scene where Fields is trying to shave, to later on when he goes out on the porch hammock to get some peace and quiet, it's nothing in what he says, but in all the reaction shots where the comedy comes from. Even in the famous scene at the general store with the blind man Mr. Muckle. The comedy is all in Fields's reactions to Muckle running amuck. Trying not to say anything to observe political correctness. Remember Muckle is also identified as the house detective in the hotel across the street.Kathleen Howard serves as Fields's greatest foil, no wonder he did three films with her. Note how Hyacinth like she is in insisting that her name Bissonette be pronounced Bissonay.Still Fields pursues the American dream and when Uncle Bean dies and wills him some California property, he loads up the truck and moves to, well not Beverly Hills, but close enough so he can get an orange grove and grow them. It comes about in an interesting way that you have to see the film for.It's A Gift is one of the finest efforts of America's most beloved misanthropes.