W. G. FIELDS

A portrait, in black and white and all its colors, of one of America's favorite comedians, this offers a sometimes sad, often mad picture of a man who had known poverty, brutal hard work and who was left with an overwhelming fear of being without money. It presents a childhood that is unbelievable, a career that becomes fabulous, and a character which has much that is legendary in it. For Fields was as fine a collection of contradictions as was ever assembled, as shrewd a dealer as any producer here or abroad ever met, as violent a personality as ever became popular. Taylor doesn't soft-pedal but neither does he mud- sling, and his account of his subject's life has a distinct love and understanding of such a difficult figure, and makes the most of the wry, biting humor that was part of Fields' life. Not as well written, perhaps, as the Gene Fowler books, but of a definite interest to all theater and moving picture fans.