Poppy (Paramount 1936, W.C. Fields, Rochelle Hudson)

This is a Fields comedy in which a carnival medicine-show con man and his adopted daughter move to a small town and run a scam. The carny learns that a wealthy estate is about to be claimed by the long-lost daughter of the owners. He convinces his daughter to pose as the heiress, but the ruse is soon discovered. Featured are some of Fields’s best-loved routines (‘never give a sucker an even break’), and based on his silent film ‘Sally of the Sawdust’ (1925) that was directed by D. W. Griffith.

W.C. Fields was in pain during much of the filming of Poppy, the result of an on-set accident. Some of his scenes were subsequently shot with a double.

production details
cast
W.C. Fields as Eustace McGargle
Rochelle Hudson as Poppy
Richard Cromwell as Billy Farnsworth
Catherine Doucet as 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
Tom Kennedy as Hot Dog Stand Proprietor (uncredited)

crew
Director: A. Edward Sutherland
Producer: William LeBaron
Director of Photography: William C. Mellor
Editing: Stuart Heisler
Music: Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin
Script: Dorothy Donnelly, Virginia Van Upp, Waldemar Young
Production Design: Hans Dreier, Bernard Herzbrun

USA / Paramount / 75 minutes / 1936