Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Bank Dick Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 12, 2021

Edward F. Cline's "The Bank Dick" (1940) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new audio commentary by filmmaker and historian Michael Schlesinger as well as vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Too many wrongs -- wrong place, wrong time, wrong profession.

Right before W.C. Fields’ drunkard, Mr. Egbert Souse, is offered the opportunity to prove that he is the talented director he claims to be there is a short exchange in which he casually recognizes Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle. Why do you think Fields does it? If your answer is that this public recognition is entirely coincidental, it is practically guaranteed that you are misjudging plenty more that is said and done in The Bank Dick.

The most important stylistic characteristic of The Bank Dick is its loose attitude -- the film speeds up, slows down, allows its comedy to flourish and then suddenly moves away from it to emphasize melodrama that quickly evolves into comedy again. Fields leads with confidence but looks uncharacteristically loose too, almost as if he is moving from one sequence to the next because it is only his job and he has to do it to get paid. Needless to say, The Bank Dick isn’t even remotely similar to the other classic comedies that were made before the 1940s where virtually everything is timed to perfection.

But why is all of this happening? Have you ever wondered why Fields would make a film that essentially flips the successful blueprint that was used by the iconic comedians he casually recognizes in that short exchange where he pretends to be a talented director? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that he wasn’t the most athletic guy? Good point. Fields wasn’t as athletic as Chaplin and Keaton were, but there is no doubt that he could synchronize his moves as well as they did. So why didn’t he rehash the same perfectly synchronized material? Because his voice was essential for his schtick? Another good point. However, it still does not explain why so much of what Fields did was so different.

Actually, it is incredibly easy to deconstruct Fields’ craft so long as you understand that at the center of it is a desire to humanize comedy. What does this mean exactly? It means that Fields had figured out that he could do funny characters like the ones you would occasionally bump into on the street, or at your local bar, or even at your favorite bank. Usually, they would be goofy characters with plenty of flaws whose failures to act and react as ‘normal’ people fueled the funny. In other words, they would go through different situations life would present them with in much the same way Fields’ drunkard does in The Bank Dick.

Of course, what makes Fields’ craft so special is his ability to convince that everything he does before the camera, and especially the awkward, is entirely spontaneous. Also, the body moves and mannerisms are just one part of this act. The other part is the playful, quite often remarkably subversive lingo which can effectively enhance the funny in such bold ways that it can be quite hard to believe that Fields was able to get away with it.

In The Bank Dick the two parts of Fields’ craft are balanced to perfection. Mr. Souse is constantly pushed into difficult situations where he behaves like a fish out of water and, in the process, unleashes an avalanche of subversive lines that keep the imagination busy as well. An excellent long old-fashioned car chase eventually wraps up the film with a bang.

In 1992, The Bank Dick was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

The Bank Dick Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.36:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Bank Dick arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

I like the technical presentation quite a lot. It is pretty obvious that the master Universal supplied isn't new, but I did not see any major flaws to address in our review. Indeed, aside from the grain being slightly more pronounced, as well as a few tiny specks and black marks that pop up here and there, the entire film actually looks really, really good. The best news is that there are absolutely no traces of compromising digital corrections, which are usually what make older Universal masters so problematic. The grading job is solid, too. The grayscale boasts strong but not boosted blacks and very nicely balanced grays and whites. I don't even think that there is any need for the highlights to be rebalanced because they look solid as well. Image stability is very good. All in all, I think that this is a very pleasing organic presentation of The Bank Dick that will make a lot of its fans very happy. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Bank Dick Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I was as pleasantly surprised with the quality of the lossless audio track as I was with the quality of visuals. I had the volume on my system turned up quite a bit because Mr. Souse tends to chew up a few words here and there and I did not notice any distracting imperfections in the upper register. The audio track is very clear, clear, and stable, so when the current master was prepared some optimizations were almost certainly performed to ensure optimal quality.

The Bank Dick Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for The Bank Dick. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Commentary - in this exclusive new audio commentary, filmmaker and historian Michael Schlesinger highlights many of the reasons for which The Bank Dick is considered a classic American film, W.C. Fields' career and relationship with Universal, his character transformation and great supporting cast that assisted him, Edward F. Cline and cinematographer Milton R. Krasner's work, etc. It is a light yet very information commentary. I liked it a lot.

The Bank Dick Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

W.C. Fields' films offer a different type of comedy. They are looser and frequently deliciously subversive, more human and relatable than the ones Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd made. While they come from a very different era, virtually all of them have a character or two that you can still recognize at your local market place of favorite pub. I find this pretty remarkable because a lot of these films still produce plenty of good old-fashioned fireworks as well. The Bank Dick is one of Fields' best films and looks lovely on Blu-ray. If you do not yet have a copy of it in your library, you should plan to get one. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.