My Little Chickadee (1940)

My Little Chickadee (1940) is a comedy that makes good use of the personas of its two stars. Both W.C. Fields and Mae West made use of their established images in writing and starring in this film. Each had fostered a slightly risquT image, and the ideal locale for each was a saloon or similarly disreputable establishment. Fields had the image of the aging and slightly inebriated roue, while West fostered an image as a magnet for men and as a free spirit. The two use their film images to good effect in this comedy Western which owes a lot of its tone to other films they had made earlier in their careers.

Other aspects of the personas of the stars are also evident in the way this film is structured. West had a heroic streak that contrasted with the cowardice of Fields on screen. West was seen as heroic first because she refused to bend to the will of the community and instead asserted her independence. She was shown in film after film as stronger than the men around her. She would be the one who sought the truth over the easy lies that a community would tell to protect itself. Her strength is apparent in this film as she stands up to the community that throws her out and then as she takes two six-guns in hand and fights back during the Indian attack. While others are cowering on the floor, she is striding the aisles of the train firing through the windows.

Fields had a persona more cowardly, always seeing a strategic withdrawal as preferable to a fight. He also

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and it takes the whole community to fight back and drive her out of town. Even then, her leaving town seems more her own decision than that of the public--when asked if she is showing contempt for the court that is trying her, she says she is doing her best to hide it. Margaret Hamilton is the representative of the female population and sees Flower Belle (West) as disreputable until the moment she is married, at which point all is forgiven and respectability is conferred without question. Milton the Indian follows Fields around and does his bidding with a noncommittal stoicism. The visual style of the film has a leisurely pace in keeping with the style of both Fields and West, each of whom had a habit of commenting on the action taking place around them in sarcastic and off-hand ways. Director Edward F. Cline achieves much the same thing visually by cutting to observers to see how they are reacting. On the train, he cuts to the gambler several times as Field and West are interacting. Margaret Hamilton serves the same purpose in that and other scenes. Characters are introduced as they react to the pair in different settings. Jeff Badger reacts to West coming into his bar by apologizing to Fields for roughing him up--it

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