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You Can't Cheat an Honest Man

1939 · 76 min

A breezy, gag-stuffed carnival romp where con artists bicker and schemes tumble into slapstick chaos, charming rather than mean.

Tagline
AT LAST YOU CAN SEE THESE FAMOUS FEUDSTERS CLASH ON THE SCREEN!
Overview
Fields plays "Larsen E. Whipsnade", the owner of a shady carnival that is constantly on the run from the law. Whipsnade is struggling to keep a step ahead of foreclosure, and clearly not paying his performers, including Bergen and McCarthy, who try to coax money out of him, or in McCarthy's case, steal some outright.

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In the UKNo streaming, rental or purchase options known.
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • absurdstrength 3 of 3
  • whimsicalstrength 2 of 3
  • lightstrength 2 of 3
  • cynicalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
brisk, 3 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
easy-watch, 2 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • deception
  • family
  • love
  • class
  • greed
Places
  • road trip
  • countryside
Era
contemporary
Audience
family
Form
  • ensemble
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language none
  • Violence none
  • Sex none
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action3
Horror0
Humour8
Realism4
Romance4
Tension3
Darkness2
Complexity3
Emotional weight3

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Where to watch in the UK

No UK streaming, rental or purchase options are known.

Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
comedy
Directed by
Edward F. Cline, George Marshall
Written by
George Marion Jr., Richard Mack, Everett Freeman
Starring
W.C. Fields, Edgar Bergen, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Constance Moore, John Arledge, James Bush, Thurston Hall, Mary Forbes
Cinematography
Milton Krasner
Runtime
76 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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