A henpecked but stoic pharmacist tries to maintains his precarious balance while dealing with demanding customers and his dysfunctional family.A henpecked but stoic pharmacist tries to maintains his precarious balance while dealing with demanding customers and his dysfunctional family.A henpecked but stoic pharmacist tries to maintains his precarious balance while dealing with demanding customers and his dysfunctional family.
Marjorie Kane
- Priscilla Dilweg
- (as Babe Kane)
Joe Bordeaux
- Gunman
- (uncredited)
Jack Cooper
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
James Donnelly
- Street Sweeper
- (uncredited)
Junior Fuller
- 2nd Man Who Helps Fainting Woman
- (uncredited)
Julia Griffith
- Fainting Woman
- (uncredited)
Barney Hellum
- 2nd Checkers Player
- (uncredited)
Efe Jackson
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
Si Jenks
- 1st Checkers Player
- (uncredited)
William McCall
- 1st Man Who Helps Fainting Woman
- (uncredited)
Emma Tansey
- Old Lady Customer
- (uncredited)
Arthur Thalasso
- Postage Stamp Customer
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn a very early example of product placement, there are signs depicting Baby Ruth and Butterfinger candy bars behind the counter.
- Quotes
[a customer has just bought one postage stamp]
Customer: You got change for a hundred?
Mr. Dilweg: No, no, but thanks for the compliment.
- ConnectionsEdited into W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films (2000)
Featured review
The Ever Henpecked Proprietor
The last two shorts that W.C. Fields made for Mack Sennett at Paramount were a kind of dress rehearsal for the film character he was to develop in his classic features for Paramount and Universal. The ever henpecked proprietor of The Pharmacy with his wife and two daughters would be his staple character for years.
Elsie Cavenna who played Mrs. Fields in this isn't quite as shrewish a character as Kathleen Howard later would be for Fields, but that was a change he'd make in his feature. The two daughters are oblivious to his plight, one is perpetually hungry and would eat the pet bird faster than if a cat caught it. The other is going out with a guy named Cuthbert played by Grady Sutton who also would appear in several features with Fields and Fields can't stand anyone named Cuthbert. He feels one has to be a sissy if you got a name like that, it's foreordained.
Homophobia of course it to be deplored, but in the case of Fields he didn't like anybody. Under the Code same gender sex was just something so taboo as not to be even acknowledged. And Fields just didn't like anybody. He was a beloved misanthrope.
A lot of beautiful gags are in The Pharmacist make this really a treat. I did so love the man who insisted on buying a 'clean' postage stamp from the middle of the sheet. In the end Cuthbert proves to be a welcome addition to the family.
Elsie Cavenna who played Mrs. Fields in this isn't quite as shrewish a character as Kathleen Howard later would be for Fields, but that was a change he'd make in his feature. The two daughters are oblivious to his plight, one is perpetually hungry and would eat the pet bird faster than if a cat caught it. The other is going out with a guy named Cuthbert played by Grady Sutton who also would appear in several features with Fields and Fields can't stand anyone named Cuthbert. He feels one has to be a sissy if you got a name like that, it's foreordained.
Homophobia of course it to be deplored, but in the case of Fields he didn't like anybody. Under the Code same gender sex was just something so taboo as not to be even acknowledged. And Fields just didn't like anybody. He was a beloved misanthrope.
A lot of beautiful gags are in The Pharmacist make this really a treat. I did so love the man who insisted on buying a 'clean' postage stamp from the middle of the sheet. In the end Cuthbert proves to be a welcome addition to the family.
- bkoganbing
- Jun 14, 2011
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime19 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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