The Bank Dick

It's amazing what you stumble across on the internet. I was looking for some bank news the other day, when all of a sudden cropped up this clip from the 1940 film The Bank Dick (Detective) with the famous drinking actor W. C. Fields.

I'm posting it partly because the head of the bank is a Mr. Skinner (not my dad), partly because it shows bank service even three-quarters of a century ago was pretty dismal, partly because many bank branches still look the same today with hours from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and partly because even start-up banks back then had their challenges.

The first clip does not work with the embed code, so you can watch it over here (it's a classic).

The Bank Dick is a 1940 film where W. C. Fields plays a character named Egbert Sousé. Egbert trips up a bank robber and is hired as a security guard for the bank as a result. As usual, Fields plays the role of a drunk and has to keep reminding people that his name is pronounced ”Sousé – accent grave over the ‘e’!”, because people keep calling him “Souse” which is old slang for a drunk.

In another scene, he catches another possible robber in the bank hall, or is it just a kid having fun playing a cowboy?

W.C. Fields in The Bank Dick from Cinefamily on Vimeo.

Even back then, the bank staffer (W. C.'s son-in-law in the film) is stealing money and whining about his bonus - another classic clip here.

Ah well, nostalgia on a Friday is always fun and you can see more clips from The Bank Dick here if you want.