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The Barber Shop

  • 1933
  • Passed
  • 21m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
883
YOUR RATING
The Golf Specialist (1930)
ComedyShort

An inept barber maintains his good-humored optimism in his small town shop despite having a hen-pecking harridan for a wife and a total lack of tonsorial skill.An inept barber maintains his good-humored optimism in his small town shop despite having a hen-pecking harridan for a wife and a total lack of tonsorial skill.An inept barber maintains his good-humored optimism in his small town shop despite having a hen-pecking harridan for a wife and a total lack of tonsorial skill.

  • Director
    • Arthur Ripley
  • Writer
    • W.C. Fields
  • Stars
    • W.C. Fields
    • Elise Cavanna
    • Harry Watson
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    883
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Arthur Ripley
    • Writer
      • W.C. Fields
    • Stars
      • W.C. Fields
      • Elise Cavanna
      • Harry Watson
    • 12User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos6

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    Top cast18

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    W.C. Fields
    W.C. Fields
    • Cornelius O'Hare
    Elise Cavanna
    • Mrs. O'Hare
    Harry Watson
    • Ronald O'Hare
    Dagmar Oakland
    Dagmar Oakland
    • Hortense
    John Sinclair
    • Mr. Flugg
    • (as John St. Clair)
    Cyril Ring
    Cyril Ring
    • Escaped Bank Robber
    Frank Alexander
    • Steam Room Victim - Before
    • (uncredited)
    Billy Bletcher
    Billy Bletcher
    • Steam Room Victim - After
    • (uncredited)
    Joe Bordeaux
    • Passerby
    • (uncredited)
    Harry Bowen
    Harry Bowen
    • Cop
    • (uncredited)
    Joe Calder
    • Passerby
    • (uncredited)
    Julia Griffith
    • Mrs. Scroggins - Passerby
    • (uncredited)
    Fay Holderness
    • Little Girl's Mother
    • (uncredited)
    George Humbert
    • Jose
    • (uncredited)
    William McCall
    William McCall
    • Man with Horse
    • (uncredited)
    Dick Rush
    • Cop
    • (uncredited)
    Gloria Velarde
    • Gloria - Little Girl in Barber's Chair
    • (uncredited)
    Frank Yaconelli
    • Italian Man Selling Bass Fiddle
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Arthur Ripley
    • Writer
      • W.C. Fields
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews12

    6.6883
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    Featured reviews

    Snow Leopard

    Very Enjoyable, With Fields in Fine Form

    With the great W.C. Fields in fine form, and a setup that provides him with a lot of good material, "The Barber Shop" is a very enjoyable short comedy. It is filled with the kinds of details and subtle gags that make Fields's comedies worth watching attentively.

    "The Barber Shop" closely resembles the Fields feature "The Pharmacist", with very similar settings and stories. Both are very good, and in both of them Elise Cavanna is funny as the domineering wife of Fields's character. Both have some gags that are deliberately absurd, and others that are less obvious. Both feature amusing exchanges between Fields and numerous customers.

    When Fields was at his best, he could really get across the wackiness of so much of what happens in daily life, and that's one of the things that works quite well here.
    9Schlockmeister

    Great classic Fields short

    W. C. Fields had done a few silent shorts in the "teens" but it really did take sound to capture him at his best. He is not only a physical comedian, capable of broad slapstick, he is one of the best verbal comedians around, especially when allowed to ad-lib, as he does here. The story follows the adventures of barber Cornelius O'Hare through his extremely busy day. It has the look of a vaudeville routine, which no doubt it was based on. Fields' almost constant patter makes all his movies worth rewatching, just to catch his subtle remarks, often made under his breath and very quickly. I have read that, at the beginning of the short, as Fields is sitting out front of his shop, making rude comnents about people as they go by, that this is a tribute to his mother, who acted just like this as Fields was a boy, commenting cuttingly on the neighbors. If you like sardonic humor, Fields is the man for you. Recommended highly along with any of his other shorts as in these shorter films, much more is packed in and nothing is allowed to lag.
    7lugonian

    The Razor's Edge

    THE BARBER SHOP (Paramount, 1933), directed by Arthur Ripley, marks the fourth and final Mack Sennett Star Comedy short to feature W.C. Fields (who also scripted), following THE DENTIST (1932), THE FATAL GLASS OF BEER (1933) and THE PHARMACIST (1933). Not quite as famous as the initial two, THE BARBER SHOP does bear a strong resemblance to THE PHARMACIST, that of Fields wearing a straw hat with an open top; his encounter with a bank robber; and having Elsie Cavanna (famous as the drill patient in THE DENTIST) in the role of his wife. As with THE DENTIST, however, the customers in THE BARBER SHOP are more victims than patrons. For Fields' final short (lasting 21 minutes), much of it falls into familiar territory in true Fields-comedic style, with touches of originality, especially his chosen character name, pun intended.

    Set in Felton City, "Population 873, Elevation two feet below sea level," the story revolves around the day in the life of Cornelius O'Hare (W.C. Fields), a small town barber with a nagging wife (Elsie Cavanna) and a young son, Ronald (Harry Watson). O'Hare's morning starts off peacefully as he sits in front of his place of business (with his home in back of the barber shop), greeting the passing residents while sharpening his razor, then playing his huge bass fiddle he names "Lena." After dining at the breakfast table with his family, O'Hare's work day, shared by his manicurist (Dagmar Oakland), soon comes to a series of mishaps as he shaves off a mole from a man's chin, places an ultra hot towel over that same customer's (John St. Clair) face by holding a pair of tongs, and unwittingly locking a fat man ("Fatty" Alexander) in a steam room before O'Hare's day is complete as he finds himself face to face with an armed bank robber (Cyril Ring).

    With Fields being best known playing one with a strong dislike for children and animals, THE BARBER SHOP shows his compassion towards his offspring, listening attentively listening to his riddles, rather than being short-tempered towards his annoyance. In fact, there's even a brief scene where he happily throws a ball over to the neighborhood street kids, only to have it landing on top of a man's noggin. So not to be a total loss, the plot does include Fields' encounter with a baby in a stroller hitting him over the head with a milk bottle, as well as his involvement with Mrs. Broadbottom's (Fay Holderness) bratty daughter, Gloria, wearing an assortment of party hats. A dog takes part sitting by the barber's chair awaiting for another chance for O'Hare to accidentally cut off an ear while shaving a customer, but all the dog can do is witness some "close shaves."

    Although the brief climatic chase and its closing fail to recapture some rather amusing scenes earlier in the story, THE BARBER SHOP does recapture classic routines originated on stage by Fields himself, some for which he reprized to better advantage in his later feature film comedies. With Alison Skipworth and Kathleen Howard making the grade as Fields' most notable co-stars during his years (1932-38) at Paramount, Elsie Cavanna shouldn't go unnoticed with her participation in three of Fields four comedy shorts, with THE DENTIST as their most famous and revived.

    THE BARBER SHOP, along with other Fields' shorts, has turned up occasionally on television over the years, notably cable stations (American Movie Classics in the 1990s, and Turner Classic Movies a decade later), and distribution on video and DVD formats, with best possible prints from the Criterion Collection. For some amusements, watch Cornelius O'Hare's barber shop methods. For a good haircut and a shave, try someplace else. (***)
    8zetes

    One of the best of W.C. Fields' short films

    Personally, I like Fields' features much more than the few short films he made. The Bank Dick, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, You're Telling Me, The Old-Fashioned Way, It's a Gift, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, and The Man on the Flying Trapeze are some of the funniest films you're ever likely to see. But most of his shorts are somewhat lame. My favorite is The Golf Specialist, which is nothing more - nor should it be - than Fields' infamous vaudeville routine. The Dentist is famous for its sexual innuendo of the woman wrapping her legs around Fields while he pulls a tooth, but it's not very funny after that. The Barber Shop is the second funniest of these shorts. Fields is very funny in it, and so are the supporting cast members. Here Fields is in henpecked husband mode, taking it from his evil vegetarian wife. His little son likes to tell him the lamest riddles in history. The slight plot is a prelude to The Bank Dick, with a criminal on the run and Fields bragging that he'd throttle him good if he got a hold of him. A lot of good jokes here. See it on the Criterion disc of his short films. 8/10.
    8planktonrules

    W. C. Fields and he does NOT hate his kids!!

    This is one of the oddest films I've seen of W. C. Fields because he seems to genuinely like his son! The young boy loves to tell really lame riddles and W. C. encourages him and acts pretty tenderly towards the kid (at least compared to the usual fare from this comedian). Children are either just tolerated or hated in his films. A good example was his famous line "Of course I love kids,....boiled". For whatever reason, this film is unusual in this respect.

    Now as for the film itself, this one is very similar to THE PHARMACIST in that it is a very slow slice of life short, though it does have more gags and a more "Fields-like" ending. Don't expect the craziness of Fields shorts like THE DENTIST or THE FATAL GLASS OF BEER, but this isn't a positive or negative thing--I like both styles of his work. Funny, well-paced and cute--this is an excellent Fields short.

    More like this

    The Pharmacist
    6.5
    The Pharmacist
    The Dentist
    6.7
    The Dentist
    The Fatal Glass of Beer
    6.6
    The Fatal Glass of Beer
    The Golf Specialist
    6.2
    The Golf Specialist
    Barber Shop
    8.0
    Barber Shop
    The Old Fashioned Way
    7.3
    The Old Fashioned Way
    You're Telling Me!
    7.4
    You're Telling Me!
    Tillie and Gus
    6.9
    Tillie and Gus
    Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
    7.0
    Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
    The Bank Dick
    7.1
    The Bank Dick
    The Mysterians
    6.1
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    Barbershop
    6.3
    Barbershop

    Related interests

    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Benedict Cumberbatch in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)
    Short

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This film is included on "W.C. Fields - Six Short Films", which is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #79.
    • Quotes

      Cornelius O'Hare: I'm the worst barber in town, my wife can tell you that.

    • Connections
      Edited into W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films (2000)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 28, 1933 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Barber
    • Production company
      • Mack Sennett Comedies
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 21m
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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