My Little Chickadee | |
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Directed by | Edward F. Cline |
Written by | Mae West W. C. Fields |
Produced by | Lester Cowan |
Starring | Mae West W. C. Fields |
Cinematography | Joseph A. Valentine |
Edited by | Edward Curtiss |
Music by | Frank Skinner |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 84 minutes |
Country | United States |
Budget | $625,000[2] |
Box office | $2 million[3] |
My Little Chickadee is a 1940 American comedy-western film starring Mae West and W. C. Fields, featuring Joseph Calleia, Ruth Donnelly, Margaret Hamilton, Donald Meek, Willard Robertson, Dick Foran, William B. Davidson, and Addison Richards, and released by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Edward F. Cline and the music was written by Ben Oakland (song "Willie of the Valley") and Frank Skinner.
West reportedly wrote the original screenplay, with Fields contributing one extended scene set in a bar. Universal decided to give the stars equal screenplay credit, perhaps to avoid the appearance of favoritism, but the move incensed West, who declined to team with Fields afterwards. The stars spoofed themselves and the Western genre, with West providing a series of her trademark double entendres.