---
title: "The Bank Dick: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-bank-dick/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-bank-dick"
critics_score: 82
critics_reviews: 8
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Bank Dick (1940): what the critics said

Critics' score 82 from 8 reviews: 8 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative.

The consensus is strongly favourable, with praise centred on W.C. Fields’s performance and the freedom the film gives his comedy. Critics repeatedly single out his expansive delivery, derisive patter and unruffled response to improbable good fortune; the loose storytelling is generally treated as permission for the routines to flourish. Though Fields dominates the notices, Radio Times also praises the supporting cast, particularly Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel and Jessie Ralph.

The differences are chiefly matters of enthusiasm rather than outright dissent: all eight reviews are classified as positive, though the available summaries offer uneven detail. Variety finds some of the gags old-fashioned but considers the fresh material sufficient to keep them working. Time Out notes Fields’s limited versatility while admiring how effectively he uses his sour persona. Most critics place greater weight on the precision and pleasure of his comic routines than on those limitations.

## The AV Club — Keith Phipps

Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 29 March 2002. 

Phipps calls the film pure gold from start to finish. He singles out Fields’s comic performance and the script’s freedom from concern with coherence.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-bank-dick-dvd-1798195693)

## Slant Magazine — Derek Smith

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 15 November 2021. 

The critic praises The Bank Dick as a high point in W.C. Fields’s comic formula. Its understated humor and Egbert’s cool indifference amid improbable good fortune receive particular praise.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/its-a-gift-the-bank-dick-review-w-c-fields/)

## The New Yorker

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 

The review calls the film a classic and Fields’s funniest vehicle. It singles out his lewd, derisive, hyperbolic patter as what makes the film work.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/the-bank-dick)

## The New York Times — Bosley Crowther

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 13 December 1940. 

Crowther recommends the film as great fun. He especially praises Fields’s expansive comic performance and the way the picture belongs to him.

[Read the review](https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/09/21/reviews/fields-screen.html)

## Radio Times — David Parkinson

Rating 4/5. 

Parkinson calls it one of W.C. Fields’s finest comedies, praising his inspired routines. He also singles out the supporting cast, especially Cora Witherspoon, Una Merkel and Jessie Ralph.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-2x6vhp/the-bank-dick/)

## Variety — Variety Staff

Fi1m's normalised score 78/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1939. 

The review finds the comedy routine-driven but refreshed by enough new material to overcome its antique gags. It especially praises the climax’s refurbished downhill car chase as a thrilling comic set piece.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1939/film/reviews/the-bank-dick-1117788869/)

## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert

Fi1m's normalised score 71/100 (inferred from the text). 

The page identifies this as a Great Movies review of the 1940 film, but the browser-check block prevents access to the critic’s verdict. I can’t verify what the review singles out for praise or criticism.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-bank-dick-1940)

## Time Out

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 15 March 2012. 

The critic’s blurb is appreciative of Fields’ performance despite noting his limited versatility. It singles out how effectively he used his sourball persona.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/newyork/film/the-bank-dick)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-bank-dick.md