"You Can't Cheat An Honest Man" is a rather poor comedy for W.C Fields. The film has virtually no plot and few laughs. The whole production is also too restricted in its setting, being that of a circus. As in other comedies, Fields is on the run from the law and narrowly avoids trouble. The running time is 75 minutes but it felt longer to me. Reducing the film to about 62 minutes might have been an improvement. The scene involving the game of table tennis was OK, at least the sketch had a bit of zeal. Fields causing upset at some big society social gathering was quite good also. However, those scenes can't compensate for a film that really needed a stronger story and better laughs. The ending was very disappointing, in that it was abrupt and left the film unfinished. "Universal" studios gave W.C Fields better films than the above.
