Man on the Flying Trapeze (UK title: The Memory Expert)[2] is a 1935 American comedy film starring W. C. Fields as a henpecked husband who experiences a series of misadventures while taking a day off from work to attend a wrestling match.

Ambrose supports himself, his shrewish wife Leona (Kathleen Howard), his loving daughter Hope (from a previous marriage; played by Mary Brian), his freeloading brother-in-law Claude (Grady Sutton), and his abusive, sternly teetotal mother-in-law Cordelia (Vera Lewis).

While on the way to the night court Ambrose talks about the big wrestling match scheduled for that day, for which he has a front-row ticket.

His story is interrupted by Malloy, who misconstrues it as a case of death from poisoned liquor, and Ambrose is too timid to contradict him.

Ambrose's supervisor, Mr. Peabody (Lucien Littlefield), tells his department the tragic news so they can send condolences, and also notifies the newspaper.

Finally, while trying to get into the wrestling arena (Claude had stolen his ticket earlier), he gets knocked down by a wrestler who is thrown out of the building by his opponent.

Noting that Ambrose Wolfinger is still "a rebel and nonconformist" despite his kindness, Peary adds, "It's a pleasure to watch Fields stumble through life and emerge, impossibly, unscathed."