In 1939, Universal Studios approached West to star in a film opposite W. C. Fields. The studio was eager to duplicate the success of "Destry Rides Again" starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart, with a comic vehicle starring West and Fields. Having left Paramount 18 months earlier and looking for a new film, West accepted the role of Flower Belle Lee in the film "My Little Chickadee" (1940). Despite the stars' intense mutual dislike, Fields's very real drinking problems and fights over the screenplay, "My Little Chickadee" was a box office hit, outgrossing Fields's previous film, "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" (1939) and the later "The Bank Dick" (1940). Despite this, religious leaders condemned West as a negative role model, taking offense at lines such as "When I'm caught between two evils, I generally like to take the one I never tried".