"Merrily We Live" Review

 

by Daniel White

A distinctly American invention, screwball comedy has never been successfully revived since it's hey-day in the thirties and forties. Film noir, westerns, even the Hollywood musical resurface, but the screwball comedy is a genre permanently frozen in time. A cinematic response to some of the country's darkest days, the need for these frenetic farces has not returned. 1938's Merrily We Live is a decent example of the genre. It's no classic like My Man Godfrey or Bringing Up Baby, but it's a solid, sturdy farce that (just) manages to get the job done. Produced by Hal Roach for MGM, the film was helmed by Norman Z. McLeod. McLeod had already worked with the Marx brothers and W.C. Fields, so he was an experienced comedy director. And Roach was no slouch either, getting his start in the business with Harold Lloyd back in 1915.

The movie opens with a chirpy, breezy title tune playing while the main cast members skip along together, arm in arm. And that scene sets the tone for the ensuing 95 minutes: innocuous, cheerful and benign. A harmless little ditty serving as the theme song for some harmless fun.

Constance Bennett stars as Geraldine Kilbourne, the eldest daughter of a wealthy family. Not so much madcap as disorganized, the household includes a cranky dad (Clarence Kolb) and a scatterbrained mother (expertly played by the priceless Billie Burke). There are also two younger siblings, brother, Kane (Tom Brown), and sister, Marion (Bonita Granville). The flick revolves around the slimmest of plots. Mother Emily (Burke) is in the habit of reforming tramps. Fortunately, this being the height of the Depression, there are plenty of hobos to be had. After the latest "lost man" absconds with the silverware, the other Kilbourne's (and the staff) are disgusted. Not to be deterred, she takes in one more bum when a seedy-looking Brian Aherne shows up, asking to use the phone.

Of course, anyone familiar with how these films work knows immediately that E. Wade Rawlins (Aherne) is no tramp. Second, his presence in the family will change them for the better. And finally, the haughty heiress will be knocked off her pedestal into his manly, and more important, financially supportive, arms.

Which is exactly how the film unfolds. No surprises, just lots of frivolous fun. Bennett and Aherne make for an exceptionally attractive couple, and both are adept at cheeky banter. The supporting players are all practiced performers, with Alan Mowbray and Patsy Kelly garnering the most chuckles.

And as I mentioned before, there's Miss Billie Burke. Sublime, silly, simply scintillating Billie Burke. A comic iconoclast with her peculiar high-pitched voice, fluttering eyes and flittering hands, she is as unique as she is unforgettable. Burke received her only Oscar nomination for this film. Of course she didn't win (another example of the Academy's idiocy) but for me, every role she played was deserving of accolades.

Amiable, at times forced, and never as zany as it thinks it is, Merrily We Live is still a respectable specimen of that lost art, the screwball comedy. With Ann Dvorak in a role as far removed from Scarface as possible, and TV's Ed Sullivan contributing to the dialogue, Merrily We Live is currently streaming on Tubi.