Main Cast: Constance Bennett, Brian Aherne, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray, Patsy Kelly
Release Year: 1938
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
Merrily We Live is a blatant imitation of My Man Godfrey, courtesy of producer Hal Roach. This time Brian Aherne is the gentleman vagabond whom flighty society matron Billie Burke hires as a butler. Aherne's down-to-earth attitude jars against the high-toned phoniness of Burke's wealthy household, but soon the butler has "humanized" everyone around him. He also falls in love with Burke's daughter Constance Bennett, the snootiest member of the family. While at least one prominent film historian has applauded Merrily We Live for avoiding the muddled political subtext of My Man Godfrey, critics in 1938 were less politely inclined, blasting Merrily for being so unabashed a carbon copy. Audiences, on the other hand, loved the film, and Merrily We Live was a success. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
It's hard to argue that Merrily We Live doesn't owe a huge debt to My Man Godfrey, with which it has a great deal in common. Normally, copycats of classics are pale imitations that provide, at best, a few moments of diversion but are in no real way memorable. So it's quite a surprise that Merrily is actually quite a scintillating little screwball comedy, in spite of its Xerox-like origins. Merrily lives up to its title, being one of the most delightfully madcap comedies of the era. While the screenplay that Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran cooked up isn't high on originality, it's quite skillfully put together and very well structured. Yes, we often can see that a particular gag is coming, yet when it arrives we welcome it as a friend whom we haven't seen in so long that his familiarity seems fresh. Credit is also very much due to Norman Z. McLeod's lightning fast direction, which keeps everything going at a crisp pace yet never allows things to get so frenetic that the audience loses track of things. The cast is also a delight, with lovely Constance Bennett a joy and Brian Aherne turning in a perfectly calibrated comic performance. Best of all, though, is Billie Burke, having found the part that she was always meant to play and one which takes thorough advantage of her very distinctive personality and even more distinctive way with a phrase. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
The film is considered to have set the standard for later family comedy films and TV sitcoms. A number of critics have erroneously claimed that the film is based on the 1936 film My Man Godfrey when in fact it is a reworking of the 1930 movie What A Man, based on the 1924 novel The Dark Chapter; a Comedy of Class Distinctions by E. J. Rath[1][2] and the 1926 Broadway adaptation They All Want Something by Courtenay Savage.[3]
Merrily We Live was extremely successful and garnered five Academy Award nominations.
Butler Grosvenor (Alan Mowbray) discovers that the family silver has been stolen by the latest tramp Emily Kilbourne (Billie Burke) had taken under her wing as the chauffeur, in her latest attempt to reform fallen and destitute men, much to the exasperation of the rest of the family. A distressed Emily swears off taking in any more tramps to the delight of the rest of the family. However, later in the morning, a new dusty tramp Wade Rawlins (Brian Aherne) appears at the doorstep and is immediately adopted by Emily Kilbourne, despite the rude efforts of Grosvenor and Emily's daughters Geraldine "Jerry" (Constance Bennett) and Marian (Bonita Granville). Further attempts to convince Mrs. Kilborne to get rid of this latest tramp are blissfully ignored.
The tramp, Rawlins, appointed as the new replacement chauffeur is set up in the servant's quarters. He is overheard talking to himself while cleaning up by the butler and suspected to be crazy. Jerry and Marian see the spruced up tramp looking the perfect gentleman and have second thoughts when their father, Henry Kilbourne (Clarence Kolb), who has returned from work tells Emily that he is putting his foot down and getting rid of the tramp the next day.
A comedy of errors, nighttime interludes with drunken family behavior, an arrogant boyfriend making a move, following the rescue of the damsel in distress some delightful flirting ensues, resulting in Jerry falling in love with Wade. The next day through a contrived prank by Marian, the new chauffeur and now footman is accidentally invited to an important dinner party for Senator Harlan, who takes quite a liking to him, as does his daughter Minerva (Ann Dvorak). The next morning, the family finds Wade occupying the guest room. It is impossible to throw him out, as it is discovered that he is now a confidante of Senator Harlan and his daughter's target of affection. Jerry is consumed with jealousy, as she sees Minerva flirting with Wade at golf later that morning. After a fudge-making spat with Jerry, Wade takes the rest of the day off to settle his affairs and he is nowhere to be found late in the evening when everyone has gone to bed.
The next morning, a newspaper reports his death from a car crash, much to the shock and dismay of the family, the cook and the maid. After an epidemic of fainting seeing ghosts and pratfalls, Wade reappears, very much alive, to Jerry's immense relief.
Merrily We Live was in production from October 27, 1937 to January 10, 1938.[4] Some location filming took place at Arrowhead Hot Spring and Big Bear Lake in the San Bernadino Mountains of southern California..[5][6]
Titles that were considered for the film included "Take It Easy," "Love Without Reason" and "Dark Chapter", which is the title of the E.J. Rath book the film is in part based on – although neither Rath's novel nor Courtenay Savage's play are credited.[5]
Noted Broadway columnist Ed Sullivan provided additional dialogue for the film, his first assignment for Hal Roach Studios.[5]
Awards and honors
Merrily We Live received five Academy Award nominations in total: Supporting Actress, Sound, Song, Art Direction and Cinematography.[7] Billie Burke's nomination was the only Best Actress Oscar nomination of her career.
Adaptations
On March 3, 1938, parts of Merrily We Live were recreated for the radio on MGM's Good News Radio program, featuring the stars of the film.[5]
