“Merrily We Live” on TCM
On September 19, 2013 by Christina Rice With 6 Comments
- TV Screenings
Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 262
Merrily We Live is going to air on Turner Classic Movies on Friday, September 20th at 5:15am PST.
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5:15 am? Yeesh! It seems like virtually every one of Ann’s films this past year have been run at some ungodly hour of the morning. Those *&%$#! programmers at Turner Classic Movies must hate us AD fans who are DVR-less!
Okay, okay, just remembered you post it as 5:15 PST, which is 7:15 here in the Midwest. But still —
Well, in the case of Merrily We Live, they seem to air it at least twice a year, so you’ll catch it eventually. I agree, the show times have been rather ghastly this year!
Part of a salute to (director) Norman Z. MacLeod — whose credits include two of my hands-down all-time favorites, “Horsefeathers”, with the Marx Brothers and “It’s A Gift” with W.C. Fields.
Loved the intro with the cast walking hand-in-hand behind the credits.
Kind of a let down thereafter, however.
It’s kind of amazing that Hal Roach didn’t have, if not a lawsuit, maybe just a reprimand of some kind from Universal for the fairly blatant ripoff of “My Man Godfrey”.
Billie Burke was very funny. however. And I can close my eyes and see Alan Mowbray in another of my hands-down all-time favorites, John Ford’s “My Darling Clementine”. (“Shakespeare is not meant for taverns! Nor for tavern louts!’) Billie, Alan and Constance Bennett had all worked with McLeod the previous year in “Topper”.
Ann doesn’t enter until almost a full hour into the proceedings. And has very little to do. Which, in no small measure, added to the feeling of letdown. Kept thinking ‘What a waste’. I can’t imagine that she could have been happy having to take parts like this. And, as you said earlier, her dress and her hair-do got her cited by the Fashion Police.
Finally, a belated congratulations to our admin for that Library of Congress catalog listing.
Billie Burke received her only Oscar nomination for “Merrily We Live.” I’m not sure if there was ever any grousing about the “My Man Godfrey” influence, though it’s obviously there.
I got the Library of Congress to change Ann’s DOB to 1911, but unfortunately the Press didn’t change it in the book before going off to the printer because it wasn’t yet official. 🙁
To my fellow Ann/film fan Scott, if you love old movies, and have access to TCM, you must subscribe to the dvr feature!
Even if I’d seen them before, been reacquainting myself with Ann’s movies when TCM runs them, last nite “Merrily We Live”. Don’t really have anything to add to above comments, except I did enjoy Bonita Granville in a role similar to Virginia Weidler’s in “Philadelphia Story”. And yes, Ann has certainly had more flattering hairstyles.
With Norman MacLeod, and no disrespect intended, his major contribution to the Marx Bros/Fields films was getting out of the way once the cameraman was told to roll film.
I hear you, Mike. I know full well that I should become a part of the 21st Century and become DVR-friendly.
I wonder if I was, perhaps, too harsh in my assessment of “Merrily We Live”. It was certainly not without it’s merits, but maybe I was just too conscious, throughout, of the “My Man Godfrey” similarities. That, and Ann’s under-utilization in it.
Seriously, can you not close your eyes and imagine Hal Roach running into Carl Laemmle, Jr. at, say, The Brown Derby sometime after “Merrily We Live” was released, and Carl saying “Hal, I really enjoyed “Merrily We Live”! I enjoyed it a lot more, though, when we made it as “My Man Godfrey” a couple of years ago!”
I agree with what you said with regard to MacLeod, but maybe he deserves some credit for being smart enough — or modest enough — to, as you say, just get out of the way and let the immense talent of his principal performers take over. The ‘Mister Muckle’ sequence in “It’s A Gift” — for my money, one of the funniest comedy scenes ever filmed — was pretty well crafted.