Merrily they live in the 1938 Merrily We Live, directed by Norman Z. McLeod. The members of the rich family in this screwball comedy do what they darn well please and never genuinely suffer for it. That is, they don’t until at first Constance Bennett‘s Jerry is denied the love of a handsome man believed to be a tramp (Brian Aherne)! How topsy turvy things become.
Reportedly the picture is a lot like My Man Godfrey, a work I have not seen in full. Although this may be to its disadvantage (derivativeness?), Merrily is wholly amusing and boasts a fun cast. Such actors as Clarence Kolb (the family patriarch) and Alan Mowbray (the butler) are talented farceurs. The women are delightful. Still, the film is not very good at leading us to see what its raison d’etre is.
Available on Tubi.
Leave a Reply