Life with Father

Life with Father-480P

Life with Father-480P

Life With Father (Comedy 1947) William Powell, Irene Dunne & Elizabeth Taylor

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Absolutely one of my all-time favorite movies - and William Powell as Clarence Day, Sr. is one of my all-time favorite characters. That said, I'd like to set the record straight on a few points others have made in their reviews. First, this is the film version of what had been, at the time of the film's production, the longest-running Broadway play in history. In fact, it held that record for nearly three more decades until it was finally dethroned by Fiddler On The Roof. (Source: turnerclassicmovies.com) As it was such a huge hit, it carried with it an astronomical price for the film rights - $500,000 plus half the profits. That's more than Selznick had paid for Gone With The Wind some eight years earlier! (TCM again) Stagey? Not at all surprising, considering the above. When you pay that much for something, you (usually) don't muck around much with the plot. But even if Warner's HAD wanted to change anything, contractually the playwrights and Clarence Day, Jr.'s widow held veto power over any changes. (TCM) As for the play, it was based on Clarence Day, Jr's book, Life With Father, itself a huge best seller. Powell plays Clarence Sr. much as he's portrayed in the book (I've read it) - if anything, he tones down the blustery elder Day a bit. Finally, some have commented negatively on the primness and propriety of the family's dress and decor. Folks, we need to remember that a) this is set in New York City in the 1890s, and b) this is a very wealthy family we're watching. Society was still rigidly divided by class at the time. In a wealthy NY household, formality was very much the norm; as was ignoring the hired help as they performed their duties.

If like myself you are going to watch this movie because of its director, Michael Curtiz, save yourself the trouble and avoid this rather forced comedy. Its not that the movie doesn't get a handful of laughs; it's just that the whole concept is so hopelessly out of date. Incredibly, most of the movie is spent trying to persuade the father to be baptized for fear he will burn forever in hell. The stagy production and cornball humour do not much help. A Victorian sitcom.

I have always liked this movie. Clarence Day was the son of Clarence Day Sr. and Vinnie Day. His childhood (with three brothers) was a privileged one, as his father was a successful broker in New York City during the Gilded Age. Day became a humorist and autobiographer, writing three books that remain very entertaining: GOD AND MY FATHER, LIFE WITH FATHER, and LIFE WITH MOTHER. Day died in the 1930s, but a play by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse was produced from the books entitled LIFE WITH FATHER. It played for nearly a dozen years or so, and for many years had the record of Broadway performances before the coming of the super musical hits from OKLAHOMA onward. LIFE WITH FATHER is set in 1885 (the historical reference that sets this date is the rant by Mr. Day at the newspaper, where he refers to the then Mayor of New York, "Honest Hugh Grant" and Tammany Boss Richard Croker). The story line is actually quite straightforward - the senior Day (William Powell) faces the daily problems of his household, thinking he is running things but constantly being out-witted by his dearly loved wife Vinnie (Irene Dunne) who insists on having an ugly ceramic pug dog for awhile. Accidentally Mr. Day reveals that his free-thinking parents have never had him baptized, and this horrifies his wife and their local minister (Edmund Gwenn). Being a man in his late forties now, Powell thinks it is absolutely foolish to make him get baptized now. In the meantime his oldest son Clarence (Jimmy Lyden) has met with the first love interest of his life (his mother's cousin, young Elizabeth Taylor). Clarence's brother John, who is interested in science (he has wired up the parlor to cause a bell to go off, that confuses Mr. Day no end), has gotten involved selling a patent medicine. This will have ill-effects on Mrs. Day and Mr. Day, culminating in an oath that Mr. Day will end up regretting. Finally there are some marvelous examples of home economics from Mrs. Day that baffle and confuse Mr. Day no end - watch how she takes back the pug dog (which was charged) and gets a "free suit" for Clarence ("THEY DON"T GIVE AWAY FREE SUITS!", Mr. Day insists.] I doubt, unfortunately, that a book, play, or movie like LIFE WITH FATHER would last today. And I think we are the poorer for that. It is of a long dead world, with a fierce devotion to order and stratified social life in our homes and in our cities and nation. But it was not without it's charms. Catch the sweetest moment in this wonderful movie, when Mr. Day and Vinnie are singing "Sweet Marie" together in their parlor, on a summer afternoon.

Our 11-year old daughter loved Liz in National Velvet, so this one sounded like a natural. Too bad neither the DVD transfer (which is dreadful) nor the performances have the timeless quality of Velvet. Why is it that period pieces so often fall into the trap of overblown histrionics to remind us that we're watching a period piece? Aren't the costumes and set adequate? The stilted dialogue is enough to make us all grateful we didn't live back then. The cast and director of this film are otherwise first rate and worth viewing elsewhere, but the film itself is disappointing.

In "Life With Father," Liz is another queen of puppy love… A visiting country cousin impressed by the big city, she flirts with the eldest Day boy, making eyes, demanding attention, standing on amorous ceremonies, all in the best Taylor manner Forward, self-confident and impudent, easily provoked to tears, she's a real charmer in this film, but even here she has trouble with the men: Jimmy Lyndon isn't quite demonstrative enough for her, and he doesn't promise to be the first one to write… After all, the proper young girl reasons, it's the man who must write first, declaring his undying love The film retained the fun and spirit of the stage play, chronicling in episodic style the humorous events that detailed life in the Clarence Day household in late 19th Century New York City

One of the longest running comedies in Broadway history is brought to the screen in a lovely adaptation, with beautiful sets and a wonderful cast. William Powell and Irene Dunne are simply superb as Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Day, a couple who have been married for twenty years. They have four children, all red-headed boys, and an ever changing number of maids (who fail to be able to satisfy Mr. Day). Mr. Powell and Ms. Dunne work extremely well together. Their scenes are first rate. While he tends to treat her as a second class citizen, it is easy to see who runs the house and who has the upper hand in their relationship. It's also very clear that after being married for as long as they have, that they genuinely are crazy about each other. The movie only gets bogged down in the scenes between Elizabeth Taylor and Jimmy Lydon. 7 out of 10