Easy Living - 1937

[movieman1957]

Through a night of insomnia I pulled out one my watch. (Nothing like spending the night with Jean Arthur.)

A fun film written by Preston Sturges and directed by Mitchell Leisen. It stars Jean Arthur, Ray Milland and Edward Arnold. I was reminded while watching how wonderful Milland was and not being a huge Milland fan I hoped he had done more comedies but I don't remember too many. Arthur is lovely and lots of fun. They are both quite charming and even Arnold, though gruff at times, is easy to warm up to.

The "mink coat" movie (as my wife calls it) starts when Arnold is so upset that his wife has spent $58,000 on a fur coat that he throws it off a rooftop and lands squarely on Arthur's head. Almost immediately everyone gets the wrong impression about their realtionship.

Louis Louis of the Hotel Louis, with three mortgages with Arnold thinks he can score points and more clients by having Arthur move in. He assumes Arthur is Arnold's mistress. She does move in only she is not sure why he wants her there. As it can happen only in the movies Arthur unknowingly meets Milland, Arnold's son. Love hits soon afterward. More mix ups and once things get ironed out it all ends well.

Lots of fine lines and a few might get by you if you are not careful. A couple of slapstick scenes and two lovely English Sheepdogs make a fine accent to the movie.

The DVD comes with a intro by Mr. Osborne but no extras.

Check it out.

[feaito]

I got it a few months ago and I also loved it Chris. An excellent choice for a night of insomnia!!

[moviemagz]

Mitchell Leisen is criminially underrated. I think he was a great director but he gets treated as if he were a hack by some historians.

I discovered this movie several years ago when I checked out the Universal VHS from my local library. It was the first time I really liked Jean Arthur (who I've since come to appreciate far more than I originally did.)

[MissGoddess]

I agree Leisen is underrated. He and McCarey were the first directors I recognized by name as being behind my favorite comedies. I think it odd that comedy, which is so hard to do, is rarely accorded much respect. Leisen was pretty much at Paramount mostly, wasn't he? It may be he suffers the stigma of the "studio director" and in the auteurist-centered critical milieu that can make you persona non grata. I think this attitude is already lessening, though, and more of these unheralded directors will get their due.

Many thanks to Robert Osborne, who seldom fails to praise Leisen whenever he introduces one of his films.

[Ann Harding]

There is a Mitchell Leisen retrospective at the moment at the Paris cinémathèque. I managed to catch a few of his rarer pictures. I would say among the ones I saw I would recommend are:

Cradle Song (1933) a terribly moving melodrama with a fantastic cinematography and a superb performance by the two lead actress Dorothea Wieck and Evelyn Venable.

Death Takes a Holiday (1934) a beautiful drama with a supernatural element.

Hold Back the Dawn (1941) superb melodrama again with Boyer & de Havilland

To Each His Own (1946) with De Havilland

[movieman1957]

Loving "Easy Living" made me want to revisit "The Mating Season" recently. It's a different type of comedy but fun just the same. Great cast and fun script.

[moviemagz]

Where Leisen gets his main rap is that he wasn't a screenwriter (few directors were then) so extreme fans (both in the general public and among historians) of Billy Wilder (writer of MIDNIGHT) and Preston Sturges (writer of EASY LIVING) love to trash him as if he made messes out of those two classics. And of course Wilder led the crusade himself in the anti-Leisen movement.

[molo]

I was so glad when Easy Living finally came out on DVD. It's one of those films I had wanted to see for so long. It's now one of my favorite comedies. So many wonderful scenes. I love the exchange between Arthur and Arnold in the car when they first meet. Arnold's frustration with his family, the automat scene and Jean executing her piggy bank after blindfolding it first.

I've come to appreciate Mitchell Leisen very much. The Mating Season is a very charming film and a nice role for the great Thelma Ritter. As a chronic insomniac myself, I often look for lighter fare like these two films late at night. I find them a sure way to relax.

The big Leisen film I would like very much to see is To Each his Own. Hopefully that will get a DVD release soon.

[MissGoddess]

Hi Larry!

I'd love to see To Each His Own again, it's been ages. It's a great part for Olivia. Another Leisen film I've requested TCM air is Hold Back the Dawn. I'm hoping with that upcoming Universal/Paramount deal they may be able to show this fantastic movie. I know you and many others will like it. It expertly balances comedy and drama and gets under the skin of the characters a little. It doesn't hurt that the script is by Brackett & Wilder about Billy's own experiences while waiting for his papers to cross Mexico into the States.

[molo]

Hi April,

Yes Hold Back the Dawn is another one I've never seen.

I was thinking the same thing about the upcoming Paramount/Universal deal. Hopefully we'll finally get to see a whole lot of movies that are now unavailable.

[movieman1957]

Molo:

"Easy Living" has long been one of my favorites. The scene you mention in the car is memorable for me because of the way the try to explain interest on a loan to each other.

Other favorite scenes include Jean and Ray on the sofa in the hotel after their discovery of the bathtub. The way Louis Louis tries to sell Jean on living at the hotel when she is clueless as to the purpose. The end too. I love English Sheepdogs. I like the way she sacrifices her piggy bank too.

A great film and I have had a lot of fun introducing it to people through the years.