Wie leben wir doch glücklich!

As has been noted before (often), this is a brilliant screwball comedy and yet somehow "a lost movie." How do such things happen? Fate, I suppose - which is no answer at all.

Do, however,seek out this film when you can find it. I saw it on Turner Classic Movies (God Bless Them), and I will make it my business to gather a crowd when viewing its next showing.

Considering how across-the-board dazzling the film is, I hate to single out anyone, but Clarence Kolb, who plays the always exasperated "pater familias," and whom we have all seen in dozens of movies, here displays a mastery of physical comedy that is singularly impressive and downright hilarious.

This is hardly an original film, as it was apparently a variation on the 1930 film WHAT A MAN. Plus, it's amazingly similar to the 1936 hit film, MY MAN GODFREY. However, despite being so unoriginal, the overall film is amazingly watchable and a lot of fun.

Like in GODFREY, the rich family that is the focus of the film is amazingly ditsy and....well, nuts! Unlike GODFREY, most of the insanity is concentrated into the mother (played by Billie Burke)--though as the film progresses, you come to realize they're all touched! As for Burke, her stupid schtick wears thin at the beginning of the film (making you wonder why the other family members haven't killed her). But, fortunately, as the film continues, she is given such wonderful lines of dialog that I really am glad they didn't kill her. Additionally, the rest of the family's dialog was great as well--showing that the writers were really hitting their mark.

The film is about Burke's bizarre habit of bringing home hobos to rehabilitate them, though in many ways they were treated more like pets or toys than people. The rest of the family is sick of this because the hobos are usually thieves or opportunists, so it's no wonder that when Brian Aherne is taken in by Burke that the rest of the family is angry and wants Aherne to go. However, what's really strange is that although Aherne is dressed like a bum, he never WANTS to be saved by Burke and he more or less becomes a part of the family against his will! As the film progresses, like Godfrey, Aherne is obviously more than just a man down on his luck--leading to a dandy conclusion.

The film has excellent and well-paced direction, wonderful writing and an excellent ensemble cast. It is actually quite surprising that this film isn't more well-known, as it's one of the better comedies of the 1930s.

...that it's basically a remake of "MY MAN GODFREY"? I can't be the only person to have noticed this. It's a screwball comedy about a hobo taken in as butler for a wealthy but eccentric family. There's the exasperated father, airhead mother, two daughters each with ulterior motives, wisecracking other servants, and the handsome young man who seems a little too polished to be a tramp. Even right down to the closing water-splashing payoff involving the leading man and the ingénue.

But to this film's credit, it's worthy of viewing in its own right. The gags are clever, the dialogue is sharp, and the plot is well-structured and fast paced. Solid screwball comedy with a great cast: Constance Bennett, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray, Patsy Kelly, and young Bonita Granville. It's a forgotten classic only because people remember MY MAN GODFREY better.

A highly intelligent ‘tramp' is hired to become chauffeur for an eccentric, wealthy family.

MERRILY WE LIVE is a prime example of a tremendously funny screwball comedy which has become undeservedly obscure with the passage of time. Bright & breezy, with snappy dialogue and some wonderful performances, it is a complete delight. The production values are excellent and the film's free spirit is perfectly encapsulated by the opening shot in which the principal cast marches arm-in-arm along the estate's long driveway while the credits and title song role.

Suave, sophisticated and just a wee bit naughty, British Brian Aherne is the perfect match for crisply cool blonde Constance Bennett. Their growing attraction to each other, hidden behind a rivalry for intellectual dominance, is great fun to watch. This ‘hobo' has much to teach the rich girl about life & love.

A very fine supporting cast offers much to the film's enjoyment. In one of her best roles, dithering Billie Burke, as Miss Bennett's utterly out-of-touch mother, is a complete joy. Alan Mowbray plays the proper English butler who experiences frequent bouts of emotional distress. Ensconced in the kitchen, tough-talking Patsy Kelly is the family's cook with a strong yen to stir-up some romance with handsome Aherne.

Impressively agile Clarence Kolb is Miss Burke's grumpy husband. Tom Brown & Bonita Granville are their two younger, spoiled children. Philip Reed plays a bullying society Lothario interested in Miss Bennett. Ann Dvorak is a senator's headstrong daughter who usually gets what she wants and what she wants now is Aherne.

Even the smaller character roles can be fun: watch for Sidney Bracey as a sour-faced temporary butler & Willie Best as a very frightened country store janitor.

I absolutely love this screwball. I don't care if it's a Godfrey remake or not. It's full of heavy hitters from Patsy Kelly to Alan Mowbray (who was in Godfrey) to Constance Bennett and Billie Burke. It seems no screwball can be without Billie in it. However, to me, it's Clarence that makes it all worthwhile. He can't do anything without making me laugh. His attempts at trying to rein in his family alway make things worse. He does this spectacular pratfall in the kitchen that had me howling. He was obviously very athletic and coordinated to pull it off. I wonder how many takes it took. I loved him on Margie and every time he would bellow "Albright, you're fired!" I would laugh, but this is really his show. I wish we had wonderful character actors like him around now, but sadly they are all gone. I love the way the two great Danes played him too. He played the stooge to everyone. I suspect Preston Sturges had something to do with this, but there is no mention of him. It's so unfortunate how some gems like this one get buried and forgotten when they could be making so many people happy.