O Prazer de Viver

A successful star, a sponging family, and a wanderer with a pencil-thin mustache to upset the apple cart. With its antecedent in proto-screwball BOMBSHELL, 1938's JOY OF LIVING has a clear model that allows us to note its strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths first: Irene Dunne and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Miss Dunne sings here, something she did all too rarely in the movies. She was also a perfect foil in screwball comedy. As for Fairbanks, he was made for light comedy, one of those great leading men who never seemed to understand how good-looking he was. Their scenes together are a delight. The sequence where they go out for a cheap night on the town is simple, lighthearted fun. There's also a gret cast in support, including Guy Kibbee, Alice Brady, Lucille Ball, John Qualen Billy Gilbert....

The weakness, however, is that most of that cast is wasted. They are so wasted that there's no real sign that they are leeches. Kibbee and Miss Brady as Miss Dunne's parents might just be retired and enjoying having a daughter so successful she can keep them all on Sutton Place. Kibbee drinks secretly, Miss Brady flutters, Miss Ball seems a trifle clingy, but there are twins for Miss Dunne to sing "You Couldn't Be Cuter" to. The movie feels unbalanced, as if editor Jack Hively (who, as a director, may have invented Film Noir) tossed out the scenes establishing their character in favor of the leads drinking beer and playing "Crack the Whip" on an ice-skating rink.... which is understandable. Or perhaps director Tay Garnett thought the plot was so common he could just indicate it.

It's a close decision, and while I enjoy watching Billy Gilbert berating waiter Bert Roach, I don't think it's a favor to the movie. Still, it's great fun.

Joy of Living is not one of Irene Dunne's five best movies, but she does what she can with a plot that often seems like a blend of "Theodora Goes Wild" and some of her earlier heroines she played so seriously and so well. In my opinion, it never quite gets off the runway, even though it has a long list of well-known character actors such as Eric Blore, Alice Brady and Franklin Pangborn and some able talents such as Douglas Fairbanks and Lucille Ball.

The trouble I had with "Joy of Living" is the fact it's too close to previous roles Irene Dunne played with distinction. How best to describe it? Going to the well once too often? Taking advantage of past successes audiences loved in order to leverage their drawing power? I thought the plot was weak and the writing less than top-notch, which was also true of the cinematography. The sequences in the roller skating rink were not well done; and the one real highlight of the film was Irene Dunne's impishness when she finally lets loose.

I don't blame Irene Dunne for making this movie; but the director failed in my opinion to develop it in such a way as to draw out and highlight her monumental talents. The music written by Jerome Kern, who is one of my favorite composers, doesn't reach up to his usually high standards either.

This movie is not a waste of money; and I hate to pan it. But I'm afraid Irene Dunne spoiled me with efforts like "Back Street"; "Ann Vickers"; "Consolation Marriage"; "Theodora Goes Wild"; "The Awful Truth"; "Love Affair"; and "I Remember Momma" and this movie simply isn't in that league.

Irene Dunne is glamorous Maggie Garret, famous Broadway star, who is supporting her family in "Joy of Living," a 1938 comedy also starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Alice Brady, Jean Dixon, Guy Kibbee, Lucille Ball, and Eric Blore. When Dunne meets the wealthy, carefree Dan Webster, he tries to show her what it's like to have fun and also to convince her that her family is freeloading off of her.

This film is so lightweight it practically drifts upward. Dunne sings the same song at least 40 times (or it felt like it), "Just Let Me Look at You." It was okay the first time; after that, you longed for another number. Dunne was adept at both comedy and drama, and she sang well. In comedy, she had the knack of appearing to have a good time and of improvising (which in "The Awful Truth," she was). I loved her scene in the courtroom when the judge says a respected person can be the parole officer/civilian guardian for Dan Webster, whom she has accused of stalking her. "You must know lots of important people," she says. Webster shakes his head. "The only one I know is you." Dunne purses her lips and, frustrated, says under her breath, "What a pity," while it never occurs to her that she's being set up. The roller skating sequence is very funny; the scene in the bar goes on a little too long.

Fairbanks, a very versatile and charming actor, is lively and attractive as Dan. Lucille Ball has a small role as Maggie's whiny sister/understudy. As Maggie's mother, Alice Brady is quite dramatic and overblown, as she tended to be, having come from the stage. However, Brady was an excellent actress, and her acting was appropriate for the role.

Nothing special, and I would submit that in order to enjoy it, you have to be a fan of Irene Dunne's.

The 1930s were one of the worst decades in our history in terms of economics. People if they were lucky to have even the most menial of jobs, just scrimped and got by. You did that too if you were on what was then called relief.

Lots of socially relevant films were made, but they didn't draw flies as compared with escapist entertainment like Joy of Living. That's what people wanted to see, to keep their minds off their troubles.

And they wanted to see beautiful people and certainly stars Irene Dunne and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. fill that bill. Dunne is a musical comedy star on Broadway who has these leeches of a family dependent on her. And she meets playboy Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. who is a sea captain by avocation who wants to take her to the South Seas. Experience the Joy of Living.

I'm convinced part of the charm of this movie at least for the men is the notion they could escape with Doug and Irene by signing on as a deckhand. And the women sat in the audience hoping that a Fairbanks would come into their lives.

Well, maybe if they sang like Irene Dunne. Playing a musical comedy star gave her to sing some tunes from her favorite composer Jerome Kern. Besides Joy of Living, Irene Dunne did four other films with Jerome Kern scores. Sweet Adeline, Showboat, Roberta, and High Wide and Handsome were the others. From the score of Joy of Living, Just Let Me Look at You and You Couldn't Be Cuter sold quite a few 78 rpm platters back in 1938.

Escapist stuff like this depends on the charm of it's leads and charm is what Fairbanks and Dunne have in abundance. Nice and entertaining and easy to take is Joy of Living.

Irene Dunne plays a Broadway singer who serves as her family's meal ticket. Her family, including sister Lucille Ball, don't do much, other than enjoy the wealth and status (by association) Dunne's success brings them. Dunne is exhausted, but is constantly pressured into taking more and more responsibilities on and Dunne does so as to not disappoint her family. Despite all of her hard work and wealth, her family's spendthrift ways have plunged Dunne deeply into depth. When she finds out about her financial woes, she is very disillusioned (who wouldn't be?).

Dunne ends up meeting heady and fresh Douglas Fairbanks Jr. At first she is put off by Fairbanks' pushiness and even has him arrested at one point, accusing him of being a masher. Fairbanks manages to charm his way out of jail time and even gets Dunne appointed as his probation officer. Legally he has to report to Dunne two times a week. As she gets to know Fairbanks, Dunne finds out that he comes from wealth but has chosen to live his life as a pleasure seeker. He also claims to own an island in the South Pacific and urges Dunne to leave her stress behind and live in paradise with him.

Lucille Ball is good as Dunne's younger sister (and understudy), but her part is so small, she doesn't really get to make much of an impression. Though, she continues to prove that she is good with the one-liners. It must have been frustrating for Lucy to have come from such a great supporting part in Stage Door, only to be put into another small supporting part, but in not as prestigious a film. Irene Dunne is good here, even though it is only sightly above average material. Douglas Fairbanks Jr is always a charmer and he's very handsome in this film. It's easy to see why Dunne would have a hard time between choosing Broadway or Fairbanks.