Une journée de printemps

Although given top billing for the first time in her career, it is not Olivia de Havilland who carries this low-key comedy of spring fever running rampant in an upperclass British family. Ian Hunter and Frieda Inescourt have the main burden--as well as Roland Young who makes amorous advances toward Frieda and Bonita Granville giving another of her irritating brat performances. Olivia makes scant few appearances as a lovesick girl batting her eyes at artist Walter Woolf King. Her role is so small it is a wonder the studio bothered to give her top billing. Likewise, Anita Louise is reduced to a small role as the attractive girl next door. Hunter and Inescourt do well in their parts but this minor comedy from a stage play is a trifle easily forgotten. Incidentally, Olivia's sister Joan Fontaine played a role in a Los Angeles stage version of the film. May have been the same one Olivia plays, but I'm not sure.

Its title suggests that the action in this film takes place in a 24-hour period and that its happenings are of little consequence. This adaptation of a Dodie Smith play does occupy only one day, and some of the day's happenings will probably seem like dreams in the reset of another night's sleep.

There is a manic energy in the air as the day begins in the Hilton household. It is the first day of Spring and, much like a troupe of Shakespearian characters, they are greatly influenced by the seasonal airs and the vernal moon. Inspired, they are, to flights of fancy and foolishness.

The narrative is divided into various subplots for the numerous characters, so each actor has limited camera time, but the acting is credible. I especially enjoyed the performance of Roland Young as the older man who instantly falls in love with Mrs. Hilton and---at least for a day-is willing to upend his life for this singular passion. And I found Marcia Ralston charming as an American actress who tempts Mr. Hilton; she has a screen presence reminiscent of Kay Francis.

Though British conventions are bent, they are never broken in this ebullient farce. All's well that ends well. And no one ever misses a tea time.

It is the first day of spring. "The first Spring day is in the Devil's pay." This is one day in the life of the Hiltons. The eldest daughter Catherine 'Cath' Hilton (Olivia de Havilland) is overly dramatic and falls for the married artist painting her portrait. Roger Hilton (Ian Hunter) is doing the taxes of famous actress Beatrice Gwynn. Other members of the family all deal with their own complications.

I do have issues with the parents' stories. I have issues with all of their stories. I guess that the Devil's pay means exactly that. I don't necessarily find any of it that funny. Maybe if you're prim and proper, it's fun to walk the other side of the road for a little while. That must be the source of the comedy here, but I get no laughs from that.

I caught this gem of a comedy on a Saturday morning on TCM, and I wasn't expecting much from it. I watched it for the star, Olivia de Havilland. However, although she received top billing, her part was more of a supportive one as the eldest daughter. The plot centers on a married couple with three nearly grown children who find themselves each fielding persistent and unexpected flirtations. There are many clever, funny lines in the script. ("What about the children?" "Well, you could just divide them up between you." "But there are three, it wouldn't come out even!" ) Olivia's facial expressions in her scene with the painter show her rarely tapped comedic talent. I'm not sure why other reviewers gave this film such low marks; I've watched dozens of films from the era (often with bigger stars) that weren't nearly as funny. Another plus for this film is that it doesn't, like so many other Hayes Code era films, pretend that adultery either doesn't exist or that no one ever actually goes through with it. The two lead actors are witty and believable and the ending is surprisingly touching.

This is the first time in all the years I have been following imdb that I have seen a movie rating that I thought was too low. Call It a Day is the kind of movie that, depending on your taste, can be seen as charming or annoying. It's a gentle, pleasant little picture meant for those who like this sort of thing.

All the players here are attractive and, yes, charming--handsome, sturdy Ian Hunter, who deserved better than all those roles as a soon-to-be-discarded fiance; gracious Frieda Inescourt; adorable, bumbling Roland Young. Only the exquisite 21-year-old Olivia de Havilland gives a poor performance, way over the top as the love-crazed girl, one that a better director got her to tone down in the same role in It's Love I'm After later the same year.

The relentlessly nice, genteel atmosphere may seem phony to some--but this was a genteel time. Still, there is a wonderful performance from Alice Brady, as Inescourt's chattering, racy friend, and de Havilland throws herself at a married man with a shameless intensity not likely to be found in American movies of that date. The dialogue more often pleases by its familiarity than its cleverness, but it does please. There are more ways to be charming than to be Noel Coward.