Quelle joie de vivre

Comedy about a famous singing sensation Maggie Garret (Irene Dunne) who is constantly hounded by the press and rabid autograph hounds, and that's not all - a man (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.) who is crazy in love with her from afar is busy chasing after her too, but she doesn't seem to care for him and sees to it he is arrested for "mashing". But when he is sentenced to six months in jail (and based on the fact that he is rather handsome and charming, I surmise) she agrees to become his "probation officer" so that he can be released. Next thing you know he's advising her that she needs to live for herself and have some "fun". Soon they out on the town boozing it up on gigantic mugs full of beer, becoming very, very drunk to the point where they are playing face slapping games with other and end up stealing a bunch of signs from local businesses - h'm, at this point she actually begins to really like him for the first time, I guess all it took was the drink.

Nothing great here - but still entertaining, silly, and fun to watch. I didn't find this film particularly laugh-out-loud funny (except for the scenes with Billy Gilbert which ARE quite funny) - but it is amusing and has a number of scenes featuring favorite comic actors from the thirties including not just Billy Gilbert, but Franklin Pangborn, Eric Blore, even Lucille Ball - all seen in very small parts. The film also features a number of catchy songs performed by Irene Dunne, especially "You Couldn't Be Cuter" - so catchy, in fact, I am still singing it aloud as I type. Worth seeing.

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.

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.

Does anyone know whether this movie is based on the Mary Astor case? Poor Mary, like the actress in the movie, had parents who sponged off her something rotten. They lived in a mansion she bought for them and, no matter how much money she gave them, spent it and demanded more. After she tried numerous times to curb their extravagance (she was spending more on them than on her own family), the case ended up in court, where the judge took Mary's side. After her parents' death, Mary discovered diaries in which her mother had written viciously about how much she hated her.

Given that the court case took place four years before this movie appeared, and that portraying parents as evil is highly unusual for Hollywood, especially in a musical comedy, it seems that this element of the movie was inspired by Astor's troubles, but does anyone know for sure?

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.